In Texas, call Daryl Stonum “Prime Time”

In Sugar Land, Texas Daryl Stonum is known as “Prime Time” because he turns on that 4.38 speed to make big plays look easy. One of the nation’s most highly-coveted wide receivers, Stonum is a deep threat and a feared punt returner who already has 28 scholarship offers including one from the Florida Gators.

“They call me ‘Prime Time’,” said Stonum, who plays for Dulles High School. “I got the name last year when I returned two punts for touchdowns in the conference finals. That’s when it really started to be used, but I’ve been called it since I was in middle school and used to play cornerback. I always returned kicks then too.”

The 6-2, 180-pounder has offers from most of the top programs in the country. He’s already put together a top five and it’s a very impressive list.

“My current top five is Michigan, Florida, Florida State, USC, and Alabama,” Stonum said. “I have offers from all of them.”

Stonum took a moment to talk about what he likes about his top five schools.

FLORIDA: “I like all the coaches. I think that’s the kind of offense I would do well in. They’ve got some great quarterbacks there already like Tim Tebow, guys that I would love to catch the ball from.

“I also know Andre (Caldwell) is going to graduate this year. That gives me a good chance to get some playing time because of their depth chart. They also just won a national championship, and you can’t get much better than that.”

MICHIGAN: “Two of my teammates are going up there already so that helps them. They also have Ryan Mallet up there and he’s a really good quarterback.”

FLORIDA STATE: “I grew up liking the Seminoles. Bobby Bowden is a great coach so they’ve always interested me. I also got my nickname, ‘Prime Time’ from when Deion Sanders played there.”

USC: “Well I love Pete Carroll. They always put tons of wide receivers in the NFL. They have tons of high draft picks every year at all positions. If you want to go to the league, that’s a great place to play.”

ALABAMA: “They just got Nick Saban, and that’s a lot of publicity. I think they had 100,000 people at the spring game. They have a lot of wide receivers graduating. I haven’t heard about the quarterback situation, but I’m sure they’re good there too.”

With a top five of some of the best schools in the nation, it is only a matter of time before these schools roll out the red carpet when Stonum visits their campuses. For now, he is only focused on the track season at hand.

“State track meet is this coming weekend, so I’ll probably start visiting all of the schools in the summer,” he said.

When it comes to the Gators, Stonum claims he has great relationships with three coaches for the current national champions.

“I talk Coach [Billy] Gonzales, Coach [Urban] Meyer, and Coach [Dan] Mullen,” Stonum said. “They give me a lot of information on the program. Meyer and Gonzales are great to talk to. I have really good conversations with all of them, and I can tell they care a lot about me. I know Coach Meyer is young and really down to earth.”

It is no surprise the approach the Florida coaches take when they’re talking to Stonum. Urban Meyer makes no bones about it. He wants the fastest team in America.

“Speed kills is what they tell me, and I have the speed that they want to see out of me,” Stonum said. “They think I’m a perfect fit for their program.”

In describing his own abilities on the football field, he sees himself as a very versatile prospect. His ability to go down the field or make plays with the ball makes his value increase greatly.

“I think that when people see my statistics, they think that I am a guy who just runs down the field and catches the ball down the field,” Stonum said. “A lot of the time though, I’m catching the ball near the line of scrimmage and making things happen. I work really hard making a lot of five yard routes. I think I’m a great wide receiver at catching the ball and making plays.”

Stonum also claims that he has a list of characteristics that he hopes his school of the future maintains.

“I just want a great school all around,” Stonum said. “Academics are big for me too. I’m going to major in business management. I want my school to be clean too and have no negative press either. I don’t want to redshirt my freshman year either, and Coach Meyer told me he doesn’t do that much anyways.”

Stay tuned to Gator Country for video highlights on “Prime Time”…