Atascocita's Tory Blaylock commits to college, hopes to follow lead of his NFL veteran father

HUMBLE, Texas (KTRK) -- It's been quite a week for Atascocita running back Tory Blaylock.

Last Saturday, he ran the lead leg in the national record-breaking 4 x 100 relay at the Victor Lopez relays at Rice University.

The Eagles ran 38.92, shattering a record that stood for 26 years.

Less than a week later, Blaylock's family and friends gathered at Armed Sports Performance in Humble for his college commitment announcement.

Blaylock is a 4-star prospect who runs with speed and power, and he's narrowed down his commitment to one out of six schools.

Caps from Oregon, Tennessee, Oklahoma, Ohio State, Texas, and Alabama were laid out on the table in front of him.

He trolled Texas fans by picking up a UT hat, and in the background, his sister Taiya held an arrow pointing down, implying "horns down."

Blaylock picked up an Oklahoma hat and said, "Oklahoma baby, Oklahoma baby, boomer sooner."

"Coach Venables and coach Murray and the rest of the staff are great people and great coaches," Blaylock said.

This commitment is the next step toward his dream of playing in the NFL.

His dad, Derrick Blaylock, played in the league and has trained Tory from a young age.

"Can you see yourself there? Do you fit there?" Derrick asked. "Are those the kind of people you want to be around? Are you going to be able to learn from all those people? Oklahoma is a great place, and [it] checked all those boxes."

Tory is looking forward to learning what it takes to excel in college while preparing for the next level from former Oklahoma great running back, coach DeMarco Murray.

"He's going to teach me [things he's done] and more," Tory said. "That's a really big deal for me, and he'll build from everything my dad taught me."

Academics also factored into the decision. While Tory is unsure what he'll study, his parents say he'll have all the tools to succeed off the field.

"Coach Murray was a great student," Tory's mom, Kristen Blaylock said. "So he's been talking to him about different majors."

"They pride themselves on their graduation rate, so they really get kids to graduate," Tory added.

"And their GPA is great," Kristen said.