By Kevin Eckleberry

Sports Editor

Quantavius Leslie doesn’t want to play college football in the Southeastern Conference.

Despite the conference’s obvious strengths - up to five teams could be ranked in the Top 25 when preseason polls come out later this summer - the Callaway wide receiver likely won’t be suiting up for an SEC team in the future.

Leslie, rated as a three-star prospect on Rivals.com, is leaning heavily toward West Virginia. The 6-foot-4, 180-pound incoming senior also holds offers from LSU, Tennessee, Clemson and Oklahoma State, among others.

He reeled in 18 catches for 468 yards and 12 touchdowns as a junior, and will be the go-to target for the Callaway offense again this season.

“I’m real close to all the coaches (at West Virginia),” said Leslie, who is also a standout on the basketball court.

Leslie plans to announce his final college destination on Callaway’s senior night Nov. 6 against Pike County, which is also the Cavaliers’ regular season finale.

For now, the Mountaineers have to feel good about their chances of signing Leslie.

“I want to get out and I don’t want to get stuck in the SEC,” Leslie said. “I want to go in my own direction.”

FRIDAY NIGHT FUN: Two more Cavaliers are also receiving plenty of attention on the recruiting trail, although both will just be juniors this season.

Running back Quan Bray and defensive lineman LaMichael Fanning traveled to Gainesville, Fla., last weekend to check out Florida’s Friday Night Lights event, which involves 200 elite prospects from around the country.

Cavaliers head coach Pete Wiggins also went with the pair of prospects, and he said it was an “incredible” event.

“There was lots of great competition,” Wiggins said. “(Gators head coach) Urban Meyer and the coaching staff worked them really hard. It was an honor for them to be invited.”

Despite being pitted against some of the best prospects in the nation, Wiggins said Bray and Fanning were “just as good as anyone there” in attendance.

“They were against some of the top recruits in the nation,” Wiggins said. “LaMichael is a big kid and stood out. A lot of the Florida coaches really liked him. In Quan’s drills, he looked as good as anyone.”

As a sophomore, Bray averaged 9.4 yards per carry en route to his second straight 1,000-yard season and notched 17 scores. Bray has verbal offers from Alabama and Clemson, among others.

The 6-foot-8 Fanning had 30 tackles last season as a defensive end, and currently holds verbals from Georgia, Alabama and Clemson, among others.