Wanted: Athletes
February 08, 2007 11:20 PM | General
February 8, 2007
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – If you are looking for a better insight into the type of players Rich Rodriguez recruits at West Virginia University, don’t pay attention to the number of stars listed beside their name. Just scan down to the bottom of each of their biographies and you’ll see these same phrases over and over again: also a basketball lettermen ... also a track lettermen ... a three-sport standout.
 |
||
| West Virginia coach Rich Rodriguez goes over his list of prospects signed Wednesday. Rodriguez met with the media at the football stadium Wednesday afternoon.
All-Pro Photography/Dale Sparks |
First and foremost Rodriguez is looking for athletes that can fit into his system, are willing to be coached, and possess the right temperament to play Mountaineer football. But pay special attention to the athlete part.
Eighteen of the 25 players signed on Wednesday are playing more than one sport this year, and all three offensive linemen – Don Barclay, Gino Gradkowski and Chad Snodgrass – are also basketball players.
“Someone mentioned that we had a lot of basketball types: we’re recruiting football players not basketball players but we noticed the athleticism of some of these guys while they played basketball,” Rodriguez said. “I like that and I encourage that. If you’re good enough to contribute to another sports team and you’re a football player: do it.”
The blue print for recruiting athletes came from Miami in the late 1980s when Hurricane coach Jimmy Johnson was known for turning high school tight ends into college tackles and defensive linemen, and taking wide receivers and turning them into tight ends. His philosophy was simple: recruit the best possible athlete and then find the best spot for them.
Rodriguez is doing the same thing.
West Virginia’s biggest recruit, 360-pound Asa Chapman, also happened to be agile enough to earn all-district honors in basketball.
Six-foot-two-inch, 210-pound linebacker Vincent Harris was a member of the district champion 4x200-meter relay team.
Two-hundred-thirty-pound running back Terence Kerns was the Maryland 200-meter sprint champion; 200-pound Will Johnson was a regional 100-meter qualifier in track.
Johnson, a product of a Centerville High School program that has produced the likes of A.J. Hawk and Mike Nugent, is a prospect Rodriguez singled out as one of the true sleepers in the class.
“I think Will Johnson is going to be one of those guys in a year or two that everybody talks about saying, ‘Where did he come from?’” Rodriguez said.
Safety P.J. Shirden missed his senior football season with a knee injury but he will be back in time this spring to defend his district and regional track standards. Shirden was an all-Pennsylvania performer as a junior in the high jump.
Detroit defensive back Derek Knight is already a three-time track athlete of the year. Solon, Ohio, native, Charles Matthews was one of the fastest players Rodriguez and his coaching staff saw on film this year. Not surprisingly, he is also a high school track letterman.
Evan Rodriguez and Julian Miller are 230-plus-pounders and both spend their winters playing basketball, not lifting weights.
“A lot of coaches say just concentrate on football and lift weights,” Rodriguez said. “You’re only going to be in high school one time. That’s helped us evaluate their athleticism and that’s what we’ve got in this class. It’s our job once they’re here to develop them whether they’re a DB, a wide receiver, a quarterback or running back.”
Five-foot-eight-inch Jock Sanders is the point guard on St. Petersburg Catholic’s basketball team; fellow WVU recruit Andrew Harris is a high-flying small forward on the same team.
“People from that area say Jock was just a dominating player with the ball in his hands,” Rodriguez said.
Miramar, Fla., safety Eain Smith is a three-sport letter-winner, also excelling in basketball and track. Like Smith, lanky 6-foot-4-inch Kendall Washington is a three-sport star in football, basketball and track.
“(Kendall) is every bit of 6-4; he has a big frame and he’s a guy that I think is one of the better athletes in this entire class,” Rodriguez said.
In addition to being one of the Top 10-rated football players in Virginia, quarterback Bradley Starks also had college offers in basketball as one of the commonwealth’s top shooting guards. Starks scored 42 points in a game against Robert E. Lee High School last month.
Many in Western Kentucky believe Hopkinsville, Ky., resident Keith Tandy is one of the best all-around athletes that area has produced in the last 10-15 years. In addition to being an all-state football player, Tandy also excels in basketball and baseball.
“More than anything else we watched him play basketball and we watched him play other sports,” Rodriguez explained. “He’s a guy we believe can play on either side of the ball.”
Brandon Hogan might be the most versatile player Rodriguez has recruited in his 20-some years of chasing prospects. Those who follow high school football in the D.C. area envision another Pacman Jones-type athlete in Hogan, voted Virginia’s Class 3A player of the Year.
“You look at his stats and they are unbelievable,” Rodriguez said. “We think he can learn the quarterback position, he could play slot receiver, he could return kicks; he could play DB.
“We wanted to get more athletic and we wanted to get faster. We wanted to address our needs and I think we did that,” Rodriguez said. “I don’t want to say we’ve got a lot of guys to develop, but we got a lot of guys with athleticism and with some development we think can be really, really talented.”
