JACKSON, Miss. — Wide receiver Steve McNair Jr. is back at practice at Oak Grove High.

Friday's practice was his first since his father, former NFL quarterback Steve McNair, was shot to death in his sleep July 4 in Nashville.

He also learned that he'd been named to the Dandy Dozen, The (Jackson) Clarion-Ledger's list of Mississippi's top 12 high school football players. His father made the list in 1990, its second year.

McNair says the honor made his day.

McNair lives with his mother, Cotina McNair. He said he left Mount Olive High — where his father starred and a cousin was a top running back in 2007 — for Oak Grove largely on his father's advice. He says it hurt to leave his friends, but the Hattiesburb suburb is also a loving community, where people give him hugs and handshakes.

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Information from: The Clarion-Ledger, http://www.clarionledger.com