High school football player chooses academics over athletics.

Kentucky football star Donovan McCoy made a decision many successful high school athletes wouldn’t make – choosing academics over a football scholarship.

McCoy’s first season as a starter was this year, his senior year. He was named first-team All-State quarterback and led his team to the Class 4A state football championship. His stats were impressive: he threw for 2,769 yards and 32 touchdowns while running for 1,144 and another 22 touchdowns.

The standout Kentucky QB has a 4.4 GPA at Highlands High School (Fort Thomas, KY) and earned a score of 34 on the ACT.

McCoy told the Cincinnati Enquirer, “Up to the end of the season, I thought I was wanting to play and looking for a place to play but I have reached a point where I have gotten what I need out of football. I’ve played for 12 years and I’m 18 years old and my body has been to hell and back. I still love the game of football…but as a player it’s just something I’m ready to move on from.”

Highlands coach Dale Mueller told MaxPreps that McCoy is one of the best quarterbacks he has coached. He said that while McCoy may lack size at 6-foot-1 and 190 pounds (Scout.com), he is very athletic and believes that lower-division schools would have been a good fit. He also believes McCoy could have walked on at some Division I colleges as a defensive back if the quarterback position didn’t work out.

Coach Mueller said that Dayton and other Ivy League schools showed heavy interest in his star quarterback. McCoy plans to major in biomechanical engineering and is unsure of which college he will attend.