The Tribune

By RENALDO DORSETT

Tribune Sports Reporter

rdorsett@tribunemedia.net

PRINCE Strachan ended his recruitment during the early signing period and announced his commitment to the Boise State Broncos.

The senior wide receiver out of John Carroll Catholic in Fort Pierce, Florida, and the younger brother of Indianapolis Colts receiver Mike Strachan, joins a vaunted Broncos incoming class that ranks No. 1 in the Mountain West Conference and No. 50 in the country, according to 247Sports. The class is ranked No. 67 nationally.

“This moment is a dream come true for me and my family. This is what I trained all my life for — playing football and earning that big scholarship, but the job is not yet done. There were a lot of obstacles I had to go through to get to this point. Just staying focused on my end goal and training hard is what kept me going and motivated,” Strachan said in a statement to the TC Palm.

“My sophomore year when I got [to John Carroll] from the Bahamas, I always had that belief that this could happen. My family always believed, too. I came a long way, but we always had that dream that I could get that big scholarship. I was never relaxed. My goal was always to be the best player. I always had that goal to get a bigger scholarship that was the plan. We felt like I deserved it with the seasons I had.”

The Broncos are 7-5 this season and are headed for a December 31 matchup with Central Michigan in the Barstool Sports Arizona Bowl.

The programme is 12–7 in bowl games since 1999, including a 3-0 record in the Fiesta Bowl and has a winning percentage of .732 all time in Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) football.

The 6’4”, 195-pound Grand Bahama native relocated to the Fort Pierce institution following Hurricane Dorian. He played sparingly as a sophomore but evolved into the top receiving threat for the Rams by his senior season.

“My family played a big role in this, too. They told me never to give up and train hard because nothing is given to you. It was a lot of obstacles,” Strachan said.

“Coming here was exciting to me because my dad always had that dream. The hard thing was just leaving my family. They toured the school and made sure I was settled in and then they went back home. That’s when it hit that I’m over here and I’m about to do this thing. I thought it was going to take a long, long time but we’re already in my senior year.”

This season, Strachan finished with 33 receptions for 773 yards and 10 touchdowns this season, all team leads. He also averaged 21.8 yards per catch and 80.1 receiving yards per game in nine contests.

The Rams finished their season 7-3 and played in a regional final for the second consecutive season in the Florida High School Athletic Association Region 4-2A title game.

His varsity high school career concluded with 70 receptions for over 1,400 yards and 26 touchdowns.

Last season he finished with a team-leading 33 receptions for 633 yards and eight touchdowns last year. His yardage and touchdown totals were second on the team. He also averaged 18.6 yards per catch and 57.5 receiving yards per game in 11 contests.

Strachan will join Boise State as a grey shirt which means he will be eligible to play in January 2023.

A greyshirt is when a team offers a player enrolment on scholarship at the start of the second semester, after the upcoming season.

The athlete then has five years to play four seasons, with the ability to redshirt at some point.

Athletes who greyshirt are allowed to enrol as students. They go to class for the first semester as part-time students, either at the school or at a junior college, without starting their eligibility clocks. Then they begin as full-time students on scholarship.

Strachan recently concluded his high school football career with a play that garnered national recognition by the worldwide leader in sports.

His 52-yard touchdown reception against Champagnat Catholic in the Florida High School Athletic Association playoff game was featured on the “You Got Mossed” segment on ESPN’s “Sunday NFL Countdown” on November 27.

Jerome Strachan played wide receiver collegiately at Bethune Cookman and is credited with introducing the game to his sons.

Both young receivers look to continue the lineage established by their father.

Mike was selected by the Indianapolis Colts in the seventh round of the 2021 NFL Draft and Prince looks to follow in those footsteps. “I appreciate my brother a lot. He’s who I look up to and who I aspire and want to be like one day. He played a big role in my life,” Prince said.

“My dad and brother taught me a lot about the game and he was the first to go through this process that I’m doing now.

“I learned a lot from him coming over here. It made it easier for me to know what to expect and not let anything catch me by surprise.”