Miramar’s Gregori McCrae chooses Navy on National Signing Day

Gregori McCrae beamed with pride after watching six teammates sign national letters of intent Wednesday at Miramar High School.

“The Class of 2016? We good,” McCrae said.

The senior running back signed to play for Navy. Terrell Lucas signed with Duke, Korel Smith chose Florida Atlantic, Shemar Jean Charles picked Appalachian State, Obinna Nwankwo chose Florida A&M, Kyle Anthony chose Howard, and Deshon’dre Pitts picked the University of West Florida.

“It means the world,” coach Pierre Senatus said. “This is more important than a state championship or national championship. We’ve done that. I’ve done that. This is a combination of all they worked for from kindergarten to Pop Warner football coming to life. It’s incredible.”

Lucas, a defensive end, chose Duke for academics and opportunity.

“Obviously I had other colleges after me, but I decided to stick with Duke for the best opportunity to play early, and I was ready,” he said.

“Both of my parents have their master’s degrees, so education was very important to me. I had to choose a school that if football didn’t work out, my degree would actually mean something instead of just being a football school.”

McCrae plans to major in computer and electrical engineering.

“It was between Florida A&M and Navy,” McCrae said. “I went up to Florida A&M and really liked the campus. I went up to Navy the next weekend and I fell in love with the place as soon as I got there … the place is outstanding. It’s an opportunity I couldn’t pass up.”

This story was originally published February 3, 2016 at 4:56 PM with the headline "Miramar’s Gregori McCrae chooses Navy on National Signing Day."