By Brandy L. Simms

Magruder two-sport star Garland Owens has decided to play football this season after debating over the summer whether or not he should sit out this year to focus on his basketball career.

“We prepared both ways – for him to be there or not to be there,” said Magruder head football coach Shawn Prather.

The 6-foot-5 rising senior was Magruder’s starting quarterback last season and helped lead the Colonels to a 3-7 record.

On the hardwood, however, Owens emerged as a Division I basketball prospect and helped lead the Colonels to an appearance in the 4A state semifinals where Magruder lost to eventual state champion North Point.

Owens, a forward who averaged 11 points per game last season and earned All-Sentinel honors, scored 20 points and grabbed 10 rebounds to guide Magruder past Springbrook in the regional title game.

Owens, who also competes for the Mid-Atlantic Select AAU team, received his first scholarship offer last month from Saint Francis University in Pennsylvania and has drawn interest from various other Division I basketball programs including Hartford, New Hampshire, Mount St. Mary’s, St. Peter’s, Siena, Northeastern and St. Bonaventure.

Prather said Owens has drawn interest from various college football programs including Temple, James Madison, Towson and Georgia Tech.

“He’s a very talented kid,” said Prather. “He’s got a lot of interest in colleges that want him. He’s got as much interest for football as he does for basketball.”

The Colonels open the 2011 campaign at home Sept. 2 against Walter Johnson.