Can UK land the most-coveted football prospect from Eastern Kentucky since Tim Couch?
For Johnson Central football standout Grant Bingham, every time his cell phone pings now it carries the potential of conversing with someone famous.
Over the past six months, the 6-foot-6, 302-pound offensive lineman has blown up into one of the most coveted class of 2022 college football recruits in Kentucky.
Bingham says his rapidly expanding recruitment “was kind of out of the blue. I wasn’t expecting it to get this big.”
Notre Dame has offered Bingham a scholarship. So, too, have Michigan, Michigan State and Nebraska.
When Arizona State called to offer, Bingham found himself on the phone with Pro Football Hall of Famer Kevin Mawae, one of the best centers in NFL history and now an ASU offensive analyst.
“My son got to talk to a Hall of Famer. It’s just unbelievable,” says Carl Bingham, Grant’s dad. “That was pretty awesome.”
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After Grant Bingham helped Johnson Central complete an undefeated (15-0) 2019 Class 4A state championship, his college recruiting lifted off quietly with back-to-back scholarship offers from Western Michigan (Jan. 31) and Toledo (Feb. 13).
However, as video circulated of a 6-6, 302-pound giant with such agility that he thrives on the tennis court, Power Five conference offers began to roll in for Bingham.
Michigan State (April 14) was first, followed by Vanderbilt (April 15). Five days later (April 20) came Cincinnati, Nebraska and home-state Kentucky.
Next up were West Virginia (April 22), Purdue (April 23) and Michigan (May 1). Those were soon followed by offers from Georgia Tech (May 14), Notre Dame (May 15) and Arizona State (May 20).
TCU (June 3) and Louisville (July 11) have been the two most recent major-conference programs to offer scholarships.
Now holding 13 Power Five offers (counting Notre Dame), Bingham seems on his way to compiling the most impressive list of college suitors for an Eastern Kentucky high school football prospect since Leslie County star Tim Couch in the class of 1996.
“I think anytime something like this happens, you’ve got to be a little bit surprised,” says Johnson Central Coach Jim Matney.
What has impressed the college recruiters, Matney says, is Bingham’s combination of size and fluidity.
“He’s a 300-pounder, but he runs almost like a skill player, a tight end,” Matney says. “I think what makes Grant special and separates him from a lot of linemen is his ability to run and move.”
Bingham says those who relish seeing a large athlete who is light on his feet should come watch him cover the baseline on the tennis court.
“I can cover it — and it’s really something to see,” he says, laughing. “Tennis is my other (sport) that I enjoy doing. It’s very fun. And you don’t see a lot of big guys playing tennis.”
If the efforts to contain the coronavirus succeed sufficiently to allow a high school football season to be played in 2020, Bingham will be one of the leaders of a Johnson Central team seeking its third 4A state title (2016 and 2019) in the past five seasons.
Back in the spring, when the pandemic had weight rooms and other workout venues closed, Bingham continued to get ready for the 2020 season by embracing an outdoors training regimen.
“I would go outside and run,” he says. “I would hit a tire with a (sledge)hammer. And I’d just flip tires.”
Looking to the future, Bingham thinks he could play either tackle or guard in college “but, honestly, I think I will probably play an interior spot on the line,” he says.
Pass blocking is the area in which Bingham feels he still needs the most development. “In the mountains, we pass the ball, maybe, three times a game,” he says.
As a rising high school junior, Bingham has ample time before he will need to bring recruiting to a halt by making a decision.
Like many who grow up in Eastern Kentucky, Bingham says he has always been a UK fan.
“My family loves Kentucky. We grew up watching them,” Bingham says. “But (in recruiting), I definitely have to set that aside. I have to figure out what is going to be best for me. ... We want a winning program, a family feel, just whatever is best for me. And that’s how I am going to make that decision.”
As for now, Bingham and his family are navigating a recruiting process that has so far been enjoyable — yet, in a way peculiar to 2020, uniquely frustrating, too.
“It’s been exciting,” Robyn Bingham, Grant’s mother, says of her son’s recruitment. “The bad thing, COVID(-19) has put a damper on getting to make some visits and going to see some of these schools that have offered him. But my son will have college paid for. And that feels like hitting the lottery.”
This story was originally published July 23, 2020 at 5:13 PM.
