Leto’s Deering will announce college decision on live TV

Posted Jan 28, 2010 by Katherine Smith

Updated Jan 28, 2010 at 03:03 PM

The recruiting process is winding down for Leto’s Jeremy Deering.

From nearly 30 Division I scholarship offers, he’s down to two – Florida State and Rutgers. The Falcons leading rusher and one of the top running backs in the county the past three seasons will either suit up for the Seminoles or the Scarlett Knights.

Deering will announce his college decision Tuesday during the 6 p.m. newscast on NewsChannel 8/TBO.com.

“It’s been a long road,” Deering said. “I went through all the schools to figure out what each one was all about and then just tried to find the right fit for me.”

His final schools have poured on the charm and shown Deering a lot of love. FSU’s Jimbo Fisher’s been a regular at Leto since he took over as head coach of the Seminoles. So have the Rutgers coaches.

Two Rutgers coaches flew to Tampa on Thursday morning to meet with Deering and take him out to dinner later tonight to make their final pitch. FSU took their final shot at Deering earlier this week.

Deering narrowed his original long list of colleges to five and took officials visits beginning last fall. The first school he visited, one of the original colleges that took an interest in him, was Purdue. He then visited Illinois and Florida.

He eliminated those three schools this week and spent a day with former Leto head coach Hugh Dehnert going over the pros and cons of his final two and ultimately what Deering wants in college.

“It’s a combination of playing time, academics and how comfortable I am with the coaches and players,” he said.

Deering said the toughest part of the entire process has been telling coaches no, that he wouldn’t be joining their program.

“It’s something they don’t want to hear and something I didn’t want to have to do, but it has to be done,” he said. “Ultimately, I’ve got a feeling and I’ve got to trust it.”

You can check out Deering’s live announcement on NewsChannel 8/TBO.com Tuesday during the 6 p.m. newscast’s sports segment.