LPD Players playing in college

How many kids do you see on LPD teams today that you think could play and be successful at the college level? I was talking about this the other day with an umpire and we really couldn't come up with many at all. Really the only baseball player I've seen that I think could play college ball is Bentley from Wise. I hope he's playing SS for UVA-Wise next season, however I'm afraid he'll try to go to a larger level of play. In basketball I'm not sure there is a LPD player who can make it to the next level, obviously I feel that AA and Anderson from GC could make college rosters somewhere down the road when their high school careers come to a close. Football is a different animal, and I'll be the first to say I don't see many football teams enough to gauge as I do other sports (I mainly only go watch PV play). At PV the Pinkstons could play at the next level and Dakota Cantrell might get some looks. I have some opinions on kids at other schools but really haven't seen them play enough to say. Have any of you seen a time when this area was so depleted of athletes?

There are a few from Clintwood I think could make it on the next level. Russell Hull as an offensive lineman and Alec Osborne as a DB.

Clintwood's had a great last 5 or so years putting kids on college teams via football.

Call me nuts--but I've been calling it since the first time I've seen Alec Osborne play that he'd go play somewhere on the D1 level. He's got that speed you can't teach. If someone can just put some more bulk on him, he'd at the very least make a D1 squad as a reserve RB or OLB and a special teamer. There are smaller D1 schools in the country that could very well offer him a scholly because they can't get those big guys with speed, so they settle for smaller guys with speed--so there's a market out there for him, recruiting-wise. I think he could go to Appy State or another DII school and do well if he doesn't go D1. If guys like Chris Robinson & Derek Robbins focus in on football and want to--they could go to the next level as well...but Alec's ceiling, to me, is much higher due to his speed.

I also think Shane Bright has the athleticism to at least play somewhere around here on the next level as a LB or FB.

Last time i talked to miles alec's brother he said alec had put on around another 15 lbs of muscle

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: timmyv</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Last time i talked to miles alec's brother he said alec had put on around another 15 lbs of muscle</div></div>

If he keeps that up and gets a little bit taller...watch out. What is Alec, a junior this year?

Alec will be a senior in 08/09

With the size on Cup Coleman, I could see him play somewhere. I think Coleman might be 6'1 around 175-180 lbs and if a college got ahold of him and put another 20 lbs of lean muscle on him with his speed he could be a great safety at the next level IMO. 6'1 or 6'2 and weighing in at 200-210 lbs with a mid 4 forty. I think he could go in a play at the NAIA, Div 3, or Div 2 ranks after a year or so in the program.

To me it just comes down to dedication and the desire to play at the next level. I don't think there are many kids out there willing to put in the time during the summers that it takes to play at the next level. They are worried too much about being at the pool chasing skirt. Not saying that is a bad thing, just if you want to make it at the next level you have to have the desire to do so, and it just seems like not enough kids put in the time and the ones who do come during the summers and off seasons to lift and condition, they are the ones that don't really have the talent, just the work ethic. Hope that makes sense.

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: UTVols2</div><div class="ubbcode-body">To me it just comes down to dedication and the desire to play at the next level. </div></div>

That is all it comes down to....I played with several talented atheletes in high school, but the only one strapping on the pads on Sundays right now had a desire that I have never seen in anyone before or after....He wasn't no where near the best player in highschool, but by the time he left UNC he was the best deffensive back in the ACC...

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: UTVols2</div><div class="ubbcode-body">To me it just comes down to dedication and the desire to play at the next level. I don't think there are many kids out there willing to put in the time during the summers that it takes to play at the next level. They are worried too much about being at the pool chasing skirt. Not saying that is a bad thing, just if you want to make it at the next level you have to have the desire to do so, and it just seems like not enough kids put in the time and the ones who do come during the summers and off seasons to lift and condition, they are the ones that don't really have the talent, just the work ethic. Hope that makes sense. </div></div>

co sign

Could you imagine what this thread would have already turned into on the main forum. It would be 10 pages long on how at least 10 players from each school should have went D1 but it is the Coaches fault for not helping them. I hate the [censored] excuse, I hear it all the time. Well Coach so and so didn't help me at all, it is his fault I didn't go to UT, Bama, Florida, Va Tech or hell, UVA-Wise and Emory & Henry for that matter. Bullsheite, it is you fault for not working your ass off and not setting yourself apart from the rest of the field. If your not going to put in the time, why should a Coach go out of his way and waste his when he knows you aren't going to make it because you couldn't put in the time at the HS level.

OK, sorry for the rant, I just hear it way too often and that excuse is played out.

You are right Vols2...

The kid has to want it so bad he can taste it on his own...

Let's start this thread on the main forum...it would be great..lol

yea, on the main thread we can hear why some band nerd didn't get to be the Peyton Manning he was born to be

PVFAN put it on the main board, lets the fun begin.

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: neutral88</div><div class="ubbcode-body">
That is all it comes down to....I played with several talented atheletes in high school, but the only one strapping on the pads on Sundays right now had a desire that I have never seen in anyone before or after....He wasn't no where near the best player in highschool, but by the time he left UNC he was the best deffensive back in the ACC... </div></div>

really? Gerald was better than Jimmy Williams and Antrel Rolle?

Gerald wasn't even on the 1st or 2nd team all-conference teams, so that's a pretty bold statement

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: vthokie22</div><div class="ubbcode-body"><div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: neutral88</div><div class="ubbcode-body">
That is all it comes down to....I played with several talented atheletes in high school, but the only one strapping on the pads on Sundays right now had a desire that I have never seen in anyone before or after....He wasn't no where near the best player in highschool, but by the time he left UNC he was the best deffensive back in the ACC... </div></div>

really? Gerald was better than Jimmy Williams and Antrel Rolle?

Gerald wasn't even on the 1st or 2nd team all-conference teams, so that's a pretty bold statement</div></div>

Thank you. I wanted to say something to that effect but was too lazy. [img]/LDPforum/ubbthreads/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/grin.gif[/img]

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body"> To me it just comes down to dedication and the desire to play at the next level. I don't think there are many kids out there willing to put in the time during the summers that it takes to play at the next level. They are worried too much about being at the pool chasing skirt. Not saying that is a bad thing, just if you want to make it at the next level you have to have the desire to do so, and it just seems like not enough kids put in the time and the ones who do come during the summers and off seasons to lift and condition, they are the ones that don't really have the talent, just the work ethic. Hope that makes sense. </div></div>


ABSOLUTELY. And I love the parents that think because their kid has just a little bit of talent they should play college ball, even at a small school. But when you give them workouts or encourage them to put in some off-season time, they say, "Well, they need a break....they've been working hard for a couple of months now."

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: CoeburnCane</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Call me nuts--but I've been calling it since the first time I've seen Alec Osborne play that he'd go play somewhere on the D1 level. He's got that speed you can't teach. If someone can just put some more bulk on him, he'd at the very least make a D1 squad as a reserve RB or OLB and a special teamer. There are smaller D1 schools in the country that could very well offer him a scholly because they can't get those big guys with speed, so they settle for smaller guys with speed--so there's a market out there for him, recruiting-wise. I think he could go to Appy State or another DII school and do well if he doesn't go D1. If guys like Chris Robinson & Derek Robbins focus in on football and want to--they could go to the next level as well...but Alec's ceiling, to me, is much higher due to his speed.

I also think Shane Bright has the athleticism to at least play somewhere around here on the next level as a LB or FB. </div></div>

I don't mean this in a bad way, but it's pretty much the only way it's going to sound... the kid doesn't have the heart or the desire. When you refuse to play because you get a cold or you wont go back in the game because you've got a bruised arm, that says alot. The kid has lots of potential and tons of speed and lots of other positives, but he's kind of soft.

Thats the same way Kris Jordan is at TS. He has some of the most athletic talent overall of any kid around but one hit and he has to go out of a football game. He's a good kid, but very soft.

Hopefully, Osbourne toughens up a little bit this year. I don't mean it disrespectfully either. I love watching the kid play. He's exciting as hell, fast as a cat, and seems like he really enjoys playing. He just needs to be able to put pain out of his head for a while and not take him out of the game.

That's 99% of the players now tho. I don't hink many could hack playin 10-15 years ago. It's pitiful.

They're fewer and far between.

Stripes was talkin bout TS...when I was there I saw some big ol boys that were fairly talented come off the field cuz of bruises and lil cuts. It was surreal to me then but now I've seen it everywhere else and I'm used to it.

This is going to sound so lame and make me "that guy" but I'm going to do it any way... my senior year I played against Grundy with two sprained ankles and an MCL sprain and came off the field for 3 plays. A.O. wouldn't play because he had a cold. [img]/LDPforum/ubbthreads/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/crazy.gif[/img] That's tame to some of the stuff you hear, Counts playing with a shredded shoulder, I cracked our starting MLB's sternum in Wednesday practice my SR year and he played start to finish against PV on Friday, Mike Singletary cut off a damn finger so he could play. [img]/LDPforum/ubbthreads/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/grin.gif[/img]

Ok I can understand playing with a cold, bruise, fever, broken hand even but the whole cracked sternum thing is a little much. Players should be tough but smart at the same time.

Guys didn't used to come off the field...I know of more than one player, myself included, that broke a hand in a game and not only finished the game, but never missed a day of practice..and other injuries didn't keep you out unless it had to do with your mobility. Nowdays they're out 3 days with a hangnail...lol

There's nothing else that could happen to him. He just had to play through discomfort.

One guy I grew up with I gained a lot of respect for after my last game at RC. He was a sophomore and started all year at corner, and started the playoff game at HB because are starting RHB didn't play due to a bum ankle, but he could have played. Craig broke the bone just behind his thumb in the first half, taped it up at halftime and didn't miss a play the whole game. I played against Appy in the 74-12 game on an ankle that had every ligament stretched to the max. I practiced, and played all week with what looked like a walking boot. Tape on the inside of the shoe, and tape on the outside. On Monday before, I couldn't even reverse pivot to make a handoff to the right. I also had shoulder issues where the bicep muscle would pop out of and back into the groove its runs through in your shoulder.

I for the most part played with a lot of guys who would play through anything. But, there were a couple who had to leave the game for a hangnail. You shouldn't even step foot on a football field if thats the case.

I'm afraid ur preachin to the choir Stripes....Nowdays mommies and daddies come to the school to have a talk with the coach if jr. got a bruise the day before. The problem lies there moreso than the kids IMO cuz they have been babied all their lives.

You are definitely right, and I know you've experienced it. It sort of makes me glad I haven't finished my degree yet and started coaching.

Man, we arent THAT bad haha. I played last year with a seperated shoulder and this year only missed three weeks with a broken collarbone and the other shoulder seperated.

For every one of "you" there are 20 of "them".

One of my favorite stories when I played was against Clintwood in 96.... The game that at the end of regulation was 0-0. Anyway, Holly Jones was playing MLB at the time and I was playing OLB. He got his helmet knocked off during the play but never stopped and went in for the tackle with no helmet. He came up out of the pile with a dislocated jaw and he couldn't talk. He ran off to the sideline and the trainers wanted to take him to the hospital and he said hell no. He went over to a another person standing on the sideline that he knew would do it and told him to hit him as hard as he could in the jaw to knock it back in place and he did. Threw his helmet on and went back in, missed one play.

Do you think some of the kids these days would do that, I don't think so.

I didnt know it was that bad, we didnt get away with that stuff.

You actually probably played with a lower number of "those" than most kids today. You're one of Tom's last. You were taught how to play the right way.

Yeah, thats true...this bunch that I graduate with is the last he has ever coached.

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: vthokie22</div><div class="ubbcode-body"><div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: neutral88</div><div class="ubbcode-body">
That is all it comes down to....I played with several talented atheletes in high school, but the only one strapping on the pads on Sundays right now had a desire that I have never seen in anyone before or after....He wasn't no where near the best player in highschool, but by the time he left UNC he was the best deffensive back in the ACC... </div></div>

really? Gerald was better than Jimmy Williams and Antrel Rolle?

Gerald wasn't even on the 1st or 2nd team all-conference teams, so that's a pretty bold statement </div></div>

ment to say one of the best...

I know he will never be as great as the ones to pass through the mighty VT, but I was just using him as an example that I have actually strapped on the pads with, and seen work his way up...All in all, he was probably about the #5 or 6 on the talent list in his graduating class...

where those guys went to college has nothing to do with it...Rolle was from Miami, and another one from that year was Cromartie at FSU

so being from "almighty VT" has just about as much to do with it as you saying he was one of the best b/c you went to "almighty DB" with him