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As Hardy moves out, Farrier moves in
By
Sammy Batten
©2014 Bonesville.net
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Recruiting Class of 2015 Thumbnail Sketches...
It's a pretty bold statement to
compare any receiver to East Carolina's Justin Hardy, who this season
became the all-time leader in catches for the Football Bowl Subdivision.
But it's an even bolder statement when that receiver is still in high
school.
But Coach Anthony Paradiso from Lake Nona
High School in Orlando, FL, believes his star, Deondre Farrier, will be
ready next fall to pick up where Hardy left off.
“Not to put Hardy down at all, but
Deondre can step in and do the things they ask Hardy to do, and probably
more because of his athletic ability,'' Paradiso said Wednesday, less than
24 hours after Farrier gave his verbal commitment to ECU offensive
coordinator Lincoln Riley. Riley was in Orlando on Tuesday to visit Farrier
during the recruiting contact period and came away with a major prize for
the Pirates.
The 6-foot-1, 195-pounder produced a record-breaking senior season in
combination with Clemson-bound quarterback Tucker Israel at Lake Nona.
Farrier hauled in a state-record 118 passes to pass the previous mark set in
2005 by Ryan Ellis, who was Tim Tebow's favorite target at Nease High School
in Ponte Vedra. He also produced 1,850 yards receiving to break the
Orlando-area record of 1,664 set last season by his former teammate and
current Florida Gators freshman receiver Ryan Sousa.
Farrier became the 11th member of the Pirates' recruiting Class of 2015
after pondering scholarship offers from 30 schools. Among those were Power
of Five conference programs like Florida, Indiana, Kentucky, Miami,
Minnesota and Southern Cal.
“He's college ready to step on campus now,'' Paradiso said. “If he goes up
there and learns the playbook, it's going to be hard to keep him off the
field. They're going to want to get him the ball because he's such a
playmaker. They'll want to find ways to get him touches.''
Paradiso isn't just some proud high school coach blowing smoke with those
comments.
During the previous three seasons, Paradiso helped develop another hot
receiver recruit in Sousa. Sousa was pursued by some of the top programs in
the country after a three-year career at Lake Nona in which he caught 246
passes for 4,107 yards and scored 53 touchdowns. He wound up signing with
Florida after originally committing to Florida State.
While playing second fiddle to Sousa as a junior, Farrier grabbed 55 passes
for 939 yards and scored seven touchdowns.
“They are essentially the same, but a little different,'' Paradiso said when
asked to compare Farrier and Sousa. “Deondre is the guy who's going to catch
the bubble screen and go 60 yards with it. Sousa will get down field with
five guys around him, go up and come down with the ball. Sousa is more
shifty and better going up for the football, while Deondre has a more
explosive first step to get away from you.
“They were almost clones in our offense here.''
Farrier arrived a Lake Nona unannounced as a sophomore after transferring
from another school, according to Paradiso. He made an immediate impact,
catching 43 passes for 604 yards and three touchdowns.
The Pirates took notice and offered a scholarship during the summer before
his junior season. Farrier's recruitment, however, would take a variety of
turns before he wound up with East Carolina.
After attending summer camp in Tampa at South Florida in June 2013, Farrior
gave a pledge to the Bulls that December. But after posting a 40-yard dash
time of 4.48 at the Under Armour All-American Combine in January 2014, the
Florida Gators extended an offer. Farrier backed off his commitment to USF
and gave a verbal to the Gators in February.
That pledge lasted until late May when word began to leak that Florida wide
receivers coach Joker Phillips, who had recruited Farrier, was going to
resign. Phillips did indeed step down in June.
It was at that point Farrier's relationship with ECU's Riley began to
blossom.
“When he re-opened his recruitment, we sat down and talked about his goals
and what he wanted to do,'' Paradiso said. “Of course, he wanted to graduate
from college and that's a good thing. But he wasn't specific like I want to
be a businessman or a lawyer. He said, 'I want to catch footballs.'
“So we began narrowing it down to places where they like to throw it around
and he could go catch the football. East Carolina and a couple of others
were on the short list.
“Coach Riley has been recruiting him for almost 2 1/2 years now. His
relationship with Coach Riley and the offense he runs really appealed to Deondre. Once he went up there for the Central Florida game and met the head
coach, he just fell in love with the place.''
Paradiso believes Farrier's commitment to the Pirates is solid.
“I think after seeing him this morning and having a conversation with
him
he's probably more excited than he's ever been about a decision,'' Paradiso
said.
Farrier becomes the fourth wide receiver to join ECU's recruiting Class of
2015. He follows Coby Gore from Little River, SC,
Taz Richardson of
Mauldin, SC, and Justin Strozier of Stockbridge, GA.
“He's definitely a steal for East Carolina,'' Paradiso said. “He's one of
the best receivers in the state of Florida.''
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12/11/2014 01:53 AM |
