Area fans witnessed one of the biggest recruiting booms in some time in 2012 when five football players signed Division I scholarships.
Two of those — McComb’s Deonte Evans and North Pike’s A.J. Jefferson — landed at a Southeastern Conference School, which is widely regarded as the nation’s top conference. Southern Miss grabbed Tylertown offensive lineman Oliver Bates, and Louisiana Tech swooped in at the last minute to stave off Ole Miss and other suitors to land North Pike’s pair of Tra’vez Taylor and Vernon Butler.
This year wasn’t supposed to be chock full of prospective athletes, but three have already given verbal commitments and another three are on the fringe.
Bogue Chitto athlete Brandon Wells was the first local player to commit back in April with Mississippi State. Salem offensive lineman pledged to Southern Miss in July and Tylertown standout Tyre’oune Holmes gave his verbal to Mississippi State in October despite receiving a late offer from Southern Miss.
The next three up are wide receiver Germie Martin, Wells’ teammate at Bogue Chitto, McComb wide receiver Quatavious Smith and Tylertown defensive back LaDarrius Slocum.
Martin is the most intriguing prospect of the three. If not for Wells, Martin likely would have already had a scholarship offer from Mississippi State. The Bulldogs are known to grab under-the-radar players from small enrollment schools, but two from a 1A school like Bogue Chitto is slim.
East Mississippi Community College, which won the Junior College National Championship in 2011, and Copiah-Lincoln Community College are high on Martin, while Louisiana Tech and Mississippi State expressed interest early on.
At 6-foot-1, Martin has the build to play receiver at an elite level and has good enough speed to separate from defenders. Martin hauled in 53 passes for 1,051 yards and 16 touchdowns in 2012.
Some football minds in the area think Martin is a better prospect than Wells, but Wells’ 4.3 40-yard dash this past summer blew away scouts at Mississippi State’s camp.
Smith’s box is littered with JUCO offers, but McComb’s most dynamic playmaker is holding out hope for a late Division I offer. Like Martin, Louisiana Tech and Louisiana-Lafayette showed interest, but a coaching change at Tech may have thwarted either of their chances of landing in Ruston, La. Former coach Sonny Dykes recently accepted the same position at California, and Louisiana Tech hired former South Florida coach Skip Holtz as its new man.
The late changes have thrown a wrinkle into the recruiting process as there’s no guarantee a new hire will be as fond of a player as the previous regime.
Smith likely may not even play receiver in college, despite setting a school record with 996 receiving yards and 13 touchdowns this past season. Instead, he could focus on the defensive side of the ball, where he racked up more than 50 tackles and picked off four passes. He also brings experience on special teams.
McComb coach Malcolm Jones said this morning that Smith’s recruiting will hopefully pick up when school resumes from the holiday break.
Meanwhile, Slocum’s Division I outlook has slowly deflated since the start of the season. Slocum, who intercepted nine passes as a junior in 2011, was contacted by ULL, Louisiana Tech and Southern Miss during the summer, but never received an offer.
The gut feeling around Tylertown is Slocum will end up in a JUCO uniform next season. Mississippi Gulf Coast, Hinds, Co-Lin and Southwest have all offered Slocum.
There’s also hope a school will come in and scoop Slocum up late like Louisiana Tech did with Taylor and Butler. These late offers usually come after schools miss out on big-name recruits and move down their list of prospects to fill their final scholarships.
