| 1997 | March | April |
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05/31/97 - According to a source of mine, West Bolivar HS (Rosedale, MS.) 6-7 senior-to-be combo guard Tavaras Bennett, the number four player in Mississippi according to MISSISSIPPI HOOPS, wants to sign with Memphis. He is also being looked at by Southern Miss, Ole Miss and Miss. State. According to my source, he is a very good shooter and plays good defense.
Another player to watch from Rosedale is freshman Marellis Nicks(I'm not sure of the name spelling), a 6-2, 175-lb point guard, who is a pure shooter and very good passer.
05/30/97 - Look for the top two senior football players in Mississippi to be linebacker Eddie Strong of South Panola and running back Justin Griffith of Magee. Eddie will have to work hard academically to qualify.
05/29/97 - I was told Falkner running back Edward Prather was outstanding in an eight-team jamboree recently. Another source told me Prather is an outstanding hitter from his safety position. He is also a very good basketball player. Sounds to me like this guy is an outstanding athlete. As a side note, his brother Bradley played at Marshall University last year and may be transferring to Northeast CC. I was told he is a big-time hitter who will "knock" your head off.
05/28/97 - Here's a primetime senior-to-be to watch next season: Glenn Morris, a pitcher/position player from Hillcrest Academy, was topping out at 89 mph on the Jugs Guns in the ninth inning against Heritage Academy in the championship game Monday. During the season he was 7-1, with a 1.49 ERA, while striking out 91 in 61 innings. Teams batted .183 against him. Plus, as a hitter he batted .514 for the season, with 18 doubles, 7 home runs. He also had a slugging percentage of .897 and an on-base percentage of .606. This guy is a big-time prospect, without question.
Here's one for the books: he and teammate Brent Quinn hit back-to-back home runs twice in the same inning during a game this year. Yes, in the same inning. Truly amazing! I have never heard of that happening before. BTW, Brent, a senior, hit .470 for the season.
05/27/97 - A BIG offensive lineman to watch this coming year is Blake Conn, an offensive guard from Hattiesburg HS. Blake is 6-6, 310-lbs with 5.7 speed in the forty. With a redshirt year in college, to increase his speed, Blake has a chance to be a very good offensive lineman. I have been told by a very reliable source, Blake has received letters of inquiries from all the SEC schools. Blake already has made a qualifying score on his ACT and he will have no problem with freshman eligibility requirements. Look for Blake to be a prime recruit in the state of Mississippi this coming recruiting season.
05/25/97 - Here's a big-time player to watch for in the future: Demarcus Jackson. Demarcus is a 6-5, 280-lb. freshman from George County. Yes, you read that right. He is a freshman. I have been told he is an offensive lineman with exceptional speed for a man his size.
05/22/97 - Have any of you wondered why so many college football coaches are visiting high schools in May? The NCAA allows coaches to evaluate, but not contact, a prospective recruit 20 days in May (excluding Memorial Day and Sundays). Evaluation, according to the NCAA, is any off-campus activity used to assess the recruit's academic qualifications or athletic ability, including a visit to the student's high school or watching him/her practice or compete at any site. Too make this even more difficult of a job, the college coach can evaluate the prospective recruit only once during this May evaluation period. The only other period the NCAA allows a coach to evaluate a recruit is 9 days (selected by the college) during October and November. During this period, like the May evaluation period, the college football coaches can evaluate the recruit only once. What this means is a college football coach can evaluate a recruit in-person twice during a recruiting season. These rules applies to college football coaches only. Now do you understand why colleges love having these summer football camps?
05/19/97 - Look for Justin Hollis, a 6-3, 255-lb. offensive lineman (center) from W. P. Daniel HS in New Albany, to be one of the top linemen in Mississippi this coming year. I saw him play Friday night and I'm telling you, with a little more weight, this guy is going to be one fine college offensive lineman. He is relentless on his blocks. He keeps those legs moving, driving his man back away from the play. In fact, he had a couple of pancake blocks (put his man on the ground). He has quick feet and good mobility for a man his size. I have been told that Ole Miss, Vanderbilt and Tennessee have been sending him letters for quite awhile. Miss State has shown some interest also. Look for him to have a large choice of schools to choose from before the February signing day gets here. If you are a college recruiter, you better get in touch with Justin before it is too late. You can contact his coach, Terry Allen, at (601) 534-1817 (Got this telephone number from my Clell Wade Coaches Directory book.). I also overheard, while at the game, that Justin will be camping at Miss State, Ole Miss and I believe Southern Miss. Tanner Allen, of whom I spoke of yesterday, will be attending the same camps.
05/19/97 - Here's a player to watch this coming football season: Warren Pannell. Warren is a 6-5, 228 defensive lineman from Ripley HS. He was the leading tackler on Ripley's defensive line. He is a 3-year letterman as well as being selected to the All-Tippah County and All-Area teams. If anyone has seen him play, let me know what you thought about him.
05/18/97 - I've being looking for the size of a player from Alcorn Central HS and have just found it thanks to Dave Childers' Ole Miss Rebel site. The player is Jeremy Bush and he is a 6-5, 330-lb. offensive lineman who will be very highly recruited according to my sources. He has received numerous letters from colleges. Last football season he was selected to the Second-Team All-Area Team.
05/18/97 - I saw Tanner Allen play in a spring football game Friday night. He looks like he will make a very good middle linebacker for some Division-I college. He pursues the ball with very good mobility and is an excellent tackler. Plus, he has excellent size: 6-5, 240-lbs. He appears to have very good football instincts based upon how well he recognizing a play. Look for this kid to make his presence known when he plays college ball.
05/17/97 - I'm being bombarded with names of talented Mississippi High School athletes and I can say without a doubt, I love every minute of it. I'll be posting names throughout the weekend and on into next week. Here's info on three players:
Check for more names tomorrow.
05/16/97 - Here's a new name for my list of talented Division-I prospects in Mississippi: Michael Paul. Michael, who plays for Baldwyn HS, has grown 1 1/2 inches and 30 pounds since the end of football season. You heard it here first. Look for the colleges to check him out when they find out about him. I've also heard he would like to hear from Miss State. Don't let that stop any of you other colleges. He is a talented player who would be a good addition to any college's football program.
05/14/97 - Here's the name of a sophomore pitcher from Hattiesburg to watch the next couple of seasons: Matt Butler. Tuesday night he defeated Pascagoula in one game and got a save in the other. In the second game, in which he allowed 3 hits while striking out 12, he was throwing 90-91 mph.
05/14/97 - Columbus HS running back Jo Jo Minor was selected the Most Valuable Player of the football team by the Columbus HS Sports Boosters. He will be a senior this upcoming football season.
05/11/97 - Andy Young a baseball pitcher from Noxapater is a player to watch next year. He is a 6-3, 220-lbs 16 year old junior and, I was told, can throw 90+ mph. He does have to wear a brace on his knee, althought I'm not sure if this is temporary or permanent. If anyone knows anything else about him, let me know.
05/10/97 - I checked out the spring football game between French Camp Academy and Maben High School Friday night. I'll say this: Donald Lee and Patrick Burchfield of Maben HS are definite Division-I prospects. If all the in-state schools don't recruit Patrick, then they don't know talent. And Donald is going to be a player to watch his senior year. I'll tell you guys more about them after I watch the film I made of the game. I'll have info on some French Camp players also.
05/08/97 - Starkville Academy star pitcher Trey Wall ran his record to 7-3 in the first round of the northstate playoffs by going seven complete innings, allowing only four hits and recording his second shutout of the season. Starkville Academy defeated Greenville 4-0 advancing to the next round against #1 seed Heritage.
05/06/97 - Here's some info about junior baseball player Steven Dowe from Parkland Academy. He has already broken Jason Albritton's school record. Albritton signed with LSU a couple of years ago. Dowe has 101 strikeouts so far this year. He changes speeds and has a good curve. He has heat, but heat isn't so great without the other tools. He threw a one hitter last week with no walks. The only balls hit out of the infield were easy high fly outs.
05/03/97 - One of the best but unknown high school football players in Mississippi this past season has signed with Hinds CC. Edward Johnson, a 6-0, 231-lb senior linebacker from Jackson Provine, who is described by his coach as having "muscles upon muscles", totaled 1,535 pounds in the Mississippi Power-Lifting Meet last month, establishing a meet record for the 242-pound class. He dead-lifted 615, squatted 565 and bench-pressed 355. Look for this guy to be highly recruited in two years. Source: The Clarion-Ledger
05/03/97 - For those of you who don't already know it, All-State linebacker Jason Cabell will attend Millsaps next year but won't play football until his sophomore year. Source: The Clarion-Ledger
05/03/97 - I'm trying to get more info on these guys, but I have been told that Brandon has at least two junior football players that are very good players, QB Brad Jones and a running back by the name of McClaurin. If any of you have any info on them, I would really appreciate it.
05/01/97 - Here's a baseball player that bears watching next year: Mize HS junior shortstop Lance Easterling. A source of mine saw him play a couple of games and he came away very impressed. He said Lance thrives on deep counts and crucial moments in a game. In the two games he saw, Lance stole 7 bases. In fact, during one game he stole home, putting Mize in the lead.