Birmingham Groves running back Jeremiah Whitley had to wait for Mario Campoy-LoVasco, who held four Division I offers, and three-star Toledo commit Noah Sanders, the son of NFL Hall of Famer Barry Sanders, to graduate before getting his chance to start.
Now the 5-foot-11, 205-pound incoming senior is at the front of the line.
Quite literally.
Whitley was one of hundreds who participated in Sound Mind Sound Body Academy’s annual National College Showcase on Monday, June 1, at Wayne State University.
They competed in front of head coaches and assistants from nearly 75 colleges, including Michigan, Michigan State and recent national champion Indiana.
And there was Whitley, leading the running back group in every drill. He demonstrated how to juke, stiff-arm and cut in front of nearly a dozen coaches recruiting for his position.
Alabama State assistant Juwan Lewis explained each drill, and Whitley was one of five players in a group of about 60 selected to go first each time. Coaches from Akron, Davenport, Ferris State, Kent State, Tiffin and Saginaw Valley State huddled around the practice area.
Afterward, Whitley got feedback from several coaches, hoping those early relationships turn into campus visits and, of course, offers.
“They really just want to see my timed speed,” Whitley said. “They want to know how fast I really am. This is their first time seeing how fast I am as my recruiting starts to open up. They really didn’t know who I was before, so it’s good they’re finally finding out.”
On the radar
On one hand, it’s easy to see why Whitley remains a bit unknown. On the other, it’s surprising colleges are just now finding out about him.
After Groves’ run to the Division 2 state semifinals in 2024, which included a heartbreaking one-point loss to eventual state champion Orchard Lake St. Mary’s, many expected the Falcons to take a step back in 2025.
After all, they graduated four-star Michigan offensive lineman Avery Gach, Michigan State receiver Nick Hardy and Grand Valley State defensive back Chris Little.
Instead, they overcame a 2-3 start by winning seven straight games to repeat as district and regional champions before falling to eventual state runner-up Dexter in the final four.
Leading the charge was Whitley, who broke out after spending his sophomore season on JV while Campoy-LoVasco and Sanders dominated the backfield.
As a junior, he carried 117 times for a school-record 1,421 yards and 17 touchdowns. He averaged more than 8 yards per carry and also caught eight passes for 117 yards, good enough to earn Hometown Life’s Offensive Player of the Year honor.
That’s saying something, considering Campoy-LoVasco (1,074 rushing yards) and Sanders (1,097) cracked Groves’ all-time single-season rushing leaderboard in 2023 and 2024, respectively.
And Whitley wasn’t putting up those numbers against scrubs.
Groves again played in the Oakland Activities Association-White, which has produced recent state champions Southfield A&T and Harper Woods. The Falcons also faced a difficult playoff path.
Whitley accounted for 570 yards and nine touchdowns in Groves’ first two playoff games alone. That included a school-record 322 rushing yards and six touchdowns against Warren Mott in the district opener.
Sure, maybe colleges weren’t paying much attention to the Falcons, who weren’t expected to return to the state semifinals.
But how do you ignore numbers like the ones Whitley put up in his first season as Groves’ starting running back?
College watch
As he continues making campus visits this offseason, schools are getting a firsthand look at what he’s done over the past year. He has visited or attended camps at Central Michigan, Eastern Michigan, Northwood, SVSU and Western Michigan. Penn and Northern Illinois have also stopped by Groves to visit him at school.
Now he plans to spend the summer narrowing his options with hopes of choosing a college before his senior season begins at the annual Amazon Prep Kickoff against North Farmington on Aug. 28 at WSU.
For now, he’s working on the little things that will make him more marketable on the recruiting trail.
“I’ve been working on my open-field cuts when I’m at the second or third level, going against a linebacker or safety,” Whitley said. “I want to make them miss or at least run them over, however it may go. I’m definitely working on my speed, for sure, and I already have the strength from staying in the weight room. I just want to get even faster than I already am.
“And I’m working on my pass blocking, 100%. Last year was my first year actually pass blocking. The running part isn’t what the colleges are looking at. They’re looking at the other stuff, like pass blocking and running routes out of the backfield. So those have been the main things I’ve been focused on this offseason.”
Once again, Groves graduated plenty of talent, led by offensive tackle Mattia Andriano, a 6-4, 300-pound GVSU commit who helped pave the way for Whitley’s breakout season.
That leaves the Falcons as somewhat of an unknown entering the fall.
But that’s OK.
Whitley isn’t worried, nor does he feel any pressure. He knows the talent is there for Groves to have another strong rushing attack.
“We’ve got a nice group coming in, with three linemen returning, including my center, Darin Caza, tackle, Henry Roberts, and my other tackle, Judah Scobie,” Whitley said. “Mattia was a beast, for sure, but we’ve got another beast coming in in sophomore Desmond Walker, and he’s 6-4, 270. A lot of people don’t know about him because he’s so young, but he’ll be a threat, for sure.”
And so should Whitley, whose hard-nosed running style will keep Groves competitive as it moves down to the OAA-Blue for the first time in 11 years.
Regardless, he’ll be tough to stop, especially if he has the confidence of knowing where he’ll play college football before taking his first snap as a senior this August.
Brandon Folsom covers high school sports in metro Detroit for Hometown Life and the Detroit Free Press. Follow him on his new X.com account at @folsomwrites.
This article originally appeared on Hometownlife.com: Birmingham Groves RB Jeremiah Whitley aims to open eyes in encore year