McCrays to follow in brothers footsteps

The name McCray is about to become synonymous with UCF's offensive line.

Cliff McCray, a key part of the 2007 Conference USA Championship team, recently returned to the football team for the upcoming season and now his younger brothers - Jordan McCray and Justin McCray - have committed to play football for the Knights next year.

The identical twins, who attend Miami's Southridge High School, are UCF's sixth and seventh commitments in the Class of 2010. They were initially offered in April and were also being recruited by Tennessee, Miami, USF and Rutgers.

"We decided yesterday that UCF was going to be the best fit for us," Jordan McCray said. "UCF is a great school with a good tradition. My brother is going to be up there supporting us when we play. A lot of schools came out to see us, but UCF was the only one that put the offer on the table so we felt the most wanted there."

Cliff helped facilitate the verbal commitment, which took place Monday morning.

"I called my brother last night and told him we were going to commit, then he called me this morning and put me on the phone with Coach (George) O'Leary," Jordan McCray said. "Then I told Coach O'Leary and he said he was real excited for us to be coming there. He was just asking us questions, like how we were doing. We just had a friendly conversation.

"Afterward, we called Coach (David) Kelly and Coach (Brent) Key. We had met Coach Key before when we went to the Junior Day. I like him a lot. He's a player's coach and that's what I like about him. Coach Kelly said he was wondering why it took us so long. Everybody was real happy about it."

The twins have visited UCF several times in the past and were in attendance at the recent Junior Day. They hope to make a return trip later this summer.

"The UCF campus is definitely great," Jordan McCray said. "All the facilities they have are outstanding. Their weight room is the biggest I've seen. Everything I've seen at UCF is definitely up there."

Cliff mentored his younger brothers throughout the process and didn't try to steer them toward UCF, but he was excited about their decision.

"He was never biased with us on where we decided to go, but deep down he really wanted us to go to UCF," Jordan McCray said. "He's really happy about it."

Their parents were also pleased.

"They really like that we're going to UCF," Jordan McCray said. "Basically that was my mom and dad's first pick, but they didn't tell us until afterwards. They didn't want to sway us or make us feel pressured by them, but they liked UCF a lot. That's where they really wanted us to go."

There's a chance all three McCray brothers could play together in 2010. Cliff is expected to apply for a medical redshirt after this season and if granted would be a senior during Jordan and Justin's freshman season.

"That would be great," Jordan McCray said. "We were always five years apart and never played on the same team, so it would be a dream almost for us to play together."

The McCrays, who will likely play guard at the next level, join center Perry Meiklejohn as offensive line commits in next year's class. They are already familiar with Meiklejohn, who attends nearby Westminster Christian Academy.

"I grew up with Perry and we went to middle school together," Jordan McCray said. "We're real good friends. I'll probably give him a call later to talk about everything."

They had planned to attend several college camps this summer, but they're happy to now have the process behind them.

"Now I can just worry about my season coming up," Jordan McCray said. "We're both real excited about playing college football. Our dream is to go to the NFL and this is going to be the next step."

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