Bring up the fact that both Courtney Lewis and Vincent Young are leaving his Madison High School program, and it nearly makes Coach Ray Seals choke up.

"Man, oh man, I hate to lose those guys," Seals says. "Vincent was the star, but Courtney was the glue."

Young, the quarterback, signed with Texas; while Lewis, the running back, chose A&M. And he may be just the right medicine for an Aggie ground game that has underachieved for several seasons.

Indeed, Lewis may just be the most complete all-purpose runner to pull on maroon since Dante Hall or even Leeland McElroy. At 5-11 and 175 pounds, Lewis is taller but lighter than Hall, with stats to match.

In his three years on the Madison varsity, Lewis scored 13 special teams touchdowns, via punt or kickoff returns.

"He’s an outstanding multi-purpose running back," said coach R.C. Slocum. "He runs hard, can catch the ball out of the backfield, and is an excellent return man as well. He has outstanding speed."

As a running back, Lewis gained 1,874 yards as a senior to go with 1,306 as a junior. He totaled 39 rushing touchdowns in his last two seasons, and during his sophomore year, he was the best kickoff return man in Greater Houston with 45.3 yards per return. Last season, he came out of the backfield to catch 33 balls from Young, for 869 yards and another 11 touchdowns.

No wonder Seals pouts at the thought of losing him.

"His leadership ability probably meant more to our team than his athletic ability," Seals said. "The other kids really respected him, and both he and my quarterback, Vincent Young, made average kids better players."

A scoring threat whenever he handled the ball, Lewis was not just talented, but quite coachable.

"I never had a single problem with Courtney, not one," Seals added. "And they won’t have a lick of problems, either. He was always at practice and had a great attitude. I think that was what made our team what it was. We weren’t that talented all around, we just had a bunch of good kids who wanted to play football and did what we told them. He and Vincent had a lot to do with that."

Seals sees Lewis as a college running back who can adapt to any offensive skill position.

"He can even throw the ball and block," Lewis said. "He was probably the best blocker on our team, and he also had really nice hands. To be honest, I’m not sure that A&M realizes what a gem they’re getting in this kid."

Actually, they do.

"He can get the ball and take it to the house," said his future position coach, Ken Rucker. "He’s a bigger back than you think, coming in at 5-11 or 6-foot. And once he gets into our training program, he’ll play 10 or 15 pounds heavier a year from now."

While Rucker is anxious to sees Lewis’ moves on the Aggie practice field in August, he already knows about his character.

"A first-class kid all the way," Rucker said. "He comes from a two-parent home, and they are great people. He’s excited about being here, and we’re excited to have him. We are always looking for quality tailbacks because you lose so many to graduation or to injury. Here’s a kid who will be close to home, and his family can come watch him play."

With a consistent 40-yard dash time of 4.38 to 4.4, Seals says flatly Lewis is the best back he’s ever coached at Madison.

"I’ve had some good ones, but none who can do everything as well as Courtney can," Seals said. "A&M is getting someone they’ll be really happy with. If the backs they have now don’t step it up, they’ll be on the bench next year… he has that kind of talent."

Lewis decided on A&M as soon as A&M decided on him. And Lewis wanted to stay close to home, where he could see his young daughter as often as possible.

"He had a lot of schools outside the state looking at him," Seals said. "He was talking about going to U of H because A&M wasn’t in on him hard at first. But A&M came in and sold him that they needed a good running back."

– Tom B. Turbiville