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Barmore silences doubters
Georgia stalwart joins
bumper O-line crop
By
Sammy Batten
©2014 Bonesville.net
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Coaches and teachers at his
middle school once discouraged Desmond Barmore from dreaming about
playing major college football. But what some would see as a sign to
give up, Barmore took it as a challenge.
Barmore has turned his detractors
into supporters by developing into a player good enough to receive
scholarship offers from programs like Georgia State, Louisiana-Lafayette
and San Diego State. The 6-foot-7, 295-pounder instead opted to play for
East Carolina back in November, joining what is rapidly becoming a
top-heavy offensive line recruiting class for the Pirates.
With the verbal commitment from
Barmore, ECU now has five offensive line prospects in the Class of 2014
with less than a month remaining before national signing day. Barmore
joins previously committed
Kyle
Erickson from Fayetteville, NC; Erik Lenzen from Fort
Lauderdale, FL;
Messiah Rice
of Orangeburg, SC; and
Garrett
McGhin of Tallahassee, FL, as blocking prospects in the
class.
Barmore hails from Columbus, GA,
where he really had little interest in football or any other sports
until he reached the seventh grade.
"I really didn't care about football
when I was younger,'' Barmore said. "I was not real coordinated when I
was little. So I didn't play rec football or anything like that.
"But my seventh grade year one of the
coaches at the middle school asked if I wanted to play. For some reason
I said yes. I tried it and I really liked the contact. Since that very
first practice I've wanted to play football every day since.''
Barmore played center for the middle
school team that season, then shifted to left tackle as an eighth
grader. He had grown to love football so much at that point that when a
teacher asked during class what students hoped to do after high school,
Barmore said he wanted to play college football.
The teacher was less than
enthusiastic about Barmore's choice.
"She said only like three kids from
our (middle school) team might go to college and play football, and she
said I wasn't even one of the best players on the team,'' Barmore said.
"She said maybe I should look into being something else.
"For me, that was huge motivation.
When somebody tells me I can't do something, it makes me want to work
even harder to do it.''
Barmore encountered more negative
reaction to his football dreams from a middle school coach.
"He asked what college I wanted to go
to, and I said, 'USC (Southern Cal),' '' Barmore said. "He told me they'd
never come all the way across the country to recruit me. He told me you
had to be a star or some stud player to go across the country to a
school like that.''
A four-year varsity letterwinner and
three-year starter at Hardaway High School, Barmore played one game for
the freshman squad before moving up to the varsity. His first varsity
action playing offensive guard came against Georgia powerhouse Valdosta.
"That was a great experience for my
first varsity game,'' Barmore said. "Valdosta is one of the winningest
high school programs in America. There [were] 10,000 fans there that
night. It was unbelievable.''
Barmore became a full-time starter as
a sophomore and over the last three years has played offensive guard,
tackle and tight end. As a senior, he was named to the Ledger-Enquirer's
All-Bi-City first team and was also selected to the all-state squad.
Both his former middle school teacher
and coach are now big fans.
"She apologized to me later,''
Barmore said. "And when I got my first scholarship offer from San Diego
State, the coach told me he was proud of me. I think they both just
wanted the best for me.''
In part because of being discouraged
in middle school, Barmore spends his time away from the football trying
to be a positive influence on children. Every Friday he volunteers to
visit a local elementary school where he reads books to first graders
and often helps out during their field days.
During his visits, Barmore is often
asked by the children about playing football and going to college.
"I tell them the story about being
told I couldn't play college football and that I should pick something
else to do,'' Barmore said. "I tell them I didn't let that stop me, and
it shouldn't stop them from reaching their dreams. I let them know they
can do anything they want if they put their mind to it.''
Barmore is excited to be part of the
recruiting class at ECU, which first began pursuing him via an email
during the spring of his junior season from offensive line coach Brandon
Jones. Jones had liked what he'd seen of Barmore's video highlights and
soon offered a scholarship.
After an official visit to Greenville
to watch the Pirates beat UAB in November, he decided to commit.
"When I met (head) Coach (Ruffin)
McNeill the first time, he called me 'son,' '' Barmore said. "I knew in
order to succeed in life, I needed a guy like that to push me on and off
the field, and to help me out with the important things in life.
"The coaches there have been great.
They are constantly sending me messages on Facebook and Twitter to see
how I'm doing. A lot of schools didn't do that. They just offer a
scholarship then don't call. But East Carolina calls all the time, even
now that I'm committed.''
Barmore doesn't anticipate cracking
the ECU lineup as a true freshman, but he believes in time he'll make an
important contribution with the Pirates.
"I feel like I'll need time to adjust
and improve my strength,'' he said. "But I think I'm a pretty good pass
blocker because I have good speed and quickness to get in front of those
speed rushers. I'm going to do everything in my power to be the best
player I can to play at that level.''
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01/14/2014 03:28 AM |
