Football recruiting has taken off again at East Carolina.
Well, not that it really ever stopped. But in the transition
between Steve Logan’s resignation in December and John Thompson’s arrival as
his replacement earlier this month, there was a lull in the results ECU fans
are accustomed to seeing at this time of year.
Thanks in large part on the efforts of the one assistant
coach retained from Logan’s staff, running backs coach Jerry McManus, the
Pirates got back in the game this week by landing verbal commitments from
Hertford County linebacker Wendell Chavis and Winston-Salem wide receiver
Jewon Crowell.
Chavis received an official scholarship offer while in
Greenville on Jan. 11. He was part of the first group of prospects to make
official visits to ECU since Thompson reported for duty on Jan. 2.
Most of the visitors were players who had previously made
commitments to ECU, but all were given a taste of the game day at
Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium. The recruits were given ECU jerseys with their names
on the back and were allowed to run through the Murphy Center tunnel into
the stadium as the public address system announced their arrival.
Chavis was more impressed by the new coaching staff than the
stadium theatrics.
“What sold me was the new coaching staff,’’ Chavis said. “I
really felt the love from them. I felt they were going to be more than just
coaches, but also friends.’’
Most of the other in-state Division I-A schools overlooked
Chavis, which is surprising considering his resume. He has excellent size
(6-foot-3, 235 pounds) and adequate speed (4.8 seconds in the 40-yard dash),
talents that helped him start for three seasons on the varsity at Class 3-A
Hertford County.
Chavis had 80 tackles as a junior, then dramatically
increased that total to 150 as Hertford produced a 6-5 record during his
senior year. The performance by Chavis was so impressive that an opposing
coach, Harold Robinson of Williamston, selected him to play for the North
Carolina team in the annual Shrine Bowl All-Star Game against South Carolina
in December.
Despite those credentials, Virginia was the only other
Division I-A school to offer Chavis a scholarship.
“It was a surprise because he was a pretty dominant player
in high school,’’ Hertford County coach Dealton Cotton said. “But I guess
the other schools had different needs and he didn’t fit that.’’
Cotton is an East Carolina graduate who lettered as a nose
guard for the Pirates in the early 1990s. He believes Chavis will be ready
to physically compete for playing time as a true freshman next fall at ECU.
“He has work to do, but I think he has the attitude and
ability to do the job,’’ Cotton said. “The biggest transition he’ll have to
make going from high school to college is emotional, not physical. He’ll
take some bumps and bruises, but he’s a tough kid so I know he’ll step up.
If he can adjust to all the other stuff — learning the defense, juggling
academics, the social life — then I think he can contribute very early.’’
Chavis simply wants to contribute in any way he can to a new
era in East Carolina football.
“Right now they’ve told me they’re looking at me as a ‘Wolf’
linebacker, but I may be playing the two other positions, too,’’ he said.
“I’ll do anything they want me to do to help them win.
“It’s an honor to get a chance to play for East Carolina.
It’s a great program and I really think Coach Thompson will get things back
on track. I don’t want to take anything away from Coach Logan and his staff,
but I think Coach Thompson is putting together something special.’’
A family affair
The 6-4, 180-pound Crowell comes from one of Winston-Salem’s
most notable football families. His older brothers Germane and Angelo both
earned scholarships to play at Virginia. Germane excelled there as a wide
receiver and is now a member of the NFL’s Detroit Lions. Angelo, a
linebacker, just completed his college career and is expected to be taken in
the NFL Draft later this year.
In addition to learning from his talented older brothers,
Jewon has been tutored at Carver High School by former Wake Forest and NFL
receiver Greg Scales.
“I think they’re getting a steal,’’ Carver head coach Keith
Wilkes said. “He’s a tall athlete, which is what most people like to use at
wide receiver these days. He’s got a great vertical leap and runs really
well. He has good hands and is a hard worker.
“Jewon understands what it takes to succeed in this game
because of being around his brothers. Neither of them played for me, but
Jewon reminds me of the one who plays for Detroit as far as the same type of
body and frame.’’
Crowell, who has 4.5 speed in the 40, had 589 yards
receiving and four touchdowns as a junior at Carver. He snared 48 passes for
976 yards and 12 scores as a senior in leading the Yellow Jackets to the
state 3-A championship.
Wilkes said ECU was the first school to extend a scholarship
offer to Crowell, but Virignia and Wake Forest had expressed serious
interest.
“East Carolina has been on him since about halfway through
our season,’’ Wilkes said. “He kind of got comfortable with the other staff.
But Coach Thompson called to talk with him and Jewon really liked the kind
of offense they’re planning to run. He (Thompson) told Jewon it would be
something like the style Florida has been doing where they throw the ball.
That’s kind of what he wanted to hear.’’
The pledges from Chavis and Crowell bring ECU’s total to
eight, but at least two of those have scheduled official visits to other
schools in the wake of the coaching change.
Offensive lineman William “Web’’ Brown from Starmount High
School is scheduled to make official visits this month to Elon, The Citadel
and South Carolina. The 6-5, 270-pounder has offers from all of those
schools.
Virgil Black, a 6-3, 300-pound offensive lineman, is scheduled to visit N.C.
State this weekend. He also has offers from the Wolfpack and Duke.
Both players were among the group that made official visits
to ECU last weekend.
Thompson: “We’re not going to
panic’’
Thompson made a stop in Fayetteville on Wednesday evening to
meet and address a group of high school football coaches from around the
area. Present among the prep coaches was former East Carolina head coach Ed
Emory, who now heads up the program at 4-A powerhouse Richmond County.
Even though he has less than a month to do his recruiting,
Thompson believes the Pirates can still secure a quality class.
“We’ve got a lot of scholarships, but that doesn’t mean
we’re behind in recruiting at all,’’ Thompson said. “We’re going to go out
there and get the best guys we can. We’re not going to panic. It’s all good
and it’s all going to work out.’’
Thompson said his main focus in recruiting will be landing
in-state talent, but he does plan to tap some of the previous areas in which
he’s coached, especially Florida.
“We’re trying to get into North Carolina and take care of
home first,’’ he said. “Then we may expand into other areas. We’ve got some
people in Virginia, Atlanta and Florida.
“We’re going to go a lot of places. But this is East
Carolina and we’re going to take care of North Carolina first. It’s going to
be our primary area. But we’ll recruit up and down the East coast.’’
