Recruiting Radar: Maliq Carr playing big for Oak Park
CLARKSTON - Last weekend, SpartanMag.com made its second trip of the season to Oakland County, this time to see Clarkston take on Oak Park.
In a contest that pitted OAA-Red champion (Clarkston) and OAA-White champion (Oak Park), this matchup had all the makeup to be a classic, with Oak Park ranked No. 2 in Division 2 and Clarkston ranked No. 8 in Division I.
Oak Park’s 14 points in the second quarter proved to be the difference in this slug fest as the Knights went on to defeat the defending Division 1 state champions, 21-14.
Oak Park junior wide receiver Maliq Carr caught one pass for 28 yards for the Knights and was a key run blocker with his big frame at 6-foot-5, 215 pounds.
“I thought we played hard,” Carr said. “We played our kind of football on Friday and showed we can play with anyone with the state.”
Carr and the Knights finished the regular season at 8-1 and will host Ferndale, Friday in the first round of the playoffs.
“This year as a team we’ve all really come together,” Carr said. “I’ve come a long way this year, continuing to get bigger, faster, and stronger on top of watching and understanding film.”
On Saturday Carr made the trip to East Lansing where Carr was a visitor for the game against Michigan.
Despite the 21-7 loss to the Wolverines, Carr was impressed with what he saw at Michigan State.
“The visit was nice, I had fun,” says Carr. “I thought State played hard and tough despite having some people hurt including two top receivers.”
Carr is in frequent contact with area recruiter and Michigan State quarterbacks coach Brad Salem.
“I text Coach Salem almost every day,” says Carr. “I want to go back eventually again and hopefully get offered.”
Carr is a 5.6 three star recruit and ranked No. 20 in Michigan. He played like a four-star recruit at the Grand Valley State Camp in July, with excellent route running, quality hands in catching the ball away from his body with smoothness, and tenacity to go with his physical frame.
Carr has 13 offers including Nebraska, Iowa, Kentucky, Missouri, and most recently Pittsburgh.
“I’ve been talking to a lot of schools in the Midwest, specifically Ohio State, Michigan, Northwestern, Rutgers, Purdue and Notre Dame,” Carr said. “I plan on visiting Purdue, Notre Dame, and Ohio State in the coming weeks.”