Meet top-rated high school football prospect: Providence Day lineman David Sanders

David Sanders said he doesn’t talk about sports much when he’s at home.

Sanders is a rising junior at Providence Day School. He’s 6-foot-6, 260 pounds. He plays left tackle. He’s also the No. 1 high school football recruit in America in his class.

And everybody wants him.

Alabama. Clemson. Georgia. Ohio State. Southern California.

You name the program, it has offered.

Sanders has 132 scholarship offers and about as much opportunity as any high school player could hope to have. But when he comes home, sports, pretty much, is off the table.

“My parents keep me very humble,” Sanders said, flashing a near ever-present smile. “We try to keep sports talk out of the house because I’ve got three younger sisters and they don’t to hear about football every two seconds.”

Funny, when Sanders came to Providence Day, he was more of a basketball player. Chargers coach Chad Grier saw him ambling down a hallway one afternoon and asked if he had any interest in football.

Once Grier got Sanders onto the field, he saw a natural type of athleticism — and strength — that he had never seen before. Since that time, as Sanders has developed into a true wunderkind, Grier’s opinion has not changed.

“It takes about 15 seconds to watch him do anything, and you go, ‘He’s different,’” Grier said. “But what makes him special is how grounded and humble and respectful he is. He’s just a great human. He’s got that million-dollar smile and he was raised by great parents. He wants to be an orthopedic surgeon. He’s almost too good to be true, and I’ve never been around one like him.”

And Grier has coached a bevy of high major talents.

For example, Grier’s son, Will, is now a quarterback for the Dallas Cowboys. He was once a national high school player of the year at Davidson Day School just outside Charlotte. Another quarterback Chad Grier has coached, Sam Hartman, will start for Notre Dame this season after an outstanding tenure at Wake Forest. He’s a projected 2024 NFL Draft pick.

Right now, Grier is coaching the nation’s No. 7 ranked senior high school quarterback, Michigan-bound Jadyn Davis, along with a bevy of other Power 5 talent like receivers Jordan Shipp (North Carolina). Channing Goodwin (Michigan) and safety Brody Barnhardt (N.C. State). All three of those players are ranked top 25 among all N.C. high school seniors.

But even on a team with that level of talent, Sanders still stands out.

“He’s the best I’ve been around,” Grier said. “I almost don’t want to say it. But I thought he had a chance to be the best prospect I’ve coached, and there’s no question about that now. It’s just about how good can he be?”

Recently, Sanders gave Grier a glimpse. He power-cleaned 320 pounds, picking up a weighted bar from the ground, bringing to his waist and hoisting it to his chest, elbows pointed away from him.

Fitness Volt, an online strength and conditioning website, says exceptional athletes can powerclean 215 pounds. World-class athletes can powerclean 270 — and most of them, Grier notes, are not 6-6.

That weight, for most people, just doesn’t have to travel as far.

“And for him to be so coordinated and so athletic and so fast and so explosive,” Grier said, “like he can broad jump 10 feet, too. You have to remember he just turned 16. He’s still a child. Those are numbers you would see from professional athletes.”

It’s kind of hard to imagine that Sanders has two years of high school left. This summer he began to visit potential colleges. He said he wants to try to narrow his list by Sept. 1.

“I think I’ll cut it to 10 by the end of the year, and we’ll see about a decision after that,” he said. “I’ll be committed before my senior year.”

But his choices keep growing.

This summer, he was in Los Angeles for a high school football event for top recruits and called Grier. He wanted to visit Southern California. To see what it was like.

Grier called Southern Cal coach Lincoln Riley and next thing you know, Sanders is walking around the campus in Los Angeles.

“He spends five minutes with them,” Grier said, “and he’s got an offer.”

Sanders said making the college decision is hard, but he’s going to be patient. He said NIL opportunities “won’t make or break his decision.”

“It’s just really what’s the best fit for me at the time,” he said, “coaching-wise, players that are actually going (to the school) and the history behind the school. But I’m just looking forward to it all.”

Grier just shakes his head when he thinks about what could be in Sanders’ future.

“As a quarterback, there’s different dynamics and factors (with a top-level recruit),” Grier said. “You could say, ‘He might not fit in everybody’s system.’ But there’s nobody in America that wouldn’t take David Sanders as their left tackle. Chances are — and it’s so weird to say this — but it just doesn’t take a big projection to say he’s a first round draft pick kind of kid. So it’s not, ‘Does he have a chance to play in the NFL?’ But it’s how best he prepares himself for the NFL.

“He’s got different opportunities than anybody I’ve ever been around.”