Let's get some recruiting talk going!! It's never to early!!

TidelWave

New Member
Jan 13, 2000
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Tampa, FL
I am a huge recruiting fan that has come out of hiding after being so disappointed in our past coaches. I have lost most of my very good connections on recruiting but am pretty good at reading between the lines with the information I can find.

I have been monitoring some names and have been pleasantly surprised to find many top prospects mentioning Bama. How about running backs?

An early with list could look like this. I think we could possibly go after and land two very good ones this year with our miss on Carnell last year.

1. Jason Allen from Muscle Shoals is already being talked about as a national recruit. He does not mention Bama as a favorite yet but says he has been offered. We must like him if this is true.

2. Justin Vincent...another national prospect from Louisiana who puts Bama in his early top 5.

3. Bernard Smith...from Florida and put up some huge numbers.

4. Gerald Riggs... a big back from TN ..does the name sound familiar? At the recent Nike camp he mentioned Miami, FSU, Tennesse and Bama as being his top 4. He has also stated on a couple of occasions that he wants to stay close to home. That puts UT and Bama in front and Bama landed 3 big time RB's last year to our 0. Gerald ran a 4.53 in tennis shoes at the Nike camp.

5.Ken Darby...a Huntsville guy who is highly spoken of but I have not heard a lot about him as far as grades and favorites.

There are plenty of others as Alabama is going to be a good year for RB's. What do you guys think?

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Roll Tide!
Steve



[This message has been edited by TidelWave (edited April 11, 2001).]
 

JessN

Administrator & Editor-in-Chief
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Oct 13, 1999
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I'd like Darby and Allen, and I think we'll get them both. It would be nice to get Riggs but I bet he casts his lot elsewhere.

No thanks to the previous staff, but we have ground to make up with all of them, even the in-state guys.

Jess
 

TidelWave

New Member
Jan 13, 2000
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Tampa, FL
Hopefully once we put the NCAA mess behind us our coaches will open the bridges back up. I'm still happy with the names that are mentioning us until we dump some baggage.

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Roll Tide![\B]
Steve[\B]
 

TomCulpepper

Suspended
Jul 7, 2000
7
0
0
Birmingham, AL
Steve,

The running back to keep an eye on is Kenneth Darby. Jason Allen will probably be a defensive back in most programs. Other prospects to watch out for are:

DE Chris Harris Central (Tuscaloosa)
DT Jeremy Clark Daphne
DL/OL Kyle Tatum Prattville
DL Kedric Goldston Sandy Creek, GA
WR Jemalle Cornelius Fort Meade, FL
LB Taddious Washington John Ehret-Marrero, LA
LB Kenny Pope Garden City CC, KS

Pope is the nephew of Coach Kenneth Pope.

Tom
 

TidelWave

New Member
Jan 13, 2000
7
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Tampa, FL
Tom,

Good to see you posting again!! I thought we had lost you. Thanks for the names. Of course I had not heard of half of those guys
).

I have heard good things about Cornelius and of course Goldston & Tatum.

Washington would be awesome. I understand the he is one of the top two LB's in Louisiana this year. But is he as good as Bradie James ;o).

Good to hear from you. I had just called you earlier today and left you a message today.

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Roll Tide![\B]
Steve[\B]
 

TampaJim

BamaNation Citizen
Oct 12, 1999
29
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Tampa, FL, USA
Just a little update...

Kenneth Darby recently visited an Alabama practice, which I take as a very good sign.

Despite the early reports that this might be only an average year for RBs, there seems to be a lot them considering Alabama. Darby, Trevis O'Neal, Jason Allen, Titus Ryan (if he qualifies), Derrick Rogers, Ezell Rauls, Gerald Riggs, Jr., Ronnie Osborne (Piedmont, OK), Justin Vincent (Lake Charles, LA), Frank Willis (FB) (Navarre, FL), Mahlon Carey (Austell, GA)...

You get the idea.

Depending on how many scholarships we have to offer, we could sign as many as three RBs this year. I'll leave it to Coach Fran to determine which ones (g).

RTR!
 

ACT15

New Member
Jan 16, 2000
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The River City
I saw Kenneth Darby play last year. He has great speed and moves, and got to the outside to turn the corner on basically every run. He also runs very hard for his size, but that is the question to me, his size. I've seen him listed at 200+ pounds, but from my observations, that seems very generous. Can anyone speculate on his actual size?

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Jackson

Roll Damn Tide!
 

TidelWave

New Member
Jan 13, 2000
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Tampa, FL
I'm not sure of his actual size but I always worry about height more than weight (as long as he is above 190) and Ken looks like he could add more pounds easily.


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Roll Tide![\B]
Steve[\B]
 

TomCulpepper

Suspended
Jul 7, 2000
7
0
0
Birmingham, AL
Jim,

This is what I have found out about each of those guys so far:

Kenneth Darby- top RB in Alabama. Mike Wood told me he saw him at the A-Day game. Alabama, LSU, NCST, and Ole Miss have offered.

Trevis O'Neal- Will probably project as a FB or LB. Needs good camps and/or senior season to sign SEC but definitely one to watch.

Jason Allen- Great athlete who could play RB but will likely project as a DB. Alabama, Auburn, and Georgia Tech have offered.

Titus Ryan- Excellent player who has some work to do in the classroom. Was scheduled to visit Auburn's spring game but a frequent visitor to Alabama practices.

Derrick Rogers- Auburn has offered and more offers are sure to follow.

Ezzie Rauls- Size may limit his D-1A offers but I hope he proves me wrong.

Gerald Riggs, Jr.- Could be an even better LB. Has offers from every program on the planet. Brother lives in Miami and I think his mother lives in Atlanta. Father lives in Tennessee.

Ronnie Osborne (Piedmont, OK)- Haven't seen him.

Justin Vincent (Lake Charles, LA)- Haven't seen him.

Frank Willis (Navarre, FL)- The top fullback in Florida according to Dwight Thomas (scout for LRS). I'll be watching film on Willis today.

Mahlon Carey (Austell, GA)- Haven't seen him.

Overall, this year's crop is probably not as strong as last year's group of Jabari Davis, J. R. Lemon, Derrick Tinsley, Thez Robinson, Frank Gore, Cedric Houston, De'Arrius Howard, Carnell Williams, Lydell Ross, etc.


Tom
 

TomCulpepper

Suspended
Jul 7, 2000
7
0
0
Birmingham, AL
Steve,

Some tidbits I forgot to mention are:

1) The head coach at John Ehret High School (LB Taddious Washington) is Billy North. He is the nephew of Charlie North.

2) Another name to watch out for in Alabama is Raymond Chaney from Shaw High School in Mobile. He could project as a MLB or DL. Chaney was at the A-Day game.

3) Jermalle Cornelius is the top athlete in Florida according to Dwight Thomas (LRS scout). Reliable sources tell me he's very fond of Alabama.

Tom
 

Jim Morris

1st Team
Oct 13, 1999
951
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Athens,AL
ps.tidefans.com
Happen to see Darby the other day myself. Seems a bit leaner than he did last football season. A friend of mine who coaches in Huntsville told me his athletic ability reminds him of Dewan Hicks who played at Lee and now at MTSU.
 

TidelWave

New Member
Jan 13, 2000
7
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Tampa, FL
Tom/Jim,

I saw where LoneStar recruiting put up their top 100 in Texas. It seems that some in Plano TX is fond of Coach Franchione..

-#1 DB Vickeal Vaughn (Plano West)..Ark, Neb,A&M,TX, OU and Bama.
-Top 3 OL Justin Blalock (Plano East) A&M, Mich, BAMA, OU, TX and LSU
-Top 6 LB Kellen Tillman (Plano West) OU, TX, A&M, FSU, BAMA, TT
-QB/Ath David Lofton (Plano West) Stanford, TX, Neb, BAMA and Wash.

Also,
-Top 4 WR Xavier McGuire (Dallas Carter) LSU, OU, UCLA, FL, Mich St and BAMA.
-DB Matthew Melton (Tyler..John Tyler) Notre Dame, Neb, TX, A&M and BAMA.

If anything it will be fun to keep up with them.



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Roll Tide![\B]
Steve[\B]
 

TampaJim

BamaNation Citizen
Oct 12, 1999
29
0
0
Tampa, FL, USA
Tom,

Thanks for all the information. I have always relied on you for recruiting news and your presence on this board is much appreciated.

Please continue to keep all of us updated on recruiting and, of course, where you go from here.

Thanks again.

Jim Wilson
jwilson@barrmurman.com
 

JessN

Administrator & Editor-in-Chief
Staff member
Oct 13, 1999
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To add one name that *might* get a look later on...Kevin Sears of Russellville.

He plays safety right now, but he *must* get more physical. However, what makes him attractive is that he is athletic enough to play FS yet is approx. 6'5" or taller. You don't find a guy with that height running around in the secondary very much. Speed is average, I would say.

Jess
 

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