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Post by noexcuses on Feb 12, 2014 23:09:46 GMT -5
Posted: Saturday, February 8, 2014 6:53 pm | Updated: 7:03 pm, Sat Feyb 8, 2014.
Freedom trio signs for football PAUL SCHENKEL The News Herald Three players who made the 2013 Freedom football team’s offense click will head to various parts of the state to continue their gridiron careers on the collegiate level. Khris Gardin (5-8, 160; WR) signed a national letter of intent with North Carolina A&T last Wednesday, Chris Bridges (6-0, 200; RB) signed with Lenoir-Rhyne and Nate Moore (6-3, 365; OL) signed with Winston-Salem State. Gardin was one of two wide receivers and 16 total players to ink with the Aggies on National Signing Day. For the rest of the story: www.morganton.com/sports/high_school/article_4466ef96-911c-11e3-81ec-001a4bcf6878.html [/b][/quote] [/quote] Fellows PLEASE-NONE of our signees were Offered by Southern Cal or LSU;our guys felt We were their Best Option among the offers they had;it appears though,that some Pretty Good prospects fell our way espec. QB,LB,& RB. It is Time Now for us to Close the talent gap between Us and SC St and BCookman...If so we vie for championship This year...If not another year of starting BIG and ending in a Fizzle- losing to teams = to a strong CIAA team.
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Post by numberonebrave on Feb 13, 2014 8:21:14 GMT -5
Lamar Raynard
School Interest Offer Visit Recruited by Appalachian St. Medium None Furman Medium None North Carolina Medium None N.C. State Medium None Wake Forest Medium None
Hassan Klugh
School Interest Offer Visit Recruited by
Charlotte Medium Offered :Elon Medium Offered: N.C. State Medium ; Western Carolina Medium Offered It is important for NCA&T TO GET KIDS (like Klugh and Raynard) THAT OUR RIVALS (Elon,WCU,SC State, UNCC,Jackson State)are after. Would also like to get one or two that could go to App State. I doubt that we are going to close the talent gap with SC State, BCCU,Tenn State,Towson, etc if the A&T recruit's other choices are D-2 schools unless the NCAT staff does a great job of finding "diamonds".......That is not to say Gardin or others are not quality recruits, but it makes me wonder why their next option was a Lenior Rhyne or as in the case of one other player UNC-P,WSSU OR Wingate
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Post by noexcuses on Feb 13, 2014 9:03:09 GMT -5
Lamar Raynard School Interest Offer Visit Recruited by Appalachian St. Medium None Furman Medium None North Carolina Medium None N.C. State Medium None Wake Forest Medium None Hassan Klugh School Interest Offer Visit Recruited by Charlotte Medium Offered :Elon Medium Offered: N.C. State Medium ; Western Carolina Medium Offered It is important for NCA&T TO GET KIDS (like Klugh and Raynard) THAT OUR RIVALS (Elon,WCU,SC State, UNCC,Jackson State)are after. Would also like to get one or two that could go to App State. I doubt that we are going to close the talent gap with SC State, BCCU,Tenn State,Towson, etc if the A&T recruit's other choices are D-2 schools unless the NCAT staff does a great job of finding "diamonds".......That is not to say Gardin or others are not quality recruits, but it makes me wonder why their next option was a Lenior Rhyne or as in the case of one other player UNC-P,WSSU OR Wingate My point Exactly numberonebrave...well stated.
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oleschoolaggie
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Post by oleschoolaggie on Feb 13, 2014 12:15:43 GMT -5
sometimes our coaches see something in recruits that others don't see. you can't always rely on who else offered recruits as a basis of how good they are because good talent often goes unnoticed, especially if they are "undersize".
for example, hardly anybody went after an "undersized" rb named cohen last year, but look at how he turned out? meac rookie of the year, 1st team all meac rb, broke a&t's all time rushing record for freshmen. betcha a bunch of schools now regret not going after cohen last year, dude didn't even make the east/west all star game coming out of high school. gorham was undersized too, but he can play.
so i tend to take the wait and see approach. this kid khris gardin is also "undersize", but i'm not gonna prejudge because i trust our coaches. i don't think our coaches would've went after him if he couldn't play. a lot of schools would look the other way when it comes to a kid like gardin merely because of his size (5'8", 160lbs). i haven't seen any video on him, but without even seeing him play, i betcha dude is talented.
since i'm stuck here at home in the snow, i'll see if i can find some video on this kid...
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oleschoolaggie
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Post by oleschoolaggie on Feb 13, 2014 12:24:23 GMT -5
here's why the coaches went after gardin, take a lQQk. this kid makes plays on offense, special teams, and defense too. he does it all. he blocked several field goal/point after attempts, brought back several punts/kickoffs for touchdowns, he even "blocks" from the wr position, and plays defensive back too intercepting and deflecting passes, causing turnovers. oh yeah, i can see what our coaches saw in this kid... www.hudl.com/athlete/1088273/highlights/73023375
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Post by durhamgsoaggie on Feb 13, 2014 12:30:09 GMT -5
I'm not stuck on the "getting guys that other schools are recruiting" thing. But we do have some...
Darriel Mack (OG) was hotly recruited by SC State... we beat them out because he wanted to major in Engineering Xavier Griffin (WR) was an NC State recruit... went back to prep school, and we got him from there.
But back to the App. St thing
App's Yosef Club increased their donations from $2.7 million in 2012 to $4.3 million for 2013 Our AAF increased our donations from $330K to $456K.
If you think that we can compete with App for the recruits they want, you may be a little naive on how college revenue sports work at higher levels.
Coach Broadway's model is very similar to what Jim Grobe had to do at Wake Forest. We're recruiting SMART kids who may be a notch below what an App. St is looking for, but developing them into quality players with their mind as a key skill set.
35 players on the honor roll is no accident.... That's recruiting, too.
The fact that we've gone 19-14 over a 3-year period WITHOUT spring ball is a testament not only to the coaching staff, but the mental capacity of the kids in the system to take what's being taught and applying it as well as possible without the advantages that the other schools have had.
We're much better off getting the players that fit our academic profile and system that are just a step below the next level to the recruiting services than expend unnecessary resources competing against the App. St's of the world who have more resources at their disposal.
Let's celebrate and be confident in what we are building ourselves to be and not worry about what someone else wants or doesn't want.
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aggielaw
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Post by aggielaw on Feb 13, 2014 12:58:26 GMT -5
Exactly durhamsoaggie, four years of good coaching and graduation is where we need to be going forward.
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Post by Aggie One on Feb 13, 2014 13:04:14 GMT -5
I agree. Fans get too caught up in who offered who a scholarship and worry about the dreaded Rivals rating system which really was contrived by bloggers as pure money making venture feeding off of rabid fans who don't mind dishng out money every month to see their school's name in print an associated with some 'big name' recruit thast they virturally created with "interest" letters.
I was listening to Colleges Sports radio yesterday while stuck in the snow storm for five hours and I wasn't shocked to hear only a paltry 32% percent of these so called 4- star and 5-star guys pan out as meaningful starters to the schools they sign with out of high school. A even greater percentage leavetheir originl school and end up somewhere much less glamourous outside of the power conferences. They are not all what they may be cracked up to be.
That revelation tells me that recruiting should entrusted to the coaches using their various summer camps when they really get to see these kids in person and up close and determine if they can play D-1 ball and play within that coaches system and A&T definitely recruited for a specific system on both sides of the ball. If the player doesn't fit into Broadway's system, we are going to pass on a kid. That's just a plain fact.
When you look at some of the new CAA schools (the old SoCon) we actually got the better of them this year especially folks like App and Elon in terms of quality in filling needs and upgrading our talent level.
I know we passed a lot of kids who went to other less known 1-AA schools or D-2 programs but the measuring sticks for us was (1)academics, (2) speed and (3) feels our need, all in that order. Given what we did in terms of shoring up our defensive backfield losses, getting us a few quality speed pass rushers along a front seven that already leads everyone in stopping the the run, and upgrading our QB position to playoff caliber ability, I believe we did a lot more than just getting our share or holding our own.
We took the first big step out from under the past sanctions with this recruiting class and it will be a one that will prove to be big because it will pay positive dividends fairly quickly.
Once this snow disappears next week its all about spring parctice. 2014 is going to be fun!
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Post by captaggie on Feb 13, 2014 13:31:54 GMT -5
Thanks durhamgsoaggie, for bring some perspective to the discussion.
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Post by aggieepower1990 on Feb 13, 2014 16:38:19 GMT -5
The legendary Bill Hayes was the best in the country at finding diamonds in the rough or identifying talent that the big boys did not see. He did it all the way back to WSSU with Timmy Newsome and when he came to A&T he did an even better job of finding great, NFL talent, mostly from down east. Broadway has shown some of that recruiting ability in his recruitment of Cohen. I've got to believe that there is good chance that the 2014 class has some NFL type potential talent. Time will tell. Broadway sems o know talent but Hayes was at a whole nother level.
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Post by marchingband1969 on Feb 13, 2014 16:52:45 GMT -5
Let's not forget that although Broadway has been at A&T three years he has had some other recruiting challenges during that time. Now that we are out of the shadow of the NCAA sanctions I hope Broadway will start recruiting and getting even better talent. As the team plays better and our record with OOC's and PWI's improves we should get a shot at better talent. And if we ever make the playoffs and win some games, that couldn't hurt either.
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Post by Trueaggie on Feb 13, 2014 17:15:35 GMT -5
Hayes new how to identify talent; he was the best.
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oleschoolaggie
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Post by oleschoolaggie on Feb 13, 2014 17:28:07 GMT -5
i think most coaches know talent when they see it. but what made hayes so great is that he could sign that talent better than most others could. that's what set hayes apart from most others. i don't know how he does it, but hayes attracted top notch talent to a&t long before we had the health and wellness center. somehow he's able to attract talent wherever he goes. you see the same traits at wssu because of hayes and his network of recruiting contacts...
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Post by Aggie One on Feb 13, 2014 17:42:17 GMT -5
More on the Athletes - Amos Williams, Walton HS. February 5th, 2014. National Signing Day. A day across the country where high school football players inked scholarships. At Walton High School this morning, Amos Williams signed with Division 1 North Carolina A&T State. Williams played a little bit of everything in his time as a Walton Brave, earning All-State Honors as a Utility athlete. Williams led the Braves in rushing this year, amazing over 700 yards and 12 touchdowns, while passing for over 1100 and seven scores while taking snaps at quarterback. Williams was recruited as both a slot receiver and corner for the Aggies, and says he's excited to see what he can do at the next level.
"It's a very exciting moment. I feel really blessed and I thank God for this opportunity," he said. "I know I'm going to have to work hard to get my opportunity, and when I get my opportunity, I know I'll shine at it. I feel like I can make opportunities with the ball in my hands on the offensive side, and I feel like I can play defense as well. I think I'm a good football player. I can play any position." For video and the rest of the story: www.wmbb.com/story/24646799/national-signing-day-2014
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aggielaw
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Post by aggielaw on Feb 13, 2014 17:46:52 GMT -5
Hayes is great. However, we have APR and other issues(graduation rate) that puts us in a whole different era in 2014. Broadway inherited a weak program and has us competing with everyone on our schedule.We as African-Americans truly do not appreciate our own administrators and institutions. We should be proud of our history and survival in a world that truly doesn't appreciate our worth.
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