Dutch Fork’s Austin Connor on the fast track to success

Austin Connor always thought of himself as a track guy.

But after a breakout season on the gridiron, the Dutch Fork junior has changed his tune and football has become his top priority. This offseason, Connor has gone from unknown to one of the state’s top prospects.

Connor is ranked by 247Sports as the state’s 12^th-ranked prospect for the Class of 2017, and is coming off a strong performance at the Nike Opening in Charlotte last weekend where he ranked in the top 20 of more than 300 athletes.

The college offers have started pouring in for the speedy receiver. Virginia Tech was the first to offer in February, and South Carolina followed shortly after that. Connor has 14 offers, including four from SEC schools – USC, Georgia Vanderbilt and Tennessee. He also has an offer from Duke and three from Ivy League schools, who like his 4.3 GPA along with his athletic talent.

“It is very exciting and very overwhelming. I had to deal with a lot of visits and travel. So it is a little overwhelming,” Connor said. “But I am enjoying it. I love to see new places, never been to Athens or Tennessee. It has been great. I love it.”

Connor said his top five schools at the moment are USC, Virginia Tech, Tennessee, Georgia and Vanderbilt.

The rising senior isn’t in a rush making his college choice, saying it could come anywhere from the beginning of summer to the end of the season. He and his mother have made a chart outlining the pros and cons of schools with such information as early playing time, the type of quarterback and offense each school runs and which ones offer his major of engineering.

Connor, who stands 5-foot-11 and 185 pounds, credits his mother for getting him involved in sports after she signed him up for track at the age of six when she couldn’t catch him chasing him around the track. He started playing football shortly after that.

As a sophomore, he finished third in the state in the 200 meters at the Class 4A championships. Last year, he was second behind Spartanburg’s Tavien Feaster, who set a state record in the event.

But with Feaster recovering from surgery, Connor has his sights on winning a state crown after repeating as champion in the 100 and 200 in the Region 4-4A meet Thursday.

“That’s always the goal,” Connor said of winning a state title. “Why do something if you don’t want to go for the win?”

Connor will be juggling both sports for the next few weeks with spring football practice beginning Monday. He caught 30 passes for team-high 805 yards and five touchdowns last year after missing the first two games because of ankle surgery.

Connor had five 100-yard receiving games, including a season-high seven catches for 129 yards against Dorman in his first game back from injury.

“Austin has blazing world-class speed, and that is the best thing he brings to the table. He is also a smart and intelligent player, and he uses that attribute on the field,” Dutch Fork coach Tom Knotts said. “The track is littered with fast guys. But there is a reason they are on the track and not on the football field making millions of dollars or getting a free education. They either can’t catch or can’t run a route.

“And that is what is Austin has been working on the past couple of years, and hopefully we will see his work make him an all-around football player rather than just a long threat.”

Connor said he’s put in the extra time this offseason working on routes and drills with the other receivers. He’s part of a talented receiving corps for the Silver Foxes, which includes Clemson baseball commit Ward Hacklen and Bobby Irby. The trio should help as Dutch Fork is breaking in a new quarterback to replace senior Cole Douglas, who signed to play at Dartmouth.

“We should have another great year. I think we will be fine,” Connor said.