Donovan Starr is no stranger to speed.

Starr, an Auburn football commit, runs a 4.37 second 40-yard dash and in May won the TSSAA Class 3A state championship in the 100-meter dash for Ravenwood, finishing in a time of 10.56 seconds.

He isn’t just fast on the field though, Starr only picked up football when he began high school and quickly learned the game, developing into one of the best defensive backs in the state.

Starr, a 6-foot, 175-pounder, is No. 6 on The Tennessean's 2024 Dandy Dozen, a collection of the top college football recruits for the class of 2025 from the newspaper's coverage area. He is a four-star cornerback and the No. 14 recruit in the state according to the 247Sports Composite. He finished with 46 tackles and an interception in 2023.

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Donovan Starr started playing football when moved to Tennessee

Starr grew up in Illinois and moved to Tennessee during his freshman year. Starr had played football at an earlier age, but by middle school he’d turned his attention to basketball and track. When he arrived in Tennessee, fellow students at Ravenwood took note of his speed. That is when he was convinced to start anew in football.

“When he first got in the program he was a little, scrawny point guard that didn't know much about football, right?" Ravenwood coach Will Hester said. "(He) hadn't played a whole lot of football ... and to be honest, I still think his best football is ahead of him.

“This is going into his fourth year as a football player, right, and you continue to see how well that he's improved year in and year out. And now that he's kind of got the defensive stuff figured out, now we're getting him over on the offensive side as well."

Starr fell in love with football. It also helped ease a tough transition as his family made the move south to Brentwood.

“A lot of my close friends now, met them through football and I mean, it's just been a blessing,” Starr said.

Once settled in, Starr quickly stood out. But that didn’t lead to any complacency. His athletic ability could often make up for any pitfalls in technique. Still, Starr was determined to make sure his IQ on the field matched his speed.

“I think Donovan understood from the get-go that he was kind of behind, coming in as a freshman when these boys have been playing together since they've been five or six years old," said Amy Starr, Donovan's mom. "So I think he's always had that in the back of his mind that he needs to keep fresh eyes and he needs to keep his head in the playbooks.

"And he needs to train on the side, because he's not where these other boys are, coming in with the knowledge of football. So he's really taken the time and he really is concentrated on, you know, spending time with trainers and getting different advice from different trainers and really utilizing that to his ability.”

Donovan Starr's track speed leads to TSSAA title, SEC football attention

While football became Starr’s primary focus, his loved for track and field never waned. Starr won multiple state championships for track and field in middle school and hardly slowed the pace after moving to Tennessee.

Along with his state championship in the 100-meter dash this year, Starr also won the TSSAA Class AAA state title in the high jump, clearing 6-feet-6 after finishing as runner-up in 2023. As a sophomore, he broke Ravenwood’s school record in the high jump, clearing 6-9.

It wasn’t long after Starr won his track championships that he made an official visit to Auburn football and then committed to Hugh Freeze and the Tigers. Starr picked Auburn over Tennessee, Florida, Ole Miss and others. He will graduate Ravenwood in December and enroll early at the SEC school.

“I'm going to be enrolling early at Auburn so (I'm) just locking in on football," Starr said. "I mean, obviously winning state, that's the goal. But if not, really just getting better each and every day, just putting forth the effort to get better every day.”

Harrison Campbell covers high school sports and more for The Daily Herald and The Tennessean. Email him at [email protected] and follow him on X (formerly Twitter) @hccamp.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Donovan Starr started playing football 4 years ago, now Auburn commit