Jennings could stand out among Mountaineer signees
by Dave Hickman, Staff writer
MORGANTOWN — Over the course of the next few weeks and months, the majority of West Virginia’s most recent football recruiting class will arrive on campus.
They come from Florida and Georgia, from Pennsylvania and Ohio and Maryland and, yes, even a couple from West Virginia. Attached to them are recruiting stars and backstories and, most of all, potential. Some have more than others.
Likewise, some are sure to flame out, if not sooner, then later. That’s just a matter of fact. The next time WVU — or pretty much anyone, for that matter — graduates an entire recruiting class will be the first. To predict who will be the first or last to go is mere assumption, even if a check of their histories suggests who may be more or less likely to wash out.
There will be those with seemingly great promise who never live up to it and those with low profiles who exceed all expectations. And for all the time and expense and interest paid to the evaluations of those players — both by coaches out of necessity and by recruitniks and fans out of over-the-top curiosity — it’s still largely a crap shoot.
For instance, of West Virginia’s 21 signees, four are rated as four-star players by Rivals — Miramar (Fla.) high schoolers Tyrek Cole and Jovon Durante, already arrived quarterback David Sills and junior college defensive back Rasul Douglas. Three are by comparison lowly two-star recruits — Martinsburg defensive back Deamonte Lindsay, lineman Colton McKivitz and, yes, Kevin White’s kid brother, junior college receiver Ka’Raun White.
The rest were assigned three stars, which presumably means they aren’t seen as all that bad, but they aren’t projected to be great, either. But again, it’s really a guessing game given that there were more once-upon-a-time three-star recruits (or lower) taken in the first round of the most recent NFL draft (17) than four- and five-star recruits (15).
All of which is a roundabout way of saying that regardless of the hype or the stars or the potential or even the personal histories, predicting which of West Virginia’s recruits will succeed is akin to predicting the weather. You might be able to do it generally, but precision is impossible.
Yet with that in mind, we still go out on that limb today and present one name, culled from that vast array of three-star prospects, perhaps to remember.
Gary Jennings.
• • •
“I understand that everybody wants to rate players and give them stars and all that,’’ said Bill Brown. “I never really understood how they did it and what made one kid a five and somebody else a two or a three.
“But I saw a kid once who was a defensive lineman that they said was a five-star kid. I looked at him and my jaw just dropped. I don’t know who ranks them, but they got the stars right on that one.’’
Brown is the coach at Colonial Forge High School in Stafford, Virginia. He’s been coaching for 40 years at one stop or another and has sent his share of players to major colleges, a number he estimates at roughly 100.
Among the most recent is Daniel Ezeagwu, a cornerback who as a freshman saw playing time at Maryland before being injured last year and could be in the discussion for a starting job.
“He didn’t even get offered [a scholarship] until after his senior year,’’ Brown said. “Part of it, I think, is that I don’t send my kids to Virginia Beach and the 757 camps [the area code] and all that, so a lot of kids will go under the radar.’’
Gary Jennings didn’t exactly go under the radar. After all, his final four college options — aside from West Virginia — were Notre Dame, Virginia, North Carolina and Wisconsin. It’s not as if he was waiting for the phone to ring.
But he was also considered just a three-star recruit, which is in some ways baffling. To watch his high school highlight video on Hudl.com is to be amazed at both his athleticism and his versatility, not to mention his outright skills.
“I didn’t get the exposure that a lot of players do because I didn’t do the Rivals camps and all that,’’ said Jennings, who expects to arrive at WVU shortly after his June 13 graduation. “I’d rather spend my time training and competing.’’
Here’s another possible reason Jennings flew somewhat under the star-assignment radar: He always seemed to be training and competing at something different. An accomplished juggler — “I learned how because I had to do it for a grade in a phys ed class,’’ he said — Jennings juggled a variety of positions during his high school career at Colonial Forge. In that highlight video he is seen almost equally catching passes, running the read option as a quarterback and intercepting passes and making big hits as a defensive back.
“Maybe he’s a three-star wide receiver because he’s been playing quarterback for me,’’ Brown said. “All I know is when the ball’s in the air, whether he’s playing offense or defense, my money’s on him to come down with it.’’
• • •
If Jennings was just a guy who played multiple positions in high school and showed some skill doing so on a highlight reel, he would blend in with the crowd. That’s part of what makes judging the potential of 17- and 18-year-old high school kids so difficult.
Ditto Jennings’ size. He was listed at 6-foot-2 and 195 pounds when West Virginia announced his signing in February. That’s impressive, but high school kids tend to find out very quickly in college that size is not the same as size and strength. Some take a year or two in the weight room to fill out.
What impresses about Jennings, though, is that the package already seems complete — or at least advanced — in so many ways. And it’s not just his physical tools, although he’s now closer to 215 pounds and it’s not through eating cheeseburgers.
“His maturity, both physically and mentally, is just ahead of the game,’’ said Brown. “That’s a real credit to him for his work ethic and to his mother and father, who raised him the right way. They’re just exceptional people. I told his father [Gary Jennings Sr.], ‘I wish you could come in and talk to other football parents about how to be a football dad.’ ”
To illustrate his maturity, Jennings waited until signing day to announce his college choice, and it wasn’t out of any desire to keep people guessing and make a big splash. He claims he made his decision a month before then, but wanted to make sure. He didn’t want to be one of those who commits and then decommits, either because of uncertainty or — as seems to be the case as often as not — simply for the publicity value.
“That’s not me,’’ Jennings said.
He also made his college choice based as much on academics as athletics. One of his goals, he said, was always to make sure he had an opportunity to go somewhere that would meet his academic desires. He’s not sure what those are just yet — he says sports management or medicine — and he actually chose West Virginia over Virginia. That might seem like a contradiction given the two schools’ rather disparate academic reputations, but WVU has a sports management major and UVA does not.
But the decision was his.
“His mother was concerned about what schools he was interested in and the decision he had to make,’’ Brown said. “I told her, ‘Look, Gary has done everything that a mother could want her son to do. You’ve raised him right.’ He’s going to make a good decision whatever it is.’’
• • •
When Jennings did announce his decision it was probably the highlight of signing day for West Virginia’s coaches. Both head coach Dana Holgorsen and wide receivers coach Lonnie Galloway — especially Galloway — raved about Jennings that day.
Perhaps it was because he was a bonus — for the most part everyone else had committed and it was just a matter of formalities — or perhaps they see what Brown and others see in this three-star recruit. Maybe they see his maturity and intelligence and polish, something most recruits grow into after they arrive, not before.
None of which is to say Gary Jennings is a can’t-miss guy. There’s no such thing. He’s a receiver who as a senior caught just 15 passes for 264 yards and three touchdowns. His passing and rushing numbers as a quarterback — 810 yards passing, 620 yards and 14 touchdowns rushing — were more impressive.
In other words, despite the physical and mental maturity, he’s still a raw receiver. But as Brown said, he seems ahead of the curve.
“If you’re going to come in and make an impact right away as a freshman, either you’re a very mature freshman or [the team has] a need at that position, maybe more than they should have,’’ said Brown, knowing full well that Jennings might fit into both those categories. “But he has a chance, I’d say.’’
Reach Dave Hickman at 304-348-1734 or dphickman1@aol.com or follow him at Twitter.com/dphickman1
- See more at: http://www.wvgazette.com/article/20150530/GZ02/150539925/1419#sthash.L5nIBAZF.dpuf
by Dave Hickman, Staff writer
MORGANTOWN — Over the course of the next few weeks and months, the majority of West Virginia’s most recent football recruiting class will arrive on campus.
They come from Florida and Georgia, from Pennsylvania and Ohio and Maryland and, yes, even a couple from West Virginia. Attached to them are recruiting stars and backstories and, most of all, potential. Some have more than others.
Likewise, some are sure to flame out, if not sooner, then later. That’s just a matter of fact. The next time WVU — or pretty much anyone, for that matter — graduates an entire recruiting class will be the first. To predict who will be the first or last to go is mere assumption, even if a check of their histories suggests who may be more or less likely to wash out.
There will be those with seemingly great promise who never live up to it and those with low profiles who exceed all expectations. And for all the time and expense and interest paid to the evaluations of those players — both by coaches out of necessity and by recruitniks and fans out of over-the-top curiosity — it’s still largely a crap shoot.
For instance, of West Virginia’s 21 signees, four are rated as four-star players by Rivals — Miramar (Fla.) high schoolers Tyrek Cole and Jovon Durante, already arrived quarterback David Sills and junior college defensive back Rasul Douglas. Three are by comparison lowly two-star recruits — Martinsburg defensive back Deamonte Lindsay, lineman Colton McKivitz and, yes, Kevin White’s kid brother, junior college receiver Ka’Raun White.
The rest were assigned three stars, which presumably means they aren’t seen as all that bad, but they aren’t projected to be great, either. But again, it’s really a guessing game given that there were more once-upon-a-time three-star recruits (or lower) taken in the first round of the most recent NFL draft (17) than four- and five-star recruits (15).
All of which is a roundabout way of saying that regardless of the hype or the stars or the potential or even the personal histories, predicting which of West Virginia’s recruits will succeed is akin to predicting the weather. You might be able to do it generally, but precision is impossible.
Yet with that in mind, we still go out on that limb today and present one name, culled from that vast array of three-star prospects, perhaps to remember.
Gary Jennings.
• • •
“I understand that everybody wants to rate players and give them stars and all that,’’ said Bill Brown. “I never really understood how they did it and what made one kid a five and somebody else a two or a three.
“But I saw a kid once who was a defensive lineman that they said was a five-star kid. I looked at him and my jaw just dropped. I don’t know who ranks them, but they got the stars right on that one.’’
Brown is the coach at Colonial Forge High School in Stafford, Virginia. He’s been coaching for 40 years at one stop or another and has sent his share of players to major colleges, a number he estimates at roughly 100.
Among the most recent is Daniel Ezeagwu, a cornerback who as a freshman saw playing time at Maryland before being injured last year and could be in the discussion for a starting job.
“He didn’t even get offered [a scholarship] until after his senior year,’’ Brown said. “Part of it, I think, is that I don’t send my kids to Virginia Beach and the 757 camps [the area code] and all that, so a lot of kids will go under the radar.’’
Gary Jennings didn’t exactly go under the radar. After all, his final four college options — aside from West Virginia — were Notre Dame, Virginia, North Carolina and Wisconsin. It’s not as if he was waiting for the phone to ring.
But he was also considered just a three-star recruit, which is in some ways baffling. To watch his high school highlight video on Hudl.com is to be amazed at both his athleticism and his versatility, not to mention his outright skills.
“I didn’t get the exposure that a lot of players do because I didn’t do the Rivals camps and all that,’’ said Jennings, who expects to arrive at WVU shortly after his June 13 graduation. “I’d rather spend my time training and competing.’’
Here’s another possible reason Jennings flew somewhat under the star-assignment radar: He always seemed to be training and competing at something different. An accomplished juggler — “I learned how because I had to do it for a grade in a phys ed class,’’ he said — Jennings juggled a variety of positions during his high school career at Colonial Forge. In that highlight video he is seen almost equally catching passes, running the read option as a quarterback and intercepting passes and making big hits as a defensive back.
“Maybe he’s a three-star wide receiver because he’s been playing quarterback for me,’’ Brown said. “All I know is when the ball’s in the air, whether he’s playing offense or defense, my money’s on him to come down with it.’’
• • •
If Jennings was just a guy who played multiple positions in high school and showed some skill doing so on a highlight reel, he would blend in with the crowd. That’s part of what makes judging the potential of 17- and 18-year-old high school kids so difficult.
Ditto Jennings’ size. He was listed at 6-foot-2 and 195 pounds when West Virginia announced his signing in February. That’s impressive, but high school kids tend to find out very quickly in college that size is not the same as size and strength. Some take a year or two in the weight room to fill out.
What impresses about Jennings, though, is that the package already seems complete — or at least advanced — in so many ways. And it’s not just his physical tools, although he’s now closer to 215 pounds and it’s not through eating cheeseburgers.
“His maturity, both physically and mentally, is just ahead of the game,’’ said Brown. “That’s a real credit to him for his work ethic and to his mother and father, who raised him the right way. They’re just exceptional people. I told his father [Gary Jennings Sr.], ‘I wish you could come in and talk to other football parents about how to be a football dad.’ ”
To illustrate his maturity, Jennings waited until signing day to announce his college choice, and it wasn’t out of any desire to keep people guessing and make a big splash. He claims he made his decision a month before then, but wanted to make sure. He didn’t want to be one of those who commits and then decommits, either because of uncertainty or — as seems to be the case as often as not — simply for the publicity value.
“That’s not me,’’ Jennings said.
He also made his college choice based as much on academics as athletics. One of his goals, he said, was always to make sure he had an opportunity to go somewhere that would meet his academic desires. He’s not sure what those are just yet — he says sports management or medicine — and he actually chose West Virginia over Virginia. That might seem like a contradiction given the two schools’ rather disparate academic reputations, but WVU has a sports management major and UVA does not.
But the decision was his.
“His mother was concerned about what schools he was interested in and the decision he had to make,’’ Brown said. “I told her, ‘Look, Gary has done everything that a mother could want her son to do. You’ve raised him right.’ He’s going to make a good decision whatever it is.’’
• • •
When Jennings did announce his decision it was probably the highlight of signing day for West Virginia’s coaches. Both head coach Dana Holgorsen and wide receivers coach Lonnie Galloway — especially Galloway — raved about Jennings that day.
Perhaps it was because he was a bonus — for the most part everyone else had committed and it was just a matter of formalities — or perhaps they see what Brown and others see in this three-star recruit. Maybe they see his maturity and intelligence and polish, something most recruits grow into after they arrive, not before.
None of which is to say Gary Jennings is a can’t-miss guy. There’s no such thing. He’s a receiver who as a senior caught just 15 passes for 264 yards and three touchdowns. His passing and rushing numbers as a quarterback — 810 yards passing, 620 yards and 14 touchdowns rushing — were more impressive.
In other words, despite the physical and mental maturity, he’s still a raw receiver. But as Brown said, he seems ahead of the curve.
“If you’re going to come in and make an impact right away as a freshman, either you’re a very mature freshman or [the team has] a need at that position, maybe more than they should have,’’ said Brown, knowing full well that Jennings might fit into both those categories. “But he has a chance, I’d say.’’
Reach Dave Hickman at 304-348-1734 or dphickman1@aol.com or follow him at Twitter.com/dphickman1
- See more at: http://www.wvgazette.com/article/20150530/GZ02/150539925/1419#sthash.L5nIBAZF.dpuf