Two years ago Doug Illing
coached one of the nation's best high school cornerbacks in Raeshon
McNeil, who is now a sophomore starter at Notre Dame.
Illing, the veteran head
coach at Davie County High in Mocksville, believes Perry James may be a
better athlete than McNeil.
That's excellent news for
East Carolina Pirate fans who can now count the speedy, 6-foot-1,
180-pound James as part of the football program's next recruiting class.
The Pirates took a gamble
by offering James a scholarship after a 2007 season in which he didn't
play due to shoulder problems. But the gamble paid off in November when
James made a verbal commitment to ECU after an all-star senior campaign
with Davie County.
James has been recruited
to play a “cover'' cornerback position at ECU, which is exactly the
position McNeil manned alongside James, then a sophomore, in '06. It was
then the comparisons between the two began.
“They are very similar,''
Illing said. “Raeshon probably has a better knack for covering and
breaking on people where as Perry is more athletically gifted. Raeshon
is a hard worker who has developed his skills and talents. Perry is more
natural and fluent. Raeshon is more inclined to be a student of the
game, and I'm sure Perry will develop that trait, too, as he gets more
mature.
“They both definitely have
that skill to be out there on an island, one-on-one with the best
(receiver) on the other team.''
James displayed that skill
so well as a senior that he was rewarded with a spot on the North
Carolina squad for the Shrine Bowl of the Carolinas all-star game. He
wound up being unable to play after getting a staph infection in his
palm, but still created some plays worthy of a highlight film during
Davie's regular season.
“There were a couple of
plays he made in our Thomasville games where he broke quickly on a pass
and just physically leveled the receiver when the ball arrived,'' Illing
said. “He did that twice in that game. Then he also reeled in a long
interceptions that he chased down, and that showed his speed.
“That's what he does. He's
a fast, physical, aggressive defensive back.''
You could say Illing is an
expert on James. He's watched James, whose blessed with 4.4-second speed
in the 40-yard dash, since his youth league days in Davie County.
“He always stood out,''
Illing said. “He was always bigger and faster and playing at a level
above everybody else. It was that way up through the ranks and right
into middle school. He was special there and he continued to be special
when he got up here (varsity).''
James became a rarity at
Davie County when he made the varsity as a freshman. He became a starter
as a sophomore, working at wide receiver, cornerback and returning
kicks. But James would suffer a shoulder injury during a state playoff
game that season which would also force him to sit out his junior year.
Without any junior video
to study on James, most major-college programs took a wait-and-see
attitude about offering scholarships. But ECU saw enough of James from
his sophomore season to extend an offer.
“East Carolina was going
to give him a chance to play without seeing junior film on him,'' Illing
said. “Most people were not willing to take a chance without seeing him
physically play. But East Carolina thought, after seeing his sophomore
film, that he was skilled enough to play on their level. So they took a
chance and gave him an early offer.
"They showed confidence in
him, and I think that had a big impact on Perry.''
Since the Shrine Bowl,
Illing said programs like Clemson, Illinois and Notre Dame have all
inquired about James. But James is solid with the Pirates.
“He's definitely a
Pirate,'' Illing said. “He was sold on their program and the things
they're doing there.''
James is the fourth
defensive back prospect who has made a verbal commitment to ECU. He
joins
Ty Holmes from Lexington,
Torrance Hunt from Durham and
Kyle Tudor from Evans. GA.
The Pirates now have 16
players verbally committed for the Class of 2009.
