BleedGopher
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This Gillum kid looks to have some great potential. Almost 1,300 yards as a frosh isn't too shabby.
My favorite quote: "Then there's Gillum, who has been recruited by Kill's staff for nearly four years. Assistant coach Jay Sawvel recognized his talent while at tiny Pearl River High, where he gained nearly 6,000 yards, but Gillum didn't have the grades to enroll at Northern Illinois. Sawvel and Kill helped steer the 6-foot, 200-pound back to Mississippi Gulf Coast -- where he helped the Bulldogs go 20-4 over two seasons -- in hopes of bringing him north this winter."
The promise--Get your grades up and we have a scholarship for you next year...I like that concept.
Most coaching staffs have JC's that they steer guys they are interested towards. It is a good practice if you feel like you have a good in with an under the radar guy that won't be able to qualify out of high school. You develop a good relationship with the JC coach by sending him players and you hope the kid feels some loyalty towards you once he gets his grades in order and is eligible for a D1 school. It is just smart recruiting but it is not unique to Kill.
I agree. It's like the old draft-and-follow in baseball before it was eliminated. Under that system, scouts would direct some of the high-school seniors they drafted in the later rounds to junior colleges and then sign them prior to the next draft if they had shown something.
One of the thing that has impressed me about Kill is that he really seems wired into the junior college scene. I'm not in love with the idea of a team full of JUCOs, but Kill appears to have a better idea of what type of kid in a JUCO program can succeed both on the field and in the classroom.