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The state title hopes for the Lake Travis Cavaliers took a hit on Tuesday, when junior tight end Lake McCree, a Texas Longhorns pledge in the 2021 recruiting class, suffered a season-ending knee injury in practice:
Tough news out of @LTHSCavFootball's early preseason practices. TE Lake McRee suffered season-ending knee injury Tuesday...an unfortunate setback for the 2021 #hookem commit who burst onto the recruiting scene this spring. Was poised for big year in 2019. pic.twitter.com/qSWXhDo2w2
— Jay Plotkin (@jayplot) August 14, 2019
The 6’4, 217-pounder had 17 receptions for 274 yards and two touchdowns as a sophomore, then saw his recruiting stock take off during the spring, when he earned offers from Baylor, North Carolina, TCU, Texas A&M, USC, and others.
And despite expressing an interest in taking his time with the recruiting process and exploring all his options at State 7on7 in late June, McCree opted to shut down his recruitment in early July in favor of the hometown Longhorns.
Now he’ll have to go through a lengthy rehabilitation process and miss his junior season, a blow to his development on the field, but now he’ll have more time to spend in the weight room developing his upper body strength — time that he’d otherwise spend practicing.
A consensus three-star prospect, McCree is ranked as the 323 player nationally, the No. 11 tight end, and the No. 51 player in Texas, according to the 247Sports Composite rankings. He’s one of seven Longhorns pledges in a class that ranks No. 2 nationally and No. 1 in the Big 12 in the 247Sports Composite team rankings.