Friday, January 14, 2005
Sleepers like Davis can be available late
Toney Baker to announce today
Doug Doughty
Doug Doughty's College Notebook Plus is exclusive to roanoke.com and is posted by 5 p.m. Fridays.
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Among the more flattering Internet posts that I read this week was the one that contended Doug Doughty has been “mailing it in for 20 years.”
That’s 30 years, thank you.
Which reminds me, can anyone spare a stamp?
Fridays frequently find me on the road and scrambling for a column, but I actually enjoy working the phones. Bill Renner, the football coach at West Springfield High School, was full of information and insight when I called him today.
West Springfield has a 6-foot-7 1/2, 305-pound offensive lineman, Eric Davis, who recently was named sleeper of the year in Virginia by The Roanoke Times. Davis’ grade-point average is in the 3.0-3.5 range and he scored approximately 1,100 on the SAT.
It is likely that Davis will commit to Virginia Tech when he visits Blacksburg next weekend, but how does a player with that kind of size and those academics slip through the cracks?
“Here’s his situation,” Renner said. “He didn’t play a down as a freshman. He grew bigger than his body could adjust to and he was a little awkward. He was playing JV as a 10th-grader, broke his wrist and missed half the year. He was starting as a junior, broke his foot and missed five games. So, I didn’t really know what Eric was going to be.
“I thought he was going develop into a pretty good kid, based on what I’d seen of him, but I hadn’t even seen him for a whole year. Long story short, in between his sophomore year and going into his senior year, he gained 60 pounds. The athleticism starts to mature and his footwork gets really good for a heavy kid and a tall kid.
“He starts to top out in the 6-6 1/2 to 6-7 range and now his neuromuscular stuff is starting to catch up and he’s starting to become an athlete. Starting last summer, you’d tell yourself, ‘Wow, this kid has a chance.’ He was starting to put it together. That track hasn’t stopped. People who make junior evaluations, they missed this kid.”
Until Tech offered, Army was Davis’ best bet. Virginia stopped by West Springfield “and the worst-case scenario for [the Cavaliers] was that they would take Eric as a preferred walk-on,” Renner said. “Marshall and Richmond and some other schools liked him, but once Tech offered, they were like, ‘Well, we won’t get him. That’s it.’ You know, that’s probably true. A lot of those people have just moved on.”
By the time Virginia got involved with Davis, the Cavaliers had 24 oral commitments (now down to 22). With five commitments from offensive linemen, including All-American offensive lineman Eugene Monroe and 2004 signee Brandon Albert, the offensive line no longer was a need. But, it’s no secret that recruiting evaluations are done earlier and earlier every year, and that’s not just the case at UVa.
“It has been the nature of the beast,” Renner said, “and I don’t think it’s effective. I understand that that’s what you have to do to get kids now because it’s so pushed back, but I believe you can put together a team of Eric Davises and compete just fine. There’s enough of those kids out there.”
If Davis were a junior, everybody would be offering him.
“Absolutely, and that’s what Tech saw when Bud [Foster] came up and got the film and talked to him and said, ‘OK, I’m going to take these games back,’ ” Renner said. “It was midyear and then all of a sudden, boom, it was like, ‘Hey, we’re coming back.’ They’re at the top of his list. I don’t think that’s any secret.”
Frequently, the Hokies will ask players like Davis to enter at mid-year, which gives them an extra spring practice before beginning their five-year eligibility clock. With 17 commitments to date, Tech does not appear to have any numbers issues at the present time, “but I don’t know what they’re thinking along those lines,” Renner said.
“I think he’ll find that out when he goes down there.”
RENNER, A ONE-TIME Virginia Tech punter, is best known as a kicking guru and has served as a mentor for Westfield High School’s Brent Bowden, the first-team All-Group AAA punter.
Tech is one of the schools in touch with Bowden, a former Westfield teammate of first-year Hokies Eddie Royal and Sean Glennon.
Bowden is the younger half-brother of Florida State punter Chris Hall, who played at Centreville High School in Fairfax County.
“The name’s different; that’s what will throw you off,” Renner said. “Chris has been at our camp since the ninth grade and Brent came with him. Literally, he’s [Bowden] been around since seventh grade. He’s polished, he’s mentally mature and he knows what he’s doing.
“He’s a big kid, around 6-3, 200. He’s very good. He’s a legit D-I coming out, and he’ll be able to kick at a high level right away. I believe there’s quite a few people talking to him.”
RENNER SAID THAT West Springfield wide receiver Mike Caussin, rated the No. 68 prospect in Virginia by The Roanoke Times, has the opportunity to go Virginia or Virginia Tech as a “preferred” walk-on but will visit James Madison next week with a chance to get a grant from the Division I-AA champions.
“They’ve been all over him,” Renner said. “I would not be surprised if they offer him. Tech and UVa would offer him if he weighed 20 pounds more. I really think he’s a receiver [and not a tight end]. Once he starts speed training year-around -- he’s playing basketball -- look out. He’s got a stride that covers over 5 yards.
“He’s a late bloomer, too. I think he’s a receiver, but you can’t take a chance at their level that a kid’s going to go from a 4.65 [for 40 yards] to a low 4.5. Or, you can’t take a chance that a 205 frame is going to be 245. You’ve just got to walk on. At Madison’s level, you can take that chance.”
MARYLAND AND WVU have expressed interest in Renner’s top junior, punter-place-kicker Josh Czajowski, but the big-time underclassmen in the West Springfield program is 6-5, 225-pound sophomore Peter Lalich.
Lalich is a basketball player and his father played in the Continental Basketball Association, but football will be his sport in college. Pressed into service when Renner lost his returning quarterback, Lalich immediately led West Springfield to victories over Annandale and Hayfield.
“When you see his arm and see him throw, there’s no question [football is] where he’s going,” Renner said. “He’s in the top 1 percent in the country who can throw how he throws. It’s no exaggeration: He can throw it 70 yards in the air. And, he’s gotten training from some of the best in the country.”
TO ME, THERE’S a silver lining for UVa in the decommitments issued by one-time recruiting targets Lamont Robinson and Darryl Gresham. It means that the Cavaliers, who once had 24 commitments, won’t have to answer question constantly about where they will find scholarships for the uncommitted players on their list.
A third Virginia recruit who had been wavering, wide receiver Brandon Woods from Southern Durham (N.C.) High School, has elected not to visit South Carolina and is now firmly back in the UVa fold, according to two websites devoted to UVa football recruiting, the sabre.com and wagononline.com.
Chris Horne of the sabre.com writes that N.C. State is the favorite for High Point, N.C., running back Toney Baker, who will announce his decision Saturday at the Army All-American Bowl in San Antonio, Texas, but I wouldn’t be stunned if he picks Virginia.
It was felt that the Cavaliers might falter because Baker did not visit Charlottesville officially, but he has not taken official visits to all the other schools in his top five -- Tech, State, North Carolina and Tennessee.
The Hokies made up considerable ground to get in his top five but I think they’d have to be considered a longshot. Baker reportedly is rooming with Elan Lewis, who committed to Tech earlier in the fall, which might be good for the Hokies, except that they’re both running backs.
FROM THE TOP 100: Albemarle High School quarterback R.J. Archer, rated the No. 79 prospect in Virginia by The Roanoke Times, has committed to William and Mary.
