Who has committed and where?

[SwvaOG 601]

1 hour ago, Mountain Football said:

This is something I've always been curious about. Where do they end up at after the first semester?

We could do it but it would need some moderator attention.  Basically pin it to the top and make it a sticky thread like the two they have now. 

 

[BBHoops_18 206]

Clements to UVA Wise

[SwvaOG 601]

1 hour ago, BBHoops_18 said:

Clements to UVA Wise

Good pick up for them.  I wonder if the new staff is prioritizing some local talent.  Well, local SWVA talent...they seem to hit up East TN fairly well. 

[BBHoops_18 206]

Clements took down the tweet about Wise. He’s now attending VT for a visit.

[Gridiron60 2,555]

36 minutes ago, BBHoops_18 said:

Clements took down the tweet about Wise. He’s now attending VT for a visit.

I think starting at a smaller school would benefit him more but that’s just me. Wish him the best wherever he ends up.

[JDHoss 249]

1 hour ago, Gridiron60 said:

I think starting at a smaller school would benefit him more but that’s just me. Wish him the best wherever he ends up.

Absolutely. I pointed out earlier that Mizzuruh's 1st team AA RB was at DII Truman St before he moved up. With the portal, the possibilities are endless. 

[sixcat 2,919]

1 hour ago, JDHoss said:

With the portal, the possibilities are endless. 

I couldn't disagree more. There are way more kids entering the portal than are being picked up by other schools.

According to the NCAA Transfer Portal Database, 1,427 FBS players entered the portal in 2022. Of those, 599 did not get picked up by a new school and found themselves out of college. Of the 828 that did find a new home, 108 wound up below the FCS level, i.e. DII or lower.

FCS players found the going much worse. Of the 626 FCS players that entered the portal in 2022, only 238 found a new home with only 86 of those being in FCS or FBS. Meaning, 155 wound up in DII or lower. 388 of those 626 wound up out of college.

[JDHoss 249]

9 hours ago, sixcat said:

I couldn't disagree more. There are way more kids entering the portal than are being picked up by other schools.

According to the NCAA Transfer Portal Database, 1,427 FBS players entered the portal in 2022. Of those, 599 did not get picked up by a new school and found themselves out of college. Of the 828 that did find a new home, 108 wound up below the FCS level, i.e. DII or lower.

FCS players found the going much worse. Of the 626 FCS players that entered the portal in 2022, only 238 found a new home with only 86 of those being in FCS or FBS. Meaning, 155 wound up in DII or lower. 388 of those 626 wound up out of college.

I'm talking about the portal providing opportunities for guys like Clements, who didn't have what the FBS or FCS schools were looking for at this time, to develop their bodies and game, and like the kid at Mizzuruh, climb the ladder. 

[sixcat 2,919]

8 hours ago, JDHoss said:

I'm talking about the portal providing opportunities for guys like Clements, who didn't have what the FBS or FCS schools were looking for at this time, to develop their bodies and game, and like the kid at Mizzuruh, climb the ladder. 

Yeah, I still disagree with the premise that "possibilities are endless." 

Of the 2,053 players that entered the transfer portal in FBS and FCS last year, one (Cody Shrader - Missouri) went from D2 to P5 while 987 found themselves with nowhere to play or attend class. That doesn't rise to the level of "possibilities are endless" in my view.

To put it another way, 52% of players that entered the transfer portal last year found a new opportunity while 48% found themselves on the outside looking in wondering what the hell happened. How many of those kids are just like Clements? I'd wager, most!

[JDHoss 249]

On 2/2/2024 at 7:24 AM, sixcat said:

Yeah, I still disagree with the premise that "possibilities are endless." 

Of the 2,053 players that entered the transfer portal in FBS and FCS last year, one (Cody Shrader - Missouri) went from D2 to P5 while 987 found themselves with nowhere to play or attend class. That doesn't rise to the level of "possibilities are endless" in my view.

To put it another way, 52% of players that entered the transfer portal last year found a new opportunity while 48% found themselves on the outside looking in wondering what the hell happened. How many of those kids are just like Clements? I'd wager, most!

That's why I said "possibilities". It's a possibility that at UVA-Wise, Clements could maybe add 10-20 pounds to his frame over a couple of years, and if he performs well, move up to an FCS or Group of 5 school. Of course, it's also a possibility that he won't be able to get on the field at Wise, or anywhere else.

[BandanaVTDavis4321 1,717]

Clements is too small Right Now to play Div 1 football. You ain't playing running back under 180 in 2024 and that's even pushing it. The exceptions are only a few that are insanely elite. What is Clements true weight? 160ish? I said this on here 2 years ago, he's fantastic, but he will need to be a buck 80 to play 1AA (FCS) ball. 

Key words in the above paragraph. Right Now.  If I could walk on at Tech and had the money or school paid for, I would go to VT as a walk on over UVA Wise because the strength and conditioning program at Tech just has so many more resources for him to get his weight up. Additionally, I think he is a very high GPA type kid, approaching 3.8 or more, so he could possibly get an academic scholly to Blacksburg and get his school paid for that way if he were to walk on, and this might be why he is taking the visit to VT.

[BandanaVTDavis4321 1,717]

On 2/1/2024 at 10:47 AM, Gridiron60 said:

I think starting at a smaller school would benefit him more but that’s just me. Wish him the best wherever he ends up.

See my post above on why I kind of have another take. If he could go to Tech, walk on, be with the football team and the coaches will know his background. They see the kid come in at 160 and he just relentlessly works day after day and in 24 months, he's now 184. Coaches love this and he may see himself getting on the football field at some point and getting a scolly. At 160, he's not going to get on the field much, if at all, at UVA Wise or Concord. He may play, but he won't get over 4 to 5 touches a game. I think it would be wasting his time. Go straight to Blacksburg and do that 2 year wait right there with the coaches seeing you everyday in the weightroom and busting your butt. I think the odds in the long run are better that way than going to a UVA Wise or Concord, etc.

You can be a superstar at a UVA Wise and still, trying to go to a major D1 program your junior year brings incredibly low odds. Even if that program gives you a scholly, you have 3, 4, 5 other running backs who have been in the program for 2 to 3 year already and making in roads just brings incredibly low odds of getting on the field.

[KevinG 5]

Earning a football scholarship at a D1 program, whether FCS or FBS, is extremely difficult.  There have only been a handful in SWVA within the past few years that have accomplished this.  A lot of kids are superstars at their high school, but at the D1 level, everybody on the team were superstars at their high school.  These schools are looking for something that sets a particular kid apart from everyone else.  For example, it could be elite speed, size, etc…  You may be on the smaller size, but if you run a legit 4.4 then that will for sure raise some eyebrows at particular positions, or you may be 6’5” 300lbs and that will also have the coaches talking.  With that being said, I do think SWVA tends to get overlooked on some occasions.  There are a lot of High School coaches in this area that need to be better at reaching out to colleges and pushing their standout players. BandanaVTDavis4321 is correct when he says college coaches love to see a kid work their butt off at their program and get better.  If a kid’s goal is to play football and earn a scholarship to pay for school, then they should go wherever that opportunity presents itself.  If they are dead set at playing for a D1 school then talk to the coaches and try to walk-on with hopes of earning playing time or even better earning that scholarship.  Walk-ons earn scholarships all the time with hard work.  

[sixcat 2,919]

On 2/4/2024 at 1:45 PM, JDHoss said:

That's why I said "possibilities". It's a possibility that at UVA-Wise, Clements could maybe add 10-20 pounds to his frame over a couple of years, and if he performs well, move up to an FCS or Group of 5 school. Of course, it's also a possibility that he won't be able to get on the field at Wise, or anywhere else.

"Possibilities" and "endless possibilities" are two completely different things. 

Is it possible for a kid such as Clements to go to D2, develop over a couple of seasons and transfer into D1? Absolutely.
Are those possibilities "endless?" Absolutely not. 

[BBHoops_18 206]

Today is signing day. What local players have signed places? Bluefield’s Amir Hairston to Fairmont State.

[SwvaOG 601]

Sage Blevins (DL), Abingdon, signed with Emory & Henry.  He was the only local kid to sign with them after signing 4-5 last year.

UVA-Wise added Parker Bandy (WR) and Tyler Cole (DL), both from Honaker.  

I have no indication if these are walk-ons or if they are scholarship kids.  The D-2 world offers varying amounts of "football money" usually coupled with academic and other types of financial aid. 

Doesn't appear ETSU added any local kids.  About 60% of their incoming class are transfers.

I don't see anything on Concord's site for local kids, as of now.

I don't see any local kids on Bluefield State's signings, as of now.

[BBHoops_18 206]

Omarion Walton from Graham to Concord.

[EH31 2,518]

Brody Patterson (Tazewell) - VMI

[Gridiron60 2,555]

2 hours ago, SwvaOG said:

Sage Blevins (DL), Abingdon, signed with Emory & Henry.  He was the only local kid to sign with them after signing 4-5 last year.

UVA-Wise added Parker Bandy (WR) and Tyler Cole (DL), both from Honaker.  

I have no indication if these are walk-ons or if they are scholarship kids.  The D-2 world offers varying amounts of "football money" usually coupled with academic and other types of financial aid. 

Doesn't appear ETSU added any local kids.  About 60% of their incoming class are transfers.

I don't see anything on Concord's site for local kids, as of now.

I don't see any local kids on Bluefield State's signings, as of now.

I don’t understand why Bluefield State & Bluefield College (University) don’t recruit more from local Mercer County & Tazewell County schools. There’s a lot of local talent that could contribute to either program. 

[sixcat 2,919]

58 minutes ago, Gridiron60 said:

I don’t understand why Bluefield State & Bluefield College (University) don’t recruit more from local Mercer County & Tazewell County schools. There’s a lot of local talent that could contribute to either program. 

I was told by some college coaches back during the fall golf season, local kids have a reputation of not staying in school. If they pick one up by default, great but they aren’t going to waste too many resources going after many of them.

It is what it is. 

[SwvaOG 601]

4 minutes ago, sixcat said:

I was told by some college coaches back during the fall golf season, local kids have a reputation of not staying in school. If they pick one up by default, great but they aren’t going to waste too many resources going after many of them.

It is what it is. 

This.  I was told this by two local college coaches directly.  The wash out rate is very high, significantly higher than non-locals.  One coach said the sweet spot was 3-4 hours away. 

[SwvaOG 601]

Trenton Adkins is also at UPike. 

[Wildcat/Chanticleer 25]

My son , Brock Alley (Tazewell) committed to Ferrum College on Wednesday evening 

[swva_havok_fan 1,261]

13 hours ago, SwvaOG said:

Trenton Adkins is also at UPike. 

Once had official visits to Ohio State, Penn State, Tennessee among others... now relinquished to an NAIA school.  Glad he's getting a chance somewhere, but so much potential wasted is a shame.

[Observer 78]

1 hour ago, swva_havok_fan said:

Once had official visits to Ohio State, Penn State, Tennessee among others... now relinquished to an NAIA school.  Glad he's getting a chance somewhere, but so much potential wasted is a shame.

And people still wonder why kids from our area aren't recruited.....