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The one that got away?

J

JDishnell

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Oct 23, 2019
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Who ya got for best in-state football players who left to play elsewhere? We won't consider those who went to Clemson...unless you really want to.

The one that jumps to mind for me is Bobby Engram. This is because my folks are PSU fans and Engram played on some very very good PSU teams while he was there. He won the first ever Biletnikoff Award. This was at the same time Taneyhill was putting up big passing numbers here. He'd have been a good target for Steve to toss the ball to. Back then I couldn't fathom why someone would want to leave the state to play football elsewhere.
 
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JDishnell said:
Who ya got for best in-state football players who left to play elsewhere? We won't consider those who went to Clemson...unless you really want to.

The one that jumps to mind for me is Bobby Engram. This is because my folks are PSU fans and Engram played on some very very good PSU teams while he was there. He won the first ever Biletnikoff Award. This was at the same time Taneyhill was putting up big passing numbers here. He'd have been a good target for Steve to toss the ball to. Back then I couldn't fathom why someone would want to leave the state to play football elsewhere.
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He played at a HS near here. He was awesome.

I think his parents wanted him to get away from the crowd he was hanging with. There was some scuttlebutt about him getting in a scrape with the law while home from college on a break that got swept under the rug. I'm glad it did. He was the hometown hero.
 
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Dizzy01 said:
Modern - AJ Green

Historical - Art Shell
Click to expand...

How good was Art Shell in high school? Couldn't think where he went for college so I had to look it up...Maryland State. Seems like he flew under the radar?

Yeah, AJ Green...geez.
 
JDishnell said:
How good was Art Shell in high school? Couldn't think where he went for college so I had to look it up...Maryland State. Seems like he flew under the radar?

Yeah, AJ Green...geez.
Click to expand...
I remember hearing of people seeing AJ as an eighth grader......
 
JDishnell said:
How good was Art Shell in high school? Couldn't think where he went for college so I had to look it up...Maryland State. Seems like he flew under the radar?

Yeah, AJ Green...geez.
Click to expand...
Shell was all state in both football and basketball while in HS. He was a remarkable athlete and had great mobility for his size. He’s a guy that could probably still success in the modern era of football.
 
Steve Davis, tony rice, aj Greene, fat Albert haynesworth, chis (Ohio state safety), joe Hamilton, Sean Ellis, Courtney (penn state dend), it’s endless
 
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AJ Green is tops on my list. Saw him in HS many times but a game against Goose Creek showed how great he could be. In the last 6 minutes of the game, he pulled a ball away from the defender that had just intercepted it at the goal line. Next he scored on a bomb after playing defense and helping stop a drive. Then he scored either on a pick 6 or a punt return. He was the best HS player I ever saw!

Tony Rice was another. Led ND to a championship.

Albert Haynsworth dominated games. Was mad that he chose to go to Tennessee.
 
Peter Boulware from Spring Valley. Was a dominant LB at Florida State.

Richard Seymour from Lower Richland had a great career at UGA.

These guys weren’t just from SC, but in our backyard.
 
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JDishnell said:
The one that jumps to mind for me is Bobby Engram. This is because my folks are PSU fans and Engram played on some very very good PSU teams while he was there. He won the first ever Biletnikoff Award. This was at the same time Taneyhill was putting up big passing numbers here. He'd have been a good target for Steve to toss the ball to. Back then I couldn't fathom why someone would want to leave the state to play football elsewhere.
Click to expand...

Taneyhill was actually from Pennsylvania, so I think that's a fair trade.
 
Hate to mention a Clemson guy but I think mike Williams was a big turning point . He would have come in right after Alshon and really been a game changer . When I look at a player that really changed the fortunes of the two programs he jumps out . Of course AJ Green and Carlos Dunlop we’re big . I think AJ didn’t hurt as bad because he never really waivered from UGA his entire recruitment . Stephen Davis hurt but at that time in our program who could have blamed him .
 
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I’d make the argument that Carolina lost far more opportunity in basketball than football. When you think of players like Kevin Garnett, Jermaine O’Neal, Ray Allen, Zion Williamson (just to name a few), these aren’t just good players who contributed on the next level but very very good players (some HOFers)...
 
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Sending an SOS said:
I’d make the argument that Carolina lost far more opportunity in basketball than football. When you think of players like Kevin Garnett, Jermaine O’Neal, Ray Allen, Zion Williamson (just to name a few), these aren’t just good players who contributed on the next level but very very good players (some HOFers)...
Click to expand...

Absolutely ... throw in ja Morant and Stanley Roberts for good measure . Stanley was far from a HOF but he was a beast in college . I think Ja may turn out to be a better player than Zion
 
JDishnell said:
Who ya got for best in-state football players who left to play elsewhere? We won't consider those who went to Clemson...unless you really want to.

The one that jumps to mind for me is Bobby Engram. This is because my folks are PSU fans and Engram played on some very very good PSU teams while he was there. He won the first ever Biletnikoff Award. This was at the same time Taneyhill was putting up big passing numbers here. He'd have been a good target for Steve to toss the ball to. Back then I couldn't fathom why someone would want to leave the state to play football elsewhere.
Click to expand...
For Old Timers: Stanley Morgan (UT), Freddie Solomon (Tampa) Both had long Pro careers. Both initially committed to USC.
 
DeepfriedCock said:
Lawernce Timmons for me, he could be the best linebacker to come out of this state.
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From Wilson right? He had a teammate named Justin Durant (Darians brother?). They came to Midland Valley in a playoff game and Timmons was a WR. Durant played LB and was the best I have ever laid eyes on in HS. He dominated. He went to Hampton Univ. Not sure why? Anyways he went to and is still in the league at 34. So obviously USC could’ve used him. We probably didn’t pursue because he was 6’1” and not 6’3”.
 
Lots of good names. Had forgotten about a good many of them. We produce a good amount of talent for a state our size.
 
The most impactful by far was Freddie Solomon. Both he and Art Shell left the state and attended small HBCUs as they could not qualify academically at the bigger schools. Freddie wanted to come to USC but could not get in due to what were at the time strict academic requirements mandated by the ACC. This began the movement to get out of the ACC which some years later allowed us to join the SEC where all the money is. If not for the Freddie Solomon situation we might still be stuck in the ACC.
 
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Judson1 said:
From Wilson right? He had a teammate named Justin Durant (Darians brother?). They came to Midland Valley in a playoff game and Timmons was a WR. Durant played LB and was the best I have ever laid eyes on in HS. He dominated. He went to Hampton Univ. Not sure why? Anyways he went to and is still in the league at 34. So obviously USC could’ve used him. We probably didn’t pursue because he was 6’1” and not 6’3”.
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I definitely think he would've helped us. I know he skipped his SR season at FSU. He went in the 1st round of the Draft. I think he might have been the first LB drafted that year.
 
JDishnell said:
Who ya got for best in-state football players who left to play elsewhere? We won't consider those who went to Clemson...unless you really want to.

The one that jumps to mind for me is Bobby Engram. This is because my folks are PSU fans and Engram played on some very very good PSU teams while he was there. He won the first ever Biletnikoff Award. This was at the same time Taneyhill was putting up big passing numbers here. He'd have been a good target for Steve to toss the ball to. Back then I couldn't fathom why someone would want to leave the state to play football elsewhere.
Click to expand...

Freddy Solomon.
 
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GivEmDaSpurs said:
AJ Green is tops on my list. Saw him in HS many times but a game against Goose Creek showed how great he could be. In the last 6 minutes of the game, he pulled a ball away from the defender that had just intercepted it at the goal line. Next he scored on a bomb after playing defense and helping stop a drive. Then he scored either on a pick 6 or a punt return. He was the best HS player I ever saw!

Tony Rice was another. Led ND to a championship.

Albert Haynsworth dominated games. Was mad that he chose to go to Tennessee.
Click to expand...

I saw AJ play many times in HS. His junior and senior season, it just wasn't even fair. He beat Wando one year where they were literally triple teaming him every play down the field.
 
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Sending an SOS said:
I’d make the argument that Carolina lost far more opportunity in basketball than football. When you think of players like Kevin Garnett, Jermaine O’Neal, Ray Allen, Zion Williamson (just to name a few), these aren’t just good players who contributed on the next level but very very good players (some HOFers)...
Click to expand...
Garnet and O'Neal went straight to the Pros do they were never going to college. But Ray Allen was a big miss
 
Surprised I haven't seen this name. First, I'm not knocking Todd with this, but Tony Rice. He was tailor made for our veer offense, but yet we told him he would be a good defensive back. He wanted to play for us. He didn't make mistakes. The switch to the run and shoot produced some good wins against teams with equal or lesser talent, but we were downright exposed by teams that were strong defensively but for the 87 Clemson game. It hurt us in recruiting outside of the skilled positions. Drubbings by LSU and FSU come to mind. Plus, college football was still about a decade away from the pass friendly offense that Spurrier brought, but which was buoyed by a great running game and strong defense.
 
JDishnell said:
Who ya got for best in-state football players who left to play elsewhere? We won't consider those who went to Clemson...unless you really want to.

The one that jumps to mind for me is Bobby Engram. This is because my folks are PSU fans and Engram played on some very very good PSU teams while he was there. He won the first ever Biletnikoff Award. This was at the same time Taneyhill was putting up big passing numbers here. He'd have been a good target for Steve to toss the ball to. Back then I couldn't fathom why someone would want to leave the state to play football elsewhere.
Click to expand...

Pat Rodrick, Larry Kahn
 
How about an entire class of offensive/defensivelinemen who signed with FSU in one year? The highlight had to be Peter Boulware, but we also missed on Chad Bates, and Kevin Long who were starters for a few years, All-ACC, etc
 
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psmith5532 said:
Garnet and O'Neal went straight to the Pros do they were never going to college. But Ray Allen was a big miss
Click to expand...
You get my point though...and add Ja Morant. And the policy was different then. Had there been a 1 year requirement, we still wouldn’t have gotten either of them.
 
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