The East Carolina Pirates
may some day owe Carlvin Leggett of Fayetteville a debt of gratitude.
Leggett recommended to a
middle-school friend back in the summer of 2005 that he ought to give
football a try when they moved to Seventy-First High School in the fall.
That friend, Lamar McLendon, became the second member of ECU’s football
recruiting Class of 2009 on Wednesday.
McLendon, a 6-foot-1,
210-pound linebacker-safety, will begin his third season next fall as a
starter on the varsity under the state’s all-time winningest active high
school in North Carolina, Bob Paroli.
The Pirates were the first
school to offer a scholarship, but Paroli expected other major programs
would have done so after getting an up-close look at McLendon during the
summer camps in June.
“If he wanted to wait and
go through the one-day (school) camps in June, I feel certain he would
have been offered by other schools,’’ Paroli said. “But he opted to go
ahead and commit. (ECU) Coach (Skip) Holtz has done such a great job
there, and I just think the university is a great school. They have a
... business school, a medical school … everything you could possibly
want.’’
Playing football, much
less earning a college scholarship in the sport, wasn’t on McLendon’s
agenda following his eighth-grade year. His primary athletic endeavor at
that point was basketball, and one of his teammates was Leggett.
McLendon had never even
played recreation football, but Leggett thought he could be good at it.
“I said, ‘Why not?’’’
McLendon said. “So I started playing in the ninth grade. It was
nerve-racking. I’d say I was kind of scared. But it was fun, so I stuck
with it.’’
Playing linebacker for the
junior varsity, McLendon struggled at first as he learned the nuances of
football. But his athletic ability and especially his speed – he’s been
timed at 4.58 in the 40-yard dash – made him a quick study. By the time
his sophomore year rolled around, he was good enough to make Paroli’s
starting lineup.
McLendon’s impact on the
Seventy-First defense was so significant that when he was injured
against Scotland the Falcons had to make major adjustments to
compensate.
“It took an awful (lot) of
moving people around to take up his slack, and that was just when he was
a tenth grader,’’ Paroli said. “He’s physical, but he can run and plays
with great intelligence. He ran a 4.58 at the Apex (Shrine Bowl) combine
(on April 26).
“He’s not the typical
linebacker size you see on these college rosters where they’re 6-3, 245
pounds. But he’s close to 6-1 and will only get bigger when he gets on a
college training table.’’
McLendon certainly played
big last season, earning All-Mid-Southeastern 4-A Conference honors
while helping the Falcons to a 6-6 finish. He made big plays all year,
but two stick out in McLendon’s memory.
The first is an example of
McLendon’s speed and occurred against Richmond County’s fleet-footed
senior quarterback Derek Wiley. The Falcons stunned the Raiders 13-6 in
that game.
“He was supposed to be
running 4.4,’’ McLendon said. “But I ran him down on the sideline for no
gain.’’
McLendon showed his power
in another game against Hoke County.
“Against Hoke, I hit the
fullback in the backfield, and the fullback hit the running back, and
the running back fell,’’ McLendon said. “That was a fun one.’’
Paroli is planning to
shift McLendon to strong safety in 2008, but the coach believes McLendon
could fit in there or at linebacker with ECU.
“He could do both,’’
Paroli said. “If he plays as well at strong safety as he did at
linebacker, that may be the place for him to play. He has the ability to
do that. He’ll go to their one-day camp (in June) and they’ll get some
idea where they’re going to want to play him.’’
McLendon joins defensive
tackle Michael Brooks from Bartlett Yancey High School in the ECU
recruiting class. He’ll also continue a tradition of Cumberland County
players in the Pirate program.
Five current members of
the ECU roster are alums of Cumberland high schools, including senior
quarterback Patrick Pinkney (Pine Forest), junior walk-on running back
Darnell Ballard (Cape Fear), senior linebacker Dalvon Mack (E.E. Smith),
sophomore offensive lineman Travis Melvin (Cape Fear) and junior
offensive lineman Doug Palmer (Douglas Byrd).
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[View
previous ECU recruiting classes.]
