Ready to Go
March 27, 2009 08:33 PM | General
March 27, 2009
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MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – It wasn’t a spur of the moment decision for freshman wide receiver Logan Heastie to enroll in college a half year early. It was something he first considered after his sophomore year of high school.
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| Freshman Logan Heastie practiced for the first time on Friday.
All-Pro Photography/Dale Sparks photo |
“After my 10th grade year I knew I was going to graduate early but I didn’t know I was going to go to West Virginia,” Heastie said Friday. “I just saw the benefits of it. I don’t know who had done it before, but people that do this usually get on the field faster.”
Heastie’s long term goal was to go to a major football program and play early.
“All football players want to play early and I figured the faster I got here the faster I am going to play,” Heastie said. “There were a couple of schools that wouldn’t let me do it but the majority of them would so I figured I will just graduate early.”
All of that planning nearly went out of the window earlier this week when he was pulled out of practice on Tuesday for NCAA Eligibility Center issues. Three days later, Heastie isn’t sure what was going on.
“I have no idea what the issue was,” Heastie said.
West Virginia coach Bill Stewart didn’t get into particulars after Friday’s practice, but he was pleased as punch to have Heastie back out on the field and ready to begin his college career.
“It’s just good to have him out there. I appreciate the Eligibility Center acting in such a quick fashion,” Stewart said. “It is pleasing to know that they put the young man’s interest at heart.”
Many consider the 6-foot-3, 200-pounder to be the jewel of West Virginia’s nationally ranked recruiting class. Heastie was selected to play in the ESPN Under Armour All-American Game in Orlando and he was the only Virginian picked on the USA Today All-America team.
Heastie, who said he also considered national champion Florida, never wavered on his commitment to West Virginia once he made it - even when the offense struggled early in the season against East Carolina and Colorado. He was mature enough to understand that it takes time to change an offensive system. He knew that West Virginia was eventually going to become a more balanced offense and the Mountaineers’ 31-30 Meineke Car Care Bowl victory over North Carolina only validated his decision.
“You really can’t flip a switch and change the offense like that. It takes a year or two to do that but I guess (others) didn’t look at it that way,” Heastie said. “As far as me, I knew they were going to switch it around and sooner or later during the recruiting process you have to trust somebody and I trusted Coach (Chris) Beatty.”
Heastie (pronounced Hasty) said that quarterback Geno Smith’s commitment further solidified West Virginia’s pledge to have a balanced offense.
“I wasn’t going to jump or go anywhere but his commitment did help things out obviously for my sake and also for the team’s sake,” he said.
Heastie’s size (he’s already gained 23 pounds since he first arrived), his speed, and his athletic ability make him a very strong candidate for playing time this fall.
“That’s why I came here (early) – to get stronger and faster, learn the playbook and get to know everybody and experience college so when we come back in the fall and get into the full swing of things it won’t by anything,” Heastie explained.
Heastie’s first day of practice Friday was spent figuring out where to line up. A student assistant coach was with him all practice on the sidelines explaining each play that was called.
“I don’t know anything. I am brand new to this offense,” he said. “I’m trying to get out on the field as much as I can so I can learn.”
Heastie said the speed of the corners is something he is going to have to get used to, much like the off-season conditioning program Mike Joseph ran this winter.
“The weight room is no joke,” he admitted.
Heastie made it a point to tell his Virginia Beach buddies coming to Morgantown this fall what he went through during winter conditioning and what they can expect when they get here this summer.
“We’re all pretty tight because we’re not that far from each other,” Heastie said. “Every once in a while they call me and ask me how it is and I tell them that it’s a beast. You can tell them that it’s hard but they can only experience it when they get here.”
Heastie admits it was tough leaving his old friends back home coming to a completely foreign place.
“It was hard leaving high school because I think I left high school like halfway through the school day and got here on a Friday and I had to wait all the way until Tuesday to begin classes,” he said. “It was pretty different because I didn’t know where I was going and I really didn’t know anybody. Now I’m pretty used to it.”
Heastie will make two trips back to Great Bridge High School, once on May 15 for his high school prom and again on June 12 to go through graduation ceremonies.
For now, Heastie is focused on the task at hand.
“When they said I was eligible I was pretty happy to be back out and start practicing,” he said.
So are the West Virginia coaches.
