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Tracking the College Gridiron Stars of the Future
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Football Recruiting Report
Wednesday, August 21, 2002
By Sammy Batten
Staff Writer for The Fayetteville Observer |
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First impressions
opened door for ECU with Brown
Another verbal pending..?
Northern Nash star ponders offer
©2002 Bonesville.net
William "Web'' Brown was somewhat unfamiliar with East
Carolina's football program until he moved to North Carolina last summer
from New York state.
But Brown became a quick study after meeting ECU wide
receivers coach Bob Leahy at Starmount High School in Boonville.
"I really didn't know much about East Carolina,'' Brown
said. "I was born in North Carolina (in Brevard), but my dad is a preacher
and we've moved around a lot. I was living in New York and really hadn't
heard of East Carolina.
"But when I moved down here about a year ago, Coach Leahy
came to our school. He said hello and left some things for me to read. It
really made a good first impression.''
The first impression led the 6-foot-5, 280-pound offensive
lineman to attend ECU's summer camp in July where he learned more about the
school and the football program.
"I really had a good time,'' Brown said. "I met all the
coaches and they were really respectful. They treated me well and I liked
the campus and the program.''
The Pirates liked Brown, too. Enough that ECU head coach
Steve Logan extended a scholarship offer, which Brown wound up accepting
last week to become the seventh member of the recruiting Class of 2003.
North Carolina, N.C. State and Virginia had also taken
notice of Brown's skills. He attended football camps at all three schools
this summer, but none had gone as far as to offer scholarships.
"At Virginia, they told me they don't offer out-of-state
linemen until October or November,'' Brown said. "North Carolina and N.C.
State wanted me to send in my first game tape from this year before they
offered.
"But when I went to East Carolina's camp, they offered right
away. I went home, talked it over with my parents and weighed all the good
and bad things. I decided East Carolina was the place for me.''
The brief time Brown has lived in North Carolina is one
reason those schools took a wait-and-see attitude. He spent his first two
seasons of varsity football playing at Lake Shores Central High School in
Angola, N.Y. Brown was promoted to the varsity for the final two games of
his freshman season and then started there on the offensive line as a
sophomore.
Brown's father, Spencer, moved the family to a new church in
Jonesville, N.C., in time for Web to join the Starmount varsity in the fall
of 2001.
"I don't know that much about the program he came from, but
I know they didn't win a lot,'' Starmount coach Joe Hutchens said. "And he
hadn't lifted like he has for us. He wound up being our right tackle.
"He's just got all the tools. He's 6-5, 275 pounds and has
weighed as much as 280. He moves well for a big kid and he's got good feet.
He's very coachable. I think he's going to be a very good college player.''
Brown is a player with a variety of strengths.
"I think I'm a good pass blocker, a very good pass blocker,'' Brown said. "I
like to run block, too, but my strength is pass blocking. I run the 40 in
5.2, so I have a little bit of speed. I try to be aggressive. You've got to
hit the defensive linemen these days because they want that ball.''
Because the Pirates appear to be well-stocked with offensive
linemen for the 2003 season, Brown expects to red-shirt as a true freshman.
"They do that with most of their freshmen, or at least
that's the impression I've gotten so far,'' Brown said. "I'd like to go in
and start playing, if I could, but a red-shirt year is fine with me. It just
adds another year.''
Brown is the third offensive lineman to join the ECU
recruiting class along with Virgil Black of Lexington and Matt Brim of
Winston-Salem Carver. All seven of the Pirates' commitments are from
in-state players.
Who will be ECU's eighth commitment?
It could be 6-4, 200-pound Shiaphan Lewis, an extraordinary
athlete from Northern Nash High School in Rocky Mount.
Lewis plays quarterback for the Knights and was an
all-conference pick at that position as a junior. But he has the size and
athleticism to play a number of different positions in college, including
outside linebacker or defensive end.
Northern Nash coach Jim Brett said East Carolina has offered
a scholarship to Lewis as an athlete. Brett expects him to reach a decision
in the immediate future.
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Sammy Batten.
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02/23/2007 02:35:22 PM
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