Richie Grant excited to join UCF 'brotherhood'
UCF added a safety to their recruiting class on Tuesday night with a commitment from Richie Grant.
The Fort Walton Beach (Fla.) Choctawhatchee has long been a target having been initially offered by the Knights last May. He took an official visit this past weekend.
"UCF has been recruiting me since my junior year," Grant said. "This was actually my first time visiting. I just fell in love with it. Originally I wanted to commit on the visit, but I wanted to go home and talk to my family and pray about it to make sure it was the right choice for me."
Grant says UCF was his favorite going in and the visit just solidified his feelings.
"I just looked at a place like Orlando and it's just so beautiful," Grant said. "The city really stood out. I met Coach (Scott) Frost and he was so energetic. They're really going to get it going. He has that energy that I like. The coaches were honest with me about where I'd be. Then I noticed the brotherhood the players have down there. That's another thing I was looking for. Everything clicked all the way around."
He played both sides of the ball in high school, but UCF is eyeing him for defense.
"Right now I'm going in as a safety," Grant said. "I could play corner though. I'll be playing special teams, kick return, punt return. They said if defense doesn't work out Coach Frost can utilize me on offense, but I know defense will work out."
A member of the Class 6A All-State second team as a defensive back, Grant snared four interceptions and tallied 37 solo tackles. On offense, he estimated he had around 1,200 receiving yards and six touchdowns and also had four additional touchdowns on special teams, three on punt return and one kick return.
"I've been starting since my freshman year," Grant said. "I got moved up to varsity my freshman year and played strictly wide receiver. My sophomore year the coaches figured they could use me on defense because I'm an athlete so since then I've been going both ways."
As for UCF, Grant says his comfort level with the coaches and players just made it feel like the perfect fit.
"The whole time I was on the visit I was trying to put myself in their shoes," Grant said. "Trying to see how I'd like living in the city and being with those coaches and players. I came out of there believing I could be here for four or five years. Drico Johnson was my host, he's a rising senior. He was honest with me from the start. I really appreciated that. He just told me to do what's in my heart."
He also hit it off with Brandon Moore, a cornerback from Sanford (Fla.) Seminole who had previously committed.
"I was talking to him the whole weekend," Grant said.
Grant made things official shortly after 6 p.m. on Tuesday.
"I called as soon as I got home from track practice," he said. "Coach (Erik) Chinander had actually just visited me today at the school. I called Coach Frost and I think he was in a meeting, so then I called Coach (Travis) Fisher. He was driving and got real excited, he stopped his car and started blasting the music. Then I got ahold of Coach Frost, he talked to me during his meeting because he said I was important. He was pretty excited. He told me he can't wait to get me down there officially. He's ready to get started."
He has three possible majors in mind: Architecture, psychology or criminal justice.
"There's so much opportunity at UCF and I want to take advantage," Grant said. "My first goal is to form a relationship with the players there. My team was really close on and off the field and I saw that when I was there. I just can't wait to get down there and get started."
Grant had also visited The Citadel.
"A lot of schools were trying to get me to visit," Grant said. "The Citadel impressed me too. It was out of those two. After praying a lot about it and asking God, UCF was the way to go."
