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Tracking the College Gridiron Stars of the Future
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Football Recruiting Report
Friday, August 2, 2002
By Sammy Batten
Staff Writer for The Fayetteville Observer |
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Multiple skills characterize future Pirate duo
Parker reminiscent of
Crandell; Brim brings versatility to O-line
©2002 Bonesville.net
More talent
for deep QB corps
Maybe it’s the uniform number.
Pierre Parker has worn No. 5 at Wilson’s Beddingfield High School since
becoming the starting quarterback as a ninth grader. Now a senior, Parker is
said to resemble a young Marcus Crandell, who donned the same number at East
Carolina while setting career records for passing yards (7,198), total
offense (7,641) and passing touchdowns (58) between 1993-96. Those records
were eclipsed by David Garrard last season.
Parker agrees with the comparison, but not because of the uniform number.
“I’ve watched tapes of him a few times. We have the same kind of release and
we both can run with the football,” Parker said of Crandell, who earned MVP
honors of last year’s Grey Cup while leading the Calgary Stampede to the
Canadian Football League championship.
Pierre decided to do something else like Crandell in late July by making an
oral commitment to join the ECU program in 2003. He was one of two in-state
prospects to pick the Pirates during the week of July 22-26 along with
versatile offensive lineman Matthew Brim of Class 3-A powerhouse Carver High
in Winston-Salem.
The 6-foot-2, 195-pound Parker passed for 2,082 yards and 22 touchdowns as a
junior in leading Beddingfield to a 6-4 finish. He was rated the state’s
fourth-best quarterback and the No. 30 player overall in the Fayetteville
Observer’s Preseason Top 50 list of the state’s top college prospects.
Parker was being recruited by a variety of schools, including Clemson,
Colorado, Michigan, Notre Dame, Syracuse and Wake Forest. But he had
received only two scholarship offers, one to play safety at North Carolina
and another to play quarterback for the Pirates.
The desire to be a quarterback won out, even though ECU is well-stocked at
that position with six players already in the program. All six of those
quarterbacks are in the sophomore or freshmen classes, including this
season’s expected starter, sophomore Paul Troth.
The thought of entering that competition didn’t deter the feisty Parker.
“Paul Troth will be a junior when I get there and hopefully I can learn some
things from him,” Parker said. “Then I’ll have a head start on everything
when I do start playing.”
ECU is gaining a quarterback who, like Crandell, brings a variety of talents
to the table.
“I have good arm strength,” Parker said. “Another strength is my strength
because I don’t think there are many quarterbacks in the state bench
pressing 315 pounds. I'm quick. I run a 4.6 (40-yard dash), which isn’t
blazing fast, but it’s fast enough.
“I’m also smart on the field. I usually make good decisions.”
Football has always been a big part of his life. He began in the Pop Warner
leagues around Wilson as an offensive lineman. Parker switched to running
back in the seventh grade before an injury sidelined the starting
quarterback of his school team.
“They tried me out at quarterback and found out I had a pretty good arm,”
Parker said. “I’ve been playing there ever since.”
Parker’s skills aren't limited to the football field, however. He’s also an
accomplished basketball player, who averaged 19.2 points per game on a 25-3
team at Beddingfield last season.
“I’m going to try to play basketball at East Carolina, too,” Parker said.
“I’m more of an off guard, or a shooting guard.”
Multiple
roles possible for Brim
The Pirates landed one of the state’s best blocking prospects in Brim, a
6-6, 318-pounder who transferred to Carver for his senior year after three
years at East Forsyth. Brim is rated No. 25 in the Fayetteville Observer’s
preseason list of the state’s top prospects.
North Carolina, N.C. State and Wake Forest had been recruiting Brim, but
East Carolina was the first to extend an offer.
“The other schools wanted to see my first game film this season before they
made me an offer,” Brim said. “The East Carolina coaches made me feel they
really wanted me now. They acted like they had a lot of confidence in me and
I really liked that.”
Carver coach Keith Wilkes expects ECU’s confidence in Brim will be rewarded.
“He has a lot of desire and a real outstanding work ethic,” Wilkes said.
“When we got him, he was doing around 275 (pounds) on the bench (press). Now
he’s about 365 or 375 on the bench. He’s really worked hard to get his 40
time down to around 5.1 (seconds) or 5.0. He’s just really worked himself
into being a prospect.”
The Pirates are getting several players in one with Brim. He’s capable of
playing any of the offensive line positions, including center, and can
perform long-snapping duties as well. Wilkes plans to use him at offensive
tackle and long snapper this season.
Brim transferred to Carver last January after spending two seasons on the
varsity at East Forsyth, where his father had previously played. Brim was a
tackle at East, but the Pirates may use him at center.
Regardless of the position, Brim says his aggressive attitude will help him
succeed.
“I just have a naturally aggressive attitude toward the game,” Brim said. “I
had to work to get it out, but now I have and I try to use it to my
benefit.”
Brim is the third lineman to give ECU a commitment along with Michael Horner
of Williamston and Virgil Black from Lexington. The Pirates now have six
known verbal commitments, all of whom attend North Carolina high schools.
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02/23/2007 02:35:33 PM
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