Willie Smith has always been tall, so he
naturally gravitated to the sport of basketball as a child. But the
older Smith got, the more he realized his skills were better suited for
another sport — football.Ken
Avent, Jr., had just become head football coach at North Johnston High
near Kenly, NC, when Smith began the transition.
“He was one of those 6-foot-6 boys who
wanted to be a basketball player, and didn’t really realize he could get
a scholarship playing football,’’ Avent said. “He kind of figured that
out.’’
Smith’s change of heart paid off during
North Johnston’s regular season when East Carolina offered a football
scholarship. The 6-foot-6, 225-pound defensive end responded with a
verbal commitment to the Pirates in mid-December after also being
courted by North Carolina, Elon, Gardner-Webb and The Citadel.
The offer makes Smith the first
football player in North Johnston’s 40-year history to receive a
scholarship from an NCAA Division I-A program.
Smith’s performance as a senior
impressed ECU defensive line coach Donnie Thompson, who handled his
recruitment. Playing for a team that went 14-1 and reached the 1-AA
Eastern finals, Smith registered 76 solo tackles and had 14 quarterback
sacks.
“Really, about halfway through the
season is when East Carolina started recruiting him hard, other than
writing letters,’’ Avent said. “Coach Thompson came to watch him play,
and a week or two later called back and, said they really wanted him and
made him an offer. He (Smith) really likes Coach Thompson and (head)
Coach (Skip) Holtz.
“I think what they saw was that Willie
has good quickness and they think he’s going to get a lot bigger. They
were talking about putting 25 or 30 more pounds on him. They think he
has a lot of potential to help them there.’’
Avent recognized that potential from
the first few encounters with Smith, who was then a sophomore.
“When I got here he had not played
(football) and I really didn’t know him,’’ Avent said. “He didn’t even
come out until after school started. But I had him in class and saw how
big he was, so I coaxed him into coming out.
“He didn’t play until about the fifth
or sixth game of that sophomore year. But he had good size, and for
somebody as tall and lanky as he was, he was fairly strong. He probably
weighed about 200 at the time.
“It took him some time to get used to
what we wanted him to do because he was playing defensive end and he
hadn’t ever played before. So it took him about a year to figure out he
could play. Especially at the end of last year and into this year he had
gotten stronger and was really a force in every game.’’
Smith is still playing basketball at
North Johnston, but doesn’t expect to continue in that sport at East
Carolina.
“He’ll be focusing on football,’’ Avent
said. “He knows that’s his future.’’
Ongoing courtships
With national signing day quickly
approaching on Feb. 1, the Pirates are still in the hunt for some
talented recruits who will be making their decisions in the next two
weeks.
Among the prospects still considering
ECU are:
- Lemarcus Bond, a 5-8, 174-pound
athlete from Ahoskie, NC, took an official visit to ECU on Jan. 6.
He’d already seen N.C. State and has his final trip set for Jan. 27
at Virginia.
- Erroll Wynn, a 5-10, 200-pound
running back from Jonesboro, GA. Wynn has an official visit to ECU
scheduled for Jan. 27, at which time it’s expected he’ll receive an
offer from the Pirates. He already has an offer from Ball State.
- Devven Sutton, the bullish 6-0,
239-pound fullback-linebacker from Elizabeth City, NC, has narrowed
his list to ECU and Virginia Tech. He made an official visit to
Greenville on Jan. 6 and is headed to Blacksburg, Va., on Jan. 20.
- Billy Cuffee, a 6-5, 330-pound
offensive tackle from Chesapeake, VA, has ECU in his final list of
five schools that also includes Maryland, N.C. State, Virginia and
Virginia Tech. He’ll make a decision after his final official visit
to Virginia Tech on Jan. 20.
- Travis Timmons, a 6-4, 284-pound
defensive tackle from Gainesville, FL, scheduled his official visit
to ECU last weekend, followed by trips to Central Florida (1/20) and
Georgia (1/27).
