Don’t let the size fool you. Dynamic KZ Adams ‘the heart and soul’ of Gray Collegiate
KZ Adams has aspirations of being an actor and starring in television or movies one day.
For the past four years, Adams has had a leading role for the Gray Collegiate football team. The senior took over the starting role as a freshman and has been a big part of Gray’s success the past four years.
The Class 2A War Eagles were one game away from a state championship appearance last year and are off to a 4-0 start this season heading into Friday’s big matchup against Class 5A traditional power Gaffney.
“He is the heart and soul of our team,” Gray football coach Adam Holmes told The State this week. “What he has is natural and you can’t teach it. He doesn’t want to come off the field. We have to drag him off the field.
“He is special. To do what he has done (against) everyone on a consistent basis shows he is the best back in the state.”
The 5-foot-8 Adams is part of a talented senior running back class in the Midlands. Hammond’s CJ Stokes (Michigan) and Chapin’s Bennett Galloway (N.C. State) have committed to play at Power 5 schools.
The Gray Collegiate standout said he got some interest from Power 5 schools Louisville and from Will Muschamp’s coaching staff while at South Carolina, but he committed to former USC coach Shawn Elliott and Georgia State on June 30.
“I wanted to go to South Carolina. I’m a South Carolina kid. But I didn’t really worry about it,” Adams said. Tuesday before practice. “I knew I would have the opportunity to play at a Division I school anyway.
“Georgia State was my first offer. They didn’t judge me on my size. I almost committed right there when they offered me. I want to go to college to do film study, so it helps being right there in Atlanta. The school loves me. I had that great connection.”
Adams said he would like to be an actor and possibly a director one day. He helps out and appears in school videos at Gray Collegiate.
Adams didn’t know his success would come at the running back position. He thought he would be a slot receiver but was moved over to running back and into the starting lineup against Swansea in the second game of the 2018 season.
Against the Tigers, Adams had 220 yards and two touchdowns — and finished with 1,000 yards that year. He has gone over 1,000 yards in each of the first three seasons and is on pace for that again this year with 766 yards and 10 touchdowns through four games.
For his career, Adams has 5,537 yards rushing and 77 touchdowns while catching 77 passes for 943 yards and six touchdowns. He also has two touchdowns on special teams.
“He is dynamic with the ball in his hands, and his team’s success is directly related to what he does.” Ridge View coach Derek Howard said. “He makes them feel like he could compete with everyone and everybody. He is a special talent and is having an amazing year.
“It is hard to say he is down to the whistle blows.”
Howard saw that firsthand earlier this month when Adams put on a show in the 28-18 win over Ridge View, a Class 5A school that was unbeaten at the time. Adams had 210 yards rushing, three touchdowns and added to his lengthy highlight reel-collection with a 30-yard touchdown reception.
On that play, Gray Collegiate quarterback Tre Robinson scrambled to elude the Ridge View pass rush and dumped it off to Adams, who made a total of five Blazers defenders miss on the play for the score.
Adams said that play made his own all-time Top 10 list he has compiled throughout his career.
“There are some crazy plays that people don’t have on camera, and some I didn’t score touchdowns on. But that one (Ridge View) is up there,” Adams said. “If you are coming to watch me play, you are going to notice the vision, ability and acceleration. You are going to see Barry Sanders and Reggie Bush put together.”
Adams says he watches a lot of old YouTube videos on Sanders, the NFL Hall of Famer, and Bush, who had his share of highlight-reel plays in high school, then at Southern Cal and in the NFL.
Holmes said Adams has some of Sanders’ characteristics with his lateral movement and his ability to make defenders miss.
Unlike those two backs, Adams hasn’t attracted the bigger colleges despite his impressive production and skill set. Adams’ size might have played some role in that. He is listed at 5-foot-8 but might be closer to 5-7.
Early on his career, Adams said he would get looks and trash talk from opposing players, but he doesn’t hear much of that anymore.
“I practice like I am not good at all. I have that chip on my shoulder because of size,” he said.
This story was originally published September 23, 2021 at 6:00 AM.
