Football Recruiting
Report
Monday, June 9, 2014
By Sammy Batten |
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Taz is the man with the hands
Mauldin (SC) wideout's repertoire
includes extraordinary pass-catching skills
Recruiting Class of 2015 Thumbnail Sketches...
By
Sammy Batten
©2014 Bonesville.net
All rights reserved.
Often during the recruitment of one
player, college football coaches discover another prospect who they wind
up pursuing as well.
Such was the case for East Carolina last
fall as it went about the process of recruiting and signing Mauldin (SC)
High School quarterback
Dre Massey. Massey was one of the
most productive offensive players in the entire state as a senior, amassing
4,836 yards of total offense and accounting for 62 touchdowns.
While trying to secure Massey's talents,
ECU discovered another gifted athlete in wide receiver Taz Richardson.
"I tell our kids all the time that you
have to play hard all the time in every game because you never know who's
watching,'' Mauldin coach Lee Taylor said. "They (ECU) coaches came to see
us play and were watching Dre on film and said, 'Who is that No. 16?' That's
how he (Richardson) got his name out there.''
Richardson was the beneficiary of
Massey's passing skills, setting school single-season records for receptions
(70) and receiving yardage (1,068) while scoring nine touchdowns. He also
rushed for 90 yards on 11 carries, averaged 17.8 and scored a touchdown on
six punt returns, and averaged 23.2 yards on 17 kickoff returns.
The performance was good enough for the
Pirates to invite Richardson to their spring football scrimmage in April. He
attended with Massey and was offered a scholarship by the coaching staff.
The 6-foot-1, 180-pounder accepted on May 28 over an offer from Charlotte to
become the sixth member of ECU's recruiting Class of 2014.
Taylor wasn't surprised by the early
decision because of Richardson's personality and relationship with Massey.
"Taz is the type of kid who doesn't like
the spotlight on him at all,'' Taylor said. "He committed, in part, to take
the pressure off him going into his senior season. I also know that Dre had
an influence on him, without a doubt. I think they have a great friendship
and it's great they'll be able to play together at least for three more
years.
"It was a great choice (by Richardson),''
he said. "I texted him the night he committed and told him I was proud of
him and proud of the decision he'd made.''
Richardson will join not only Massey at
East Carolina, but another former Mauldin player as well in the Pirates'
starting center, Taylor Hudson. Hudson, a rising senior, originally tipped
off the ECU staff about Massey.
Hudson was as freshman at ECU when a
rail-thin, 160-pound Richardson reported for Mauldin's preseason football
practice in 2011. Although he displayed promise as a ninth grader,
Richardson would spend that season playing for the "C'' or freshman team.
"He was a skinny kid in the ninth
grade,'' Taylor said. "But he had good speed for a ninth grader, and he had
great hands, which he still does. We noticed immediately that he caught
everything with his hands. A lot of young kids like to cradle the ball into
their bodies. But Taz, as a young guy, caught the ball with his hands. We
knew right then he had ability.''
Because of his hands, and in spite of his
slender build, Richardson skipped junior varsity ball and headed straight to
the Mauldin varsity as a sophomore. Playing against some of the toughest
competition in the South Carolina high school ranks, Richardson produced 39
catches for 469 yards and nine touchdowns as the Mavericks posted a 4-7
record.
The attention received due to his
sophomore performance inspired a new intensity in Richardson's off-season
training, according to Taylor. The result saw Richardson mature from the
skinny freshman to a stronger, bigger athlete for his junior season.
"He really worked hard in the off season
between his sophomore and junior years,'' Taylor said. "The results were
easy to see on the field. Taz had a great junior season.''
Richardson was especially impressive
during a stretch late in the year against Gaffney, Riverside and Byrnes.
During those three games, Richardson accumulated 33 catches for 404 yards
and two touchdowns. He registered 12 of his receptions against Gaffney for
166 yards, but play in that game in particular left an impression on Taylor.
"I think it was a third-and-long play,''
Taylor said. "The route Taz was on was a straight fly down the field. He was
covered pretty well. But Dre threw the ball to him — and there is a great
picture somewhere of this — but Taz laid out and caught the ball with one
hand. He was probably 30 or 40 yards down the field. It was a crucial part
of the game and Dre knew if he threw it to Taz he would have a chance to
catch it because he has such good hands.''
Mauldin benefited all season from the
on-the-field connection shared by Richardson and Massey.
"They have that innate ability to know
what the other was doing,'' Taylor said. "Sometimes Taz would run an option
route, and whenever he'd break off the route, Dre knew exactly what he was
doing. I don't know if it was a look Taz gave Dre, or a look Dre gave Taz,
but Dre always went to Taz when it was crunch time. And everyone knew it.''
Richardson's performance during the 2013
season earned him a number of post-season honors, including a berth on the
All-Region squad. He was also named Mauldin's offensive MVP (Massey won team
MVP honors).
With Massey headed to Greenville for the
fall, Richardson will become the focal point of Mauldin's offense. In order
to handle that challenge better, Richardson has worked hard to add even more
weight during this off season.
"He wants to put on 15 more pounds before
the start of the season to make himself harder to bring down,'' Taylor said.
"We've got a couple of kids who can throw the ball, but they can't run like
Dre. But we have some capable quarterbacks who can get the ball to Taz. I'll
also have to find some more creative ways to get him the ball. We've done
some stuff in spring practice with him in motion so we can run the option
with him. We may toss it to him a couple times and let him run with it.''
Although other schools are expected to
continue recruiting Richardson, Taylor believes his receiving star will
stick with his pledge to ECU.
"The program the coaches have established
at East Carolina is fantastic and our players have been very impressed with
that since the first time they came to our campus,'' Taylor said. "Honestly,
I think Taz is pretty solid going there. The reputation of the staff and the
success they've had there speaks for itself, and I think Taz values that.''
E-mail Sammy Batten
PAGE UPDATED
06/08/14 07:12 PM.
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