Cincinnati commit Chad Willis: Sub-11 speed is drawing offers and changing his recruitment

Rivals saw Orchard Lake (Mich.) St. Mary’s wide receiver Chad Willis at The Polynesian Bowl Combine in early May and, fresh off a Cincinnati commitment, he looked fantastic.

Then he did again at Under Armour Ohio, where he was a top-10 performer.

Somewhere in that same time period, he ran 10.97 in the 100-meter dash at 6-foot-2+, 215 pounds. Willis has always been big and skilled but not considered a speedster, so that sub-11 time caught a lot of eyes.

After his school’s college workout day, North Carolina and Auburn offered, and numerous other schools have circled back. He remains committed to Cincinnati but wants to visit UNC and Auburn to check those boxes. But given what schools are seeing, the offers may not stop.

“I think the biggest thing with Chad is really wanting to focus on showing that he can really run,” St. Mary’s head coach Jermaine Gonzalez said. “He was intentional and purposeful in going and competing as well as working in track, then working on himself and his body. He’s gotten taller, slimmed out, running well across the board and getting stronger and being a leader. That’s an area that we talked about a lot in his earlier years was maturing into a leadership role. Everything is clicking at the right time all at once for him. It’s noticeable.”

Coaches (and there were many) who attended the workout day gave that feedback.

“They said this kid is not the same kid we saw last year or two years ago with how he’s moving,” Gonzalez said. “Also how he competed, how he finished every drill and again, his body has been changing in the weight room. I believe he probably grew an inch or so, and is slimming out too.”

This, combined with the talents and positional prowess Willis has always shown, has him flying up boards.

“He has raw talent,” Gonzalez said. “He’s always had a natural ability to catch ball with his hands. His hand-eye coordination is through the roof. Big personality too. Chad is a big personality and a lot of coaches gravitate to him. He’s a very confident kid. He has great route running ability to be that big. Chad always says he likes to play like he’s 5’7 and running sharp routes, getting in and out of his breaks quickly and being shifty doing it in a 6-foot-3, 210-pound body.”

Willis is currently rated 87 by Rivals.