Over 170 local athletes turned out to represent the region on Saturday at Christopher Newport University. The trainers at Bon Secours In Motion ran the athletes through their paces in the combine section of the event, then the high school coaches took the athletes position by position for training and head to head competition. Every athlete shined and the competition for MVP awards was tight.
The quarterback situation at Virginia just became much clearer. At the end of last season, there was quite a log jam at the position. Since then, Michael Rocco transferred to the University of Richmond. Now, Phillip Sims is out of the picture.
The Spring Evaluation period closes today. College coaches are packing it in and heading back to campus to review their travels with their staff. Many offers have been doled out. More offers are on the way as coaching staffs make some tough decisions about their priorities. One player who’s fitting into just about every coach’s plans is Bethel defensive tackle Ricky Walker. Walker’s offer list has now topped twenty. The only schools that aren’t in on him at this point are schools that know they have no chance, or top level programs that haven’t figured out how to fit him into their roster.
Green Run defensive end Shaun James is possibly a name you haven’t heard of. James is a tall and lanky athlete who’s spent just as much time playing basketball as he has playing football. The Stallions struggled on the field last season. Now, with new head coach Jeff McGowan in place, and with a renewed focus on football. The ceiling on James is steadily rising.
Ocean Lakes wide out Jaason Lewis continues to rack up offers and recognition. The rising junior hasn’t even reached the point where college coaches can talk to him off campus, yet he’s accumulated close to twenty college scholarship offers and his list is a who’s who of major college football. Coach Chris Scott fields the interest for his college ready athlete, and it’s been a busy month at Ocean Lakes.
Earlier in the Spring Evaluation period, Ocean Lakes defensive tackle Derrick Nnadi had narrowed his list of schools under consideration to two. Virginia and Virginia Tech sat atop his list, while a number of top out-of-state schools fell from consideration. Now that those schools have been able to visit Ocean Lakes to evaluate and talk to Derrick in person, the big man’s list has changed again.
Lake Taylor cornerback Nhyre Quinerly is seeing his recruitment heat up. The rising junior is still ahead of the curve when it comes to college attention. The latest news should send his stock skyrocketing.
As the Spring Evaluation period winds down, we’re getting more and more news of new offers. After months of mutual interest, Salem linebacker Jacob Brown has landed his first scholarship offer.
($$) Ocean Lakes linebacker Jahvoni Simmons has the look of a big time player. He’s 6-2 and 225 now, and he’s only a high school sophomore playing at middle linebacker. His highlight film is full of punishing hits, and his ability to drop back into coverage has him looking as smooth as silk. It’s no wonder big colleges are jumping on board and doing it early. This morning, a Big Ten school just took Simmons’ recruitment to a new level.
Maury speedster Davion Taylor was one of the success stories of the 2012 season. The Commodores experienced a resurgence and the junior receiver/defensive back/return specialist often sparked the Maury offense before he lost the last few games of the season due to a devastating knee injury. Taylor’s comeback is ahead of schedule. Now he just has to convince the college coaches recruiting the area to expect him to be healthy.