When you think of American football, naturally, your first thought goes to talent from inside the United States.
However, Canada has started to produce its fair share of athletes with a significant amount developing into Division 1 recruits at Chattanooga boarding schools Baylor and McCallie.
One of those players is 2025 Baylor (Tenn.) three-star running back Shekai Mills-Knight.
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After transferring to Baylor, he has broken out this season in a dynamic offense, posting over 1,200 all-purpose yards despite his season not starting until after week four.
His impressive campaign has begun to bring offers his way, as well, including a recent one from Tennessee. VolReport caught up with him following the offer.
The call came from Tennessee receivers coach Kelsey Pope. This marks his second SEC offer and came with a challenge from the young coach.
"He asked me about my family, then told me I’d have to come up on a visit one day with Cam Sparks," said Mills-Knight. "He told me if I keep competing with Cam in the weight room and we challenge each other in practice, we are going to be dangerous next year."
An impressive season showed Mills-Knight's perseverance and drive. Toward the end of April, the tailback announced he would transfer to Baylor in Chattanooga, Tenn.
Transferring to any high school is a significant change, but it gets even more difficult when coming from an entirely different country. However, the fit at Baylor was right on and off the field for the Canadian native.
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"When I came down, the people showed me straight love, so I fit right in and everybody loves me here," said Mills-Knight. "It helped me become more independent and turned me into a man being on my own."
During that process, he sparked a connection with fellow Canadian and Ohio State tight end commit Max LeBlanc.
"Having other Canadians like Max helped a lot because he’s a great leader on and off the field," said Mills-Knight. "He keeps me in check and we could relate to a lot of things and even speak to each other in French sometimes."
The challenges continued into the season, where he would miss the start of the year with an ankle injury. However, that didn't deter him from putting on a show once he was cleared.
Mills-Knight only getting better as the year went on.
"I feel like my speed came back after dealing with the injury I had from the start of the year," said Mills-Knight.
That was on full display in the state championship against local rival McCallie, where he rushed 15 times for 158 yards and a touchdown against one of the best defenses in the state.
When it comes to watching other running backs, Mills-Knight likes to draw aspects from the great backs of the past.
"I like to look back to old-time running backs like Emmitt Smith, Marshawn Lynch and Bo Jackson," said Mills-Knight.
As a bigger back himself, he has the frame to bring a powerful presence out of the backfield. However, don't sleep on his speed, either.
His family might know just a little about true speed.
"Something people don't know about me is that my uncle, Glen Mills, was Usain Bolt's track coach for Jamaica (until 2009)," said Mills-Knight.
After a strong introduction to Tennessee high school football, he is only going to continue growing and will continue to be one of the better backs in the state moving forward.
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