Friday, December 26, 2008
Post-season lists packed with pitfalls
Some early choices for best of the rest
Doug Doughty
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One of the hazards of picking a list of the state’s top 100 recruits that publishes on Christmas Day is the thought that the newspaper’s arrival might ruin the holiday for a would-be college prospect and his family.
This year’s list was submitted to sports editor Jeff Gilbert on Tuesday, Dec. 23, leaving just enough time for Gilbert to sneak Tallwood running back Byron Parker and Robinson defensive end Jordan Stanton onto the list Wednesday.
I told Gilbert to put Parker, who has committed to Temple, at No. 60. As for Stanton, a 6-foot-4, 240-pounder who might become a late addition to some Division I-A school’s shopping list, I recommended he be put at No. 65.
I still have no idea who it was that Gilbert took off the list.
By Thursday afternoon, the only complaint I had received was from an online reader who said the print on roanoke.com was too blurry. Better to hide the mistakes, I should have told him.
The only feedback I got on the selections was from Richfield Retirement CEO Doug Wright, who informed me that rivals.com (actually, its affiliate, cavscorner.com) had come out with a list of the top prospects in the state and that Meadowbrook offensive lineman Morgan Moses headed the list.
Moses was only No. 6 on The Roanoke Times list, which is a fairly sizable difference from No. 1, but my desire was to pick a player who would go directly to college and not be academically ineligible in 2009.
More power to him if Moses does meet NCAA guidelines for freshman eligibility, but I haven’t heard anybody describe that as a certainty.
Shoot, two of the players in the top five, quarterbacks Tajh Boyd from Phoebus and Kevin Newsome from Hargrave (and Deep Creek and Churchland) both intend to be enrolled in college by the end of the school year.
There’s one more gnawing thought about Moses, who went up against Varina defensive lineman DeAntre Rhodes in the postseason and didn’t necessarily fare well in the comparison. If Moses isn’t decidedly better than Rhodes, how could you pick him at No. 1? Even so, I had Moses ahead of Rhodes but barely at Nos. 6 and 8. I also heard from the Hokie in my family, son Michael, who wanted to know how Group AA player of the year Logan Thomas from Brookville couldn’t be higher than No. 4. Thomas has been the subject of ongoing debate and I ask all these people the same thing:
“What position does he play in college?” I asked.
“Slotback,” Michael responded.
Case closed. If Thomas is going to be a slotback in college, I just don’t see him having the same impact as another Hokie recruit, George Washington running back and No. 1-rated prospect, David Wilson, or the two quarterbacks, Boyd and Newsome.
MY AIM IS to make the Top 100 list the best it can be in the amount of time I have set aside to work on it. But almost immediately, new names come to light.
All-state teams had been picked in only two of the three classifications before I finalized my list. Very few newspapers had chosen their all-area teams, so I expected to spend the next month identifying non-Top 100 players whose credentials impress me.
Here is the first installment:
Fredericksburg Chancellor DE Clinton Simpkins – Rated 45th by Jamie Oakes on the top 50 list he did for cavscorner.com. Simpkins (6-3, 215) is the only player on that list not to make The Roanoke Times Top 100.
Charlottesville Monticello QB Michael Graham – Named Central Virginia offensive player of the year, Graham (6-4, 216) passed for 4,552 yards and 39 touchdowns in two season. Graham passed for 2,225 yards and 21 TDs as a senior, and he also rushed for 288 yards and 12 TDs.
Naruna William Campbell WR Stanley Peerman – Definitely an oversight on my part, Peerman (5-9, 171) is the younger brother of UVa rushing leader Cedric Peerman. Size is an issue for the younger Peerman, a two-time All-Group A pick who had 36 receptions for 636 yards and 10 touchdowns this year. Speed is not.
Virginia Beach Cox PK-P Drew Jarrett – First-team All-Group AAA and All-Tidewater selection who kicked 29 field goals in his career and 12 this year, including a 54-yarder.
Clintwood DL Russell Hull – A two-time, first-team All-Group A selection, Hull is listed at 6-4, 240. A little light for a Division I-A lineman, but if he’s a legit 6-4, he clearly has the frame. He had 14 tackles for a loss.
Franklin DB Donzell Shearin – How do you overlook a guy who intercepted 15 passes in one season? Shearin (6-0, 180) was a first-team All-Group A choice for the Division I state champions.
