Manchester’s Jontavious Ferguson commits to UCF

With his senior year quickly approaching, Manchester linebacker Jontavious Ferguson has made a decision regarding his college plans.

Ferguson verbally committed to UCF on May 22. The 6-foot-1, 210-pound linebacker is considered a three-star recruit by the 247 Sports Composite ranking and the 67th-best inside linebacker recruit in the country.

Ferguson has 10 scholarships offers at this point, including ones from Appalachian State, Arkansas State and South Alabama.

“Want to say that I’m truly blessed to say that I have verbal (sic) committed to #UCF,” Ferguson tweeted. Ferguson tagged UCF head coach Scott Frost and linebackers coach Jovan Dewitt in his post.

Want to say that I'm truly blessed to say that I have verbal committed to #UCF @coach_frost @Coach_Dewitt pic.twitter.com/KZ2r9bKtoQ

— Jontavious Ferguson (@jontaviou74) May 22, 2017

Ferguson’s head coach at Manchester, Evan Hochstetler, spoke highly of the new Knights commit.

“First and foremost, he’s a hard worker on and off the field,” Hochstetler said. “He does all the right things in the classroom, and he’s just a pleasure to be around as far as being a student-athlete.”

Looking at Ferguson’s play on the field, Hochstetler said his film stands out.

“He’s explosive,” Hochstetler said. “He gets to the ball and he always makes really good contact when he’s striking. He’s running all over the field. He makes tackles in the A and B gaps, runs the alleys pretty good and runs to the sidelines to make tackles as well.”

Ferguson is coming off a strong junior season for the Blue Devils. He was an important piece on defense, registering 62 tackles with four sacks and 11 tackles for loss. Ferguson’s play helped the Blue Devils go 10-2 and reach the second round of the playoffs in Hochstetler’s second season as head coach.

For his efforts, Ferguson was named to the All-Bi-City Football Small School Team.

Hochstetler said the Blue Devils will depend on Ferguson to take his game to the next level in 2017. He explained that a lot of players make considerable strides between their sophomore and junior years, as Ferguson did. The next year allows for the players to build upon that progress and get even bigger, faster and stronger.

“We’re very excited about it,” Hochstetler said. “He’s going to be a senior, so we expect (a lot) that senior year. He’s got to play like a senior and be the cowbell and leader of the football team.”

This story was originally published June 2, 2017 at 4:13 PM with the headline "Manchester’s Jontavious Ferguson commits to UCF."