Football Recruiting Report
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
By
Sammy Batten |
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Redemptive
season lands Revia at ECU
By
Sammy Batten
©2012 Bonesville.net
All rights reserved.
Alan Fiddler's eye for
football talent helped him produce an overall record of 45-32 at the
NCAA Division II level as head coach at Glenville State College.
So when Fiddler returned to
the prep ranks this season as the new head coach at Patrick Henry High
School in Roanoke, VA, one of the first athletes to catch his eye was Ryan
Revia.
“I definitely saw the
potential,'' Fiddler said. “He had great size, the right height and weight,
and he was a very athletic guy who jumped out at me right away.''
Coaches from East Carolina
showed up at Patrick Henry about the same time as Fiddler because they, too,
had recognized Revia's talents. The Pirates would wind up offering the
6-foot-7, 300-pound offensive tackle a scholarship in late November, which
he accepted in December to become a member of ECU's recruiting Class of
2012.
Revia chose the Pirates over
offers from N.C. Central and Ivy League programs like Harvard, Princeton,
Cornell and Penn. The offer list would have no doubt included more
major-college teams if not for an incident during Revia's junior season that
may have impacted his recruitment.
A Patrick Henry varsity
starter as a sophomore, Revia was rising up the ranks of state's prep
prospects near the end of his junior season with interest already coming
from schools like Virginia. But the attention stopped suddenly when Revia
was suspended from school for a week and kicked off the football team for
the rest of the 2010 season for what was described in local newspapers as a
“violation of team rules.'' He would eventually be reinstated, but wasn't
allowed to play in the final three games, including the playoffs.
Revia hoped for a chance to
redeem himself as a senior when Fiddler was named Patrick Henry's new head
coach for 2011. Fiddler, too, was looking for a fresh start after resigning
at Glenville State following seven successful seasons.
The new coach quickly figured
out Revia was more than deserving of a second chance.
“The thing with me, when I
came here I kind of wiped the past away,'' Fiddler said. “I just wanted to
treat people from what I know of them and not what people say about the
past.
“He made a mistake, and he
manned up and admitted to his mistake. He is a great character kid who comes
from a family of people who have great character. He's an excellent student
who does what he's supposed to do. He works hard in the classroom and on the
field. Off the field, he's a respectful guy who says, 'Yes sir,' and 'No
sir.'
"He gets a little attitude
when he gets out on the field. He just made a mistake, and we all do that.''
East Carolina's recruitment of
Revia began in the spring when Fiddler arrived at Patrick Henry. At
Fiddler's urging, Revia attended the Pirates' one-day prospect camp during
the summer break and he came back from Greenville impressed.
ECU's staff followed Revia
throughout the 2011 season as he served as the team's deep snapper and top
blocker in Fiddler's no-huddle, spread offense. Patrick Henry produced a 7-3
record with all three losses coming against some of the area's top teams.
“He had a great senior year,''
Fiddler said. “We were a little undersized at a couple of positions up
front, but he definitely gave us some size up front. He also had the
athletic ability to allow us to run a lot of screens. He's got the kind of
mobility where he'll be able to execute the pulling and traps they'll do at
the next level.''
When asked to give an example
of Revia's talents, Fiddler recalls a play in Patrick Henry's second game of
the year against Bassett High School.
“We ran a little quarterback
counter,'' Fiddler said. “He pancaked the linebacker probably 20 yards
downfield at the goal line. That play jumped out to me because here's our
tackle 20 yards down field, running down a linebacker and putting him on his
back. It was very impressive and our quarterback scored on the play.''
The quarterback who scored on
that play has also been offered a scholarship by the Pirates, according to
Fiddler. David Prince is a 6-foot, 175-pound athlete who has already
received offers from ECU, Virginia and Virginia Tech as a junior.
Fiddler expects Revia will
need a redshirt season before he's ready to make a game contribution for the
Pirates. But he has no doubt that the Pirates will reap the benefits when
he's physically prepared for the task.
“Mentally, I know he can
handle it,'' Fiddler said. “He's a very intelligent kid. He carries about a
3.9 (grade point average), so he picks things up quickly. But for him to
have a year to add more weight and strength would be valuable.
“I told all the coaches who
came through here that he's nowhere near his ceiling. He has the potential
to have a really good college career, and maybe beyond."
E-mail Sammy Batten
PAGE UPDATED
01/17/12 04:10 PM.
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