Bluefield_Rules 46 Report Share Posted April 25, 2008 The decision was made in hopes of landing a scholarship to closer D1 school such as VT or one of the Carolina schools in the ACC. http://www.bdtonline.com/localsports/local_story_115222210.html?keyword=secondarystory Ponder follows heart to HMA By BRIAN WOODSON Bluefield Daily Telegraph BLUEFIELD — Sometimes you just have to follow your heart. Ansel Ponder is doing just that, having decided to attend Hargrave Military Academy for a year, while changing his mind about taking his football talents to Western Michigan. “I wanted to go to Hargrave from the beginning and some things didn’t really work out for me to do that and I just kind of didn’t look into it any more.†said Ponder, Bluefield’s All-Class AA senior wide receiver and talented defensive back. While Ponder liked what he saw at Western Michigan, it wasn’t where his heart was taking him. “I went up to Western Michigan and it was nice and everything,†Ponder said. “I just did it instead of thinking more about things and talking to the coaches at Hargrave and letting them know my situation. “After that, some things worked out and I just went with my heart.†Ponder, who is also an All-Class AA basketball player, plans to attend Hargrave at least through January of 2009, and then hopes to get a chance to play Division I football, but at a closer destination than Kalamazoo, Mich. “I’m just excited to go down there and mature a little bit and hopefully by January to be able to go to a nice school around the area,†Ponder said. “Hopefully it will be a school around the ACC or something like that. (Virginia) Tech is like an hour away, or North Carolina, schools like that for football. “I feel real confident that I will go down there and do the right thing and hopefully God will bless me again.†Even though Ponder is giving up the Division I offer accepted last month, he’s confident that God has helped him with his decision. “A lot of people might think that you passed up this, but what I’m doing is not wrong so it’s not like I’m going to be doing something wrong,†Ponder said. “I felt like that was what I wanted to do and I felt like God put both of those opportunities ahead of me and whichever one I decided to go with He would be with me always.†Bluefield head coach Fred Simon thinks Ponder has made a good decision, and is confident he’ll get his chance to play at the highest level of college football. “We just know he’ll get to go somewhere, Western Michigan is a good ways away,†Simon said. “Hargrave is really what he wanted to do all along and financially he had a few problems with it, but he talked with some coaches and some things were taken care of that changed his mind in a lot of ways.†Hargrave Military, located in Chatham, Va., has a long history of producing Division I athletes, no matter what the sport. The prep school gives athletes an opportunity to mature, gain experience and improve in the class room. “What that’s going to do for him is give him another year of experience. He gets to lift and run and eat and grow up again and now he doesn’t have to rush into a school,†Simon said. “He gets to lay back and say I’ve got this choice here and this choice here. “He doesn’t have to rush into things and I think it’s going to work out fantastically for him. It’s just my opinion, but I think it will work out for him.†Among the athletes who have been developed at Hargrave are a trio of NFL Draft hopefuls — Virginia offensive lineman Branden Albert, Virginia Tech defensive back Brandon Flowers and Arkansas defensive end Marcus Harrison. “They have a lot of ties, a lot of their athletes go Division I and if Ansel is good enough to go to Division I, he’ll go, and I feel like he will,†Simon said. “I think he will get to go closer when all is said and done.†Ponder’s close friend, Dexter Moore — a 2007 Bluefield graduate and three-time first team All-Class AA basketball standout — spent the past year at Hargrave, and earned a Division I scholarship to Coastal Carolina. “We talk about every week. He said it’s kind of hard, but it helped him in the long run,†Ponder said. “I don’t know if he necessarily liked it, but he said he benefited from going down there.†A 6-foot-3 athlete with plenty of leaping ability, Ponder didn’t play football as a freshman and was limited as a sophomore because of a hamstring injury. He’s made up for lost time, and should have plenty of football left. “He’s a character kid, he’s got good character, he works hard, good family base,†Simon said. “His mom has done a super job with him, and he’s just go what it takes, you’ve got to have a heart and he has that. “You look at his experience, he really only got to play for us one full year. His junior year he got to play, but we didn’t get the ball to him as much as we should have, but we did this past year...†Ponder, whose brother, Craig, was the starting point on the Bluefield basketball team last season, won’t forget any of the people who assisted in his growing process, especially the Bluefield coaching staff. “I’d just like to thank everybody that has helped me,†Ponder said. “It’s been kind of confusing and I just thank my mom and I thank God and all the people that have helped me and have tried to help me mature and I just thank them for that. “Most of all, I’d like to thank God. He’s just blessed me and continues to bless me. It seems like there is always something new that He blesses me with, and I will just continue keeping Him first.†For Ponder, this decision is final. He’s happy with the result. “It’s really my decision so I feel like God has helped me get to this point and I don’t think He would ever leave me,†Ponder said. “Whatever you do, I think God will always be there with you as long as you do the right thing.†—Contact Brian Woodson at bwoodson@bdtonline.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trublue 939 Report Share Posted April 25, 2008 This young man is so well grounded.....no doubt the entire area will be "rooting" for him. Good luck Ansel at Hargrave and thereafter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thundercloud 179 Report Share Posted April 26, 2008 Good luck Ansel hope to see you at VT. Its all about work and ablity, and you got it. Go get it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BLU 10 Report Share Posted April 26, 2008 Great choice. He go further this way IMO Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SW_VA_boy 495 Report Share Posted April 26, 2008 After seeing the Beavers numerous times last season, I wouldn't mind seeing both him and the safety (sorry forgot the name) that killed JM in the title in C'ville. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PedroCerano 10 Report Share Posted April 27, 2008 I don't think that they killed JM in either game they played, but he's a great player. It will be a costly change of heart, but maybe he will be picked up by a bigger D1 school next year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bogeavers 10 Report Share Posted April 27, 2008 [ QUOTE ] After seeing the Beavers numerous times last season, I wouldn't mind seeing both him and the safety (sorry forgot the name) that killed JM in the title in C'ville. [/ QUOTE ] I believe you are talking about Shaun Brooks #16. He has the talent to go D-1, but he has some real character issues to deal with. I am not sure if he even plans to go to school anywhere. Oh yea, he did kill James Monroe in both games. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GetMoney55 11 Report Share Posted April 27, 2008 Yeah I think he is talking about Shaun because Ansel played safety on defense. Anyway, I talked to Shaun the other day and he has no clue where he wants to go. From what I know with earlier conversations with him, he might go to a D-2 or D1-AA school. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hokie07 11 Report Share Posted April 27, 2008 If resources allowed, Hargrave would be an excellent fit for Shaun also. A year down there would instill great discipline for him and definitely get him to a Division I school on a football scholarship. Brooks' raw talent is some of the best I have seen in a long, long time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GetMoney55 11 Report Share Posted April 28, 2008 He will be signing next week to his choose of school. He didnt tell me who, but just to watch for it next week. haha what a jokie joke maker Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bhs7695 185 Report Share Posted June 10, 2008 Was Ponder invited to (or allowed to attend) any camps this summer conducted by colleges like Virginia Tech for example? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GMan 3,569 Report Share Posted June 10, 2008 I don't think post-grads can attend camps... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bhs7695 185 Report Share Posted June 10, 2008 I didn't think they could either. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tbgfan 856 Report Share Posted June 10, 2008 Is Cody Journell, from Giles, who just received an offer from Tech after attending the summer camp, only a junior? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bhs7695 185 Report Share Posted June 10, 2008 I think he is an upcoming senior Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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