This player who has made ESPN’s top plays leaves door open for a flip from Pitt to UM

Columbus running back Henry Parrish Jr. — who had a 17-carry, 324-yard rushing game in a win over local rival Belen this season — was asked recently if his verbal, non-binding commitment to the University of Pittsburgh is solid or if there’s a chance he will go elsewhere.

“There’s a chance,” said Parrish, who ran for 2,025 yards last year as a junior and this season has rushed for 807 yards, an 11.9 average per carry, and eight touchdowns in four games.

Donald Chaney Jr., a Belen running back who has given his commitment to the Miami Hurricanes, said he has talked to Parrish about joining him in Coral Gables.

Parrish was asked: Is there a chance you could join him?

“Probably,” Parrish said after a pause.

Parrish, who wants to study business, went on to say he “fell in love” with the Pitt coaching staff and players.

“They welcomed me, and it felt like home,” said Parrish, who committed to Pitt on June 19. “It’s a brotherhood there, kind of like Columbus.”

Parrish’s father, Henry Sr., is a Florida State fan and said he would be upset if his son chose Miami. But Henry Sr. also said his wife, Tequila Holmes-Parris, “is the boss” and will have more influence on the choice.

So … what does Holmes-Parrish say?

“It’s [Henry Jr.’s] decision, but he told me he’s not for sure,” she said. “We will support him 100. It could be that his friends are in his ear about another school.”

For what it’s worth, the website 247Sports gives a 50-50 prediction between Miami and Pitt.

Homes-Parrish said she was impressed with Pitt when she went with her son on what so far has been his only official visit. Miami, she said, wasn’t as impressive in what it can offer in terms of academic support, although she acknowledged that might be because she and her son went there on an unofficial visit.

The distance from home is also an issue worth considering, Holmes-Parrish said.

“I’m not a hip and a hop away [if he goes to Pitt],” she said.

Parrish, a distant cousin of former Hurricanes and NFL wide receiver Roscoe Parrish, made ESPN SportsCenter’s No. 2 play of the day for the third of his three touchdowns against Belen.

The Columbus offensive line did a good job for most of the night — Parrish wasn’t even touched on his second TD, which went for 76 yards.

But on the play that made SportsCenter, a 27-yarder, Parrish was forced to break eight tackles to get to the end zone.

“I told [Parrish] to thank the offensive line — they made him look good by missing so many blocks at the point of attack,” Columbus coach David Dunn said. “There are times [Parrish’s] athleticism makes up for our mistakes, and there are other times we block things well and spring him into the secondary.”

A case can be made that Parrish is better than his three-star ranking and stronger than his 5-10, 190-pound frame.

“College coaches don’t look at stars — nor do I,” said Dunn, who has coached at that level. “If you look at the offers [Parrish] has, if [recruiting services] want to keep him at three stars, so be it. He would be the best three-star in that class.”

Dunn said he was surprised by how good Parrish is at picking up blitzes. Blocking is usually the most difficult aspect for young college running backs to learn, but Dunn doesn’t think it will be a problem for the hard-nosed Parrish.

Perhaps that’s because Parrish — who started playing Pop Warner football at age seven for the Richmond Heights Giants — was originally a linebacker.

That’s the position Parrish Sr. preferred for his son. But, at age 10, Parrish Jr. was moved to running back by a youth-league coach named Nate Fagan of the Goulds Rams.

“I said, ‘He ain’t no linebacker’,” Parrish Sr. said of his initial reaction.

Eventually, Parrish Sr. saw that the toughness his son learned at linebacker had transferred to the backfield, where he quickly became a runner who preferred to take contact inside than bounce to the edges.

By the ninth grade, Parrish enrolled at Columbus, and he has continued to get stronger. His father thinks he will grow to a solid 205-pounder while in college.

“He’s a shifty kind of guy, but he can drop that shoulder on you,” Columbus wide receiver Xzavier Henderson said. “He can tote that pill.”

Columbus offensive lineman Jordan Garcia said Belen’s Chaney is a “good back”, but he’s no Parrish.

“Henry Parrish,” Garcia said, “is the best running back in Florida.”

▪ Henderson, a 6-4, 180-pound senior and the nation’s 12th-ranked receiver, told the Miami Herald he has narrowed his college choices to Florida, Clemson, Alabama, LSU, Georgia, and Miami.

This story was originally published September 23, 2019 at 2:18 PM.