Perseverance, selflessness have brought Rountree to brink of record
A messy array of looseleaf paper still covers the front of Benita Rountree’s refrigerator. Even more than three years after her son, Larry Rountree III, left her Raleigh, North Carolina home to play running back for Missouri, she can’t bring herself to remove the eight or so pages, pinned there by magnets.
The numbers and letters scribbled across the papers provide a glimpse into what it took for Rountree just to get to Missouri. Rountree fell into an academic hole during his first two years at Millbrook high school, which was one of the reasons only two Power Five schools offered him a scholarship. From that point, he wrote down grade goals for every class and standardized test on the fridge, then logged his actual grades next to them. It took summer classes, tutoring, standardized test prep classes and more times taking the SAT than Benita can remember for Rountree to achieve Division I eligibility, but he pulled it off without having to take a two-year detour through junior college.
The pages also tell something about Rountree by what’s missing. There are a few non-academic goals listed, such as “do a little better in weight training” and “get a (varsity) letter.” But individual statistical marks are nowhere to be found.
His parents say that’s typical Rountree. Even now, as he closes in on becoming Missouri’s all-time leading rusher by a non-quarterback — he needs just 19 yards Saturday at South Carolina to pass Zack Abron — Rountree doesn’t care about his own numbers. Ask him his rushing total or yards per carry on the season and he won’t know. His priority has always centered on wins and losses.
“Honestly, me coming to college, that was never a goal,” Rountree said after he passed Brock Olivo on the rushing list during Missouri’s win over Kentucky. “... It’s a shocker to me because I never thought it was going to happen. So every time I hear it, it’s just a shocking moment. But I don’t try to worry about it. I’m just worried about my teammates and running hard for them, for a greater cause.”
His parents and coaches point to that team-first attitude as one of the reasons Rountree has put together one of the most impressive careers of any running back in Missouri history.
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It didn’t take Rountree’s father, Larry Rountree Jr., long to figure out that his son might have a future in football. From the time Rountree III first learned to walk, Rountree Jr. said, he has been “110 percent boy, bouncing off the ceiling.” His parents first introduced Rountree III to basketball and soccer, but he was too rough on the soccer pitch. So, at age seven, they put him in a Pop Warner football league, where Rountree III played defensive tackle.
Rountree III soon found a fit at running back, but he would have to wait a while before showcasing his ability to college coaches. During his freshman and sophomore seasons at Millbrook, Rountree III played behind Marcus Marshall, who played collegiately at Georgia Tech and James Madison. As a result, Rountree III spent his first two years on the junior varsity squad.
Rountree III emerged as a playmaker as a high school junior, rushing for more than 1,900 yards and 23 touchdowns. Yet at the same time he was finally getting a shot to show college coaches what he could do on the field, his college prospects looked to be slipping away as a result of his grades.
Early on, Rountree III struggled to adapt to the academic rigors of high school. As a freshman, his grade-point average in core classes clocked in at 1.7. He improved a bit as a sophomore, but his cumulative GPA sat at just 2.0 at the halfway mark of his high school career. There is no universal minimum GPA to qualify as a Division I student-athlete, as the NCAA uses a sliding scale that combines grades and standardized test scores, but Rountree III's certainly needed to improve. One page on the refrigerator lists 2.3-2.5 as his goal cumulative GPA.
College programs noticed. A few local, Power Five schools like North Carolina and NC State had expressed some interest, but because of the risk that Rountree III might not qualify, scholarship offers didn’t come. But Rountree III’s parents were determined not to send him to junior college. In Benita’s words, “Plan B just distracts from Plan A,” and Plan A was playing Division I football. So, she started organizing regular meetings and calls with Rountree III’s high school teachers, guidance counselors and coaches. Rountree III would have to enroll in extra classes during the summer, tutoring before or after school and test prep classes on weekends. And, of course, every quarterly grade and test score had to be logged on the fridge. Football even took a back seat at times.
“He was even missing film for football because he was busy taking his SAT or ACT tests,” Benita said. “And then I took him to this place where he could get prepped on Saturdays, and we would go there for like two hours and he would get prepped and study how to prepare and get himself ready, mentally, for the SAT or the ACT.”
Benita can’t remember his exact GPAs, but Rountree III’s grades rebounded dramatically his junior and senior years — enough that Missouri felt comfortable offering him a scholarship. Former Tiger assistant A.J. Ofodile, then the team’s recruiting coordinator, heard about Rountree III through a friend who coached at another school. Ofodile passed on his film to running backs coach Cornell Ford, who liked what he saw. Head coach Barry Odom extended an offer the summer between Rountree III’s junior and senior seasons.
Ford and the Rountree family connected. Even though Rountree III’s only other offers came from Boston College, Appalachian State, James Madison and Miami (Ohio), Ford paid the Rountrees regular in-home visits. Rountree Jr. said he seemingly visited Millbrook “every other week.”
Knowing that a Power Five school wanted him motivated Rountree III to work even harder in the classroom. But he still had to match his improved GPA with a higher score on the SAT. Benita said Rountree III took the SAT so many times that employees at St. Augustine’s University, a private, historically black college in Raleigh that hosted standardized tests, got to know him.
Benita can’t remember how many times, exactly, her son took the test, but she remembers with crystal clarity the day he got the score he needed to be eligible. It was a Saturday morning during the second semester of Rountree III’s senior year. He had already committed to Missouri, which had bet on him improving his test score. Benita sat in her car in the semicircle drive at St. Augustine, waiting to pick her son up from another SAT.
Rountree III emerged from the building skipping. When he got to the car, Benita remembers him saying “Ma, I got it, I know I got it.”
Benita was more cautious. She wanted to wait until receiving the score to feel totally relieved. In fact, even after Rountree III learned his score, which was high enough that he would qualify if he just maintained his current GPA, his mother scheduled him to take the SAT again in July 2017 — despite the fact that he was scheduled to enroll at Missouri in June. Benita said she just wanted to be sure Rountree III had another chance to improve his score in the event his grades slipped prior to graduation.
But when the test score arrived, Benita allowed herself to celebrate.
“It was just a tremendous feeling,” Benita said. “I remember screaming and crying, and I called coach Ford and I called coach Ofodile, and it was just incredible, and it was just a moment I’ll never forget to see that score.”
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On the surface, a prospect with just two years of varsity playing experience and two Power Five scholarship offers might not exactly seem like a slam dunk to contribute in the SEC. But once Rountree III got cleared academically, those around him said they had little doubt he would make his mark on the field at Missouri. In fact, his high school coach, Clarence Inscore, said that if someone had told him four years ago Rountree III would wind up as the most productive running back in Missouri history, he wouldn’t have batted an eye.
“He was very impressive for us, and his work ethic set him apart from most high school players,” Inscore said. “When he got his mind set on something, he was going to work his butt off and be the hardest worker out there, so there was no doubt in my mind he could do this kind of stuff.”
Rountree III possesses neither breakaway speed nor elite elusiveness. At 5-foot-10, 210 pounds, he’s not the biggest tailback, either. Instead, his production has come from a combination of physicality, durability and selflessness.
Rountree III has always been strong for his size. Once, during a high school track meet, Benita remembers him clipping a hurdle during a race. Instead of toppling over, the hurdle split in half. His father remembers Rountree III growing up studying tape of Walter Payton, his favorite player, and Herschel Walker. Like those two old-school runners, Rountree III is less inclined to try to juke a defender than to run him over, and he often gets better the more times he touches the ball. He demonstrated that in the fourth quarter against Kentucky on Oct. 24, when he shoved a would-be tackler to the turf as he went out of bounds, prompting the Missouri sideline to let the defender hear about it.
Despite seemingly seeking out contact, Rountree III has yet to miss a game at Missouri. He hasn’t shied away from a heavy workload, either. He carried the ball a whopping 37 times in the win over Kentucky. Inscore attributes his durability to his diligence in the weight room, training room and dining hall. He also noted that Rountree III is versatile enough to play on every down and willing to give his best effort regardless of whether he gets the ball or not.
“He’s not somebody you have to take off the field in certain situations,” Inscore said. “He can handle blocking, he can handle catching the ball out of the backfield, and he can handle a heavy workload. And again, the humility plays into a lot of that, because he’s one of those kids, whether he is used as the decoy or he’s used as the feature and he’s getting 30-plus touches a game, or whether he’s getting five touches a game, as long as he’s doing something to help the team win, he’s happy.”
Inscore’s comments get to the heart of what makes Rountree III unique. Nearly every teammate or coach brings up his attitude. His teammates say he has a goofy side, and he always has a smile on his face. He’s willing to be coached and to take criticism, said head coach Eli Drinkwitz. He’s “singularly focused,” said running backs coach Curtis Luper, on helping the team win rather than his own stats.
“He is a student of the game, he is conscientious, he works hard on his body, he works hard on the craft of being a collegiate football player, and he is just reaping the benefits of it,” Luper said on the Tiger Talk radio show on Oct. 29. “He is a joy to coach.”
Just as important, Rountree III has stayed on the field because he has remained academically eligible, with plenty of room to spare. He earned a spot on the SEC all-academic honor roll each of his first two years in college. Benita said he missed doing so again as a junior by just one letter grade in one class. Both of Rountree III’s parents said they’re more proud of that accomplishment than they will be when he passes Abron on the all-time rushing list.
“That’s above everything,” Rountree Jr. said.
Rountree III certainly isn’t the first or only player to talk about his individual goals taking a backseat to academics or wins and losses, but his parents say it’s genuine. He’s never mentioned to them that he’s nearing the all-time rushing mark by a non-quarterback. In fact, he never talks about his own statistics. Benita recalled at one point pulling up a list of the SEC rushing leaders on her phone during the season. Rountree III made her put her phone away.
“Larry does not like talking about or looking at his personal stats,” Benita said. “If you asked him right now, you would have to tell him where he’s at. He does not want to discuss it. He does not want to see where he is on the SEC running back (leaders list). I tried to show it to him and he didn’t want to see it.”
Instead, Rountree III has simply accepted and attacked whatever role he could find at Missouri. As a true freshman, he started the season playing mostly on special teams, carving out a larger and larger role in the backfield alongside Ish Witter and Damarea Crockett as the season went on. He split reps with Crockett in 2018, then broke out at the end of the season after Crockett went down with injury, rushing for 458 yards across the team’s final three games. That bolstered expectations for the 2019 season, but even after a disappointing campaign that saw him average a career-low 4.5 yards per carry and fellow tailback Tyler Badie nearly equal him in scrimmage yards, Rountree III’s parents said there was never a doubt he would return for his senior year. Whether he’s touched the ball 14 times against Alabama or 38 against Kentucky, the staff can count on Rountree III bringing his best on every snap.
“He’s a guy that’s bought into everything that we’ve asked him to do,” Drinkwitz said. “... He’s definitely got the respect of me as a person and as the head football coach, and I just love the way he comes to work every day. He never pouts, he never has a bad day.”
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Rountree III hasn’t spoken publicly since a brief virtual press conference following the Florida game, but he’s made it clear this season that individual accolades aren’t his focus. Don’t expect him to give much thought to the fact that he will likely become Missouri’s leading rusher among running backs on Saturday until after the game, or even after the season.
His parents, however, said they’ll take a moment to reflect when Rountree III officially passes Abron. They’ll be in the stands — the four-hour drive to Columbia, South Carolina will feel like nothing compared to the 15-hour trek Benita makes to every Missouri home game — and they'll think back to all the test prep classes and tutoring sessions and SAT retakes that went into getting Rountree III to Missouri in the first place. They'll remember the years on the high school junior varsity team, the teachers and coaches that helped Rountree III get to this point, the schools that expressed interest but ultimately shied away.
“It’s something that you have to enjoy,” Rountree Jr. said of the milestone. “Personally, as a former football player and a father, I just look at where he came from, starting out young, just running and playing and from the moment he started playing sports, I’ll look at all that up to this point.”
For Benita to relive her son’s journey to this point, all she has to do is step into her kitchen. The messy lists of letter grades and test scores hanging on her refrigerator serve as a constant reminder of Rountree III’s battle just to get to Missouri. And the seemingly small, non-statistical goals like “do a little better in weight training” reveal why he’ll likely finish Saturday’s game as the most productive Tiger running back ever.
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