By Kent Youngblood

McClatchy Newspapers 

MINNEAPOLIS -- For two years they asked. In the halls, at lunch, after school, before Spencer Reeves and Keanon Cooper and Troy Stoudermire would go to football practice. They would see Da'Jon McKnight and they'd say:

Come back.

But for two years, McKnight didn't listen. At Skyline High School in Dallas, you had to choose: basketball or football. You couldn't do both at the varsity level. So McKnight, who had played running back as a freshman with Cooper and Reeves, decided on his first love as a sophomore -- basketball.

But he kept hearing it, especially from Reeves. Actually, mainly from Reeves. Cooper was all about football and will admit today that he was kind of mad that McKnight had quit the sport in the first place.

All three can laugh about it now. The three of them -- along with Troy Stoudermire, who transferred into Skyline for his senior year --are teammates with the Gophers football team. McKnight's old high school teammates say versions of the same thing: "See? I told you so."

McKnight can only smile. He was part of the famed four Skyline players to become a part of Gophers coach Tim Brewster's first full recruiting class. But, because he had only played one year of varsity football, because nobody had any film to watch of him as the recruiting process heated up before that senior season, McKnight might have been the least heralded. Cooper was rated a four-star recruit. Reeves and Stoudermire three stars each. McKnight, relatively new to the sport, rated two.

During his college coming out party Saturday night against Michigan State, McKnight -- who had spent one-plus seasons as Eric Decker's backup --made four catches for 98 yards in a 42-34 victory. He had two catches as a freshman and none this year before Saturday, when he started in place of Decker, the senior standout out for the season because of a foot injury.

McKnight ran a post and went high to catch his first pass, a 15-yarder in the first quarter. He made another 16-yarder early in the second quarter.

Then, the big one: The Gophers had fallen behind 31-28 as the third quarter ended. Five plays into the ensuing drive, McKnight ran a deep post. Weber let it fly, and the ball seemed to hang in the air forever. With a defensive back on his back, McKnight hauled in the pass and ran a few yards before being tackled at the MSU 2 for a 53-yard gain. On the next play, the Gophers scored a touchdown to take the lead for good.

"Before the game, I wasn't scared," McKnight said. "I was nervous, but I wasn't scared. After that first catch, the pressure of stepping into Eric's shoes was off. I made the catch, got tackled. I got up and thought, 'OK, I'm ready now, let's go.'"

Maybe football was the right choice. At 6-3, McKnight is tall. Add an impressive vertical leap and outstanding speed and you have an ideal combination.

"He can jump out of the gym and he can run," Gophers receivers coach Richard Hightower said. "God gave him some natural ability. It's up to us to keep developing him."

Plenty of athleticism

McKnight came to Minnesota a raw talent. He has worked hard, and done his best to study everything Decker did. But he still needs to refine his route-running and hone his skills at reading coverages.

"When I came in, there were all these big names," McKnight said. He was part of a very highly regarded group of incoming receivers, such as Brandon Green, Brodrick Smith, Stoudermire and Xzavian Brandon. Decker was already here.

"I figured all I could do was come in and work hard," McKnight said. "I leaned on Troy and Coop to get me through."

A season and a half after arriving, McKnight's upside looks immense.

"We spent two years trying to get him back," Reeves said of high school. "I knew he was a player. I said, 'Da'Jon, come back. Play. You have talent.' He didn't listen as a sophomore. He didn't listen as a junior. We finally got him back and he earned a scholarship."

McKnight sat down with his parents and Skyline's athletic director and talked. They all agreed that football might offer him the best chance at a college scholarship.

"I miss basketball, but football is my bread and butter now," he said.

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