Posted: Oct. 28, 2014 | UPDATED: Nov. 10, 2014
James H. Williams | Managing Editor
Riverside City College’s Isaac Whitney has collected 11 scholarship offers to play wide receiver for a Division I football program in 2015.
After playing defensive back in high school, Whitney found his calling as a wide receiver during his senior year at Southmoore High in Moore, Oklahoma.
“They were short at the position and I hit a growth spurt,” Whitney explained. “That is when they switched me to wide receiver.”
Following his time at Southmoore, Whitney attended the University of Central Oklahoma for the first two years of his collegiate career.
After redshirting for the 2012 season, Whitney had 11 catches for 100 receiving yards in 2013. He averaged 9.1 yards on the season.
It was not until Whitney heard about the Tigers’ football program from one of his previous coaches that he decided to transfer for a better opportunity.
“He said RCC was a good school to (attend) and they get players to Division I programs,” Whitney said. “So I decided to come here.”
It did not take long for Whitney to begin drawing interest and receiving scholarship offers.
Whitney’s first offer was from the Washington State Cougars on Aug. 14, a team that has continued to show strong interest in his talent.
“Washington State sends a lot of mail,” he said. “They want me pretty bad so I am going to take a visit there.”
He also has offers from programs such as USC, Texas Tech and West Virginia among others.
“Many of them are losing their No. 1 receiver next season,” Whitney said. “They are all in need of a junior college receiver that can play right away.”
While Whitney has mentioned USC as his “dream school,” the receiver would not mind exploring the option of UCLA if he were to receive an offer.
Despite the interest and numerous letters he has received, Whitney has held off any campus visits until after the 2014 season with the RCC Tigers. Whitney also told Viewpoints that he will make his decision around the time of the New Year.
Whitney had 120 receiving yards in a victory over Chaffey Nov. 8 in which the Tigers clinched a playoff berth and the Central League Championship.
His performance against Chaffey followed his previous two catches for 7 yards in the last two games combined, which were against Mt. San Antonio and Long Beach City.
Both teams entered its respective meeting with RCC ranked as one of the top two teams in Southern California.
“I started to notice about two games ago,” he said. “I guess they started game planning for me because they realized I was a threat.”
Whitney added that he has to get use to the extra attention on the field from defenders and make any adjustments necessary to contribute to his team.
The receiver has 41 catches and 668 yards through the first nine games of the regular season.
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RCC WR Isaac Whitney (@IsaacWhitney8) received his 11th scholarship offer from the Florida Gators. #RCCnow http://t.co/xgrIdbhN9T
— James H. Williams (@JHWreporter) November 11, 2014