Football Recruiting
Report
Tuesday, January 28, 2014
By Sammy Batten |
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QB with pedigree gives class a boost
Shawn Stankavage brings family's legacy
of athletic excellence to ECU
Recruiting Class of 2014 Thumbnail Sketches...
By
Sammy Batten
©2013 Bonesville.net
All rights reserved.
Needing a quarterback to round out
its Recruiting Class of 2014, East Carolina turned to a player with
impeccable lineage.
The Pirates landed a critical verbal
commitment last weekend from Shawn Stankavage, who has starred the last two
years at Cardinal Gibbons High School in Raleigh. Stankavage decided to join
the Pirates after a whirlwind courtship that kicked into high gear with a
scholarship offer about two weeks ago and his acceptance during an official
visit to Greenville last weekend.
The 6-foot-3, 188-pounder chose ECU over
an offer from Wyoming and recent interest from Brigham Young, Vanderbilt and
Wake Forest, according to Cardinal Gibbons coach Steven Wright.
Securing the pledge from Stankavage
became a priority after the Pirates lost a previously committed quarterback
prospect,
John Wolford from Jacksonville, FL.
Wolford, who broke many of Tim Tebow's Jacksonville-area passing records,
was considered a major recruiting coup when he committed to ECU in
September. But the opportunity to compete for a starting job next fall at
Wake Forest convinced Wolford to switch his commitment last month to the
Demon Deacons.
"East Carolina had been involved
recruiting Shawn on the periphery since the end of his junior season,''
Wright said. "We've talked to them a lot over the past year. Shawn was in
their top three (quarterbacks). When the kid they had targeted out of
Florida, who was at the top of their list, ended up committing somewhere
else, they were quickly back on Shawn. It wasn't too long after that they
extended an offer.''
Despite the circumstances surrounding his
recruitment, Stankavage is much more than just a backup choice for the
Pirates.
He's a quarterback with a natural feel
for the position and who has the ability to escape trouble with his feet and
make big plays with his arm. Those skills are evident in the statistics he's
posted the last two seasons as the varsity starter at Cardinal Gibbons.
Stankavage completed 169 of 219 passes
for 1,920 yards and 28 touchdowns as a junior, while also rushing 114 times
for 616 more yards and nine scores. He significantly increased all those
totals in his final season, completing 247 of 408 passes for 3,564 yards and
34 scores, and rushing 169 times for 1,058 yards and 13 touchdowns.
"I think [to] stay current with the
times, he really does have a little Johnny Manziel in him,'' Wright said.
"He's a guy who is able to create when things break down. But he's also able
to sit in the pocket, make a throw downfield or check down into something
short. He brings tremendous playmaking ability.''
It's no surprise that Stankavage has
exceptional athletic talents since he has the genes of both an Olympian and
an NFL player.
His mother is former University of North
Carolina All-American swimmer Sue Walsh. Walsh is a 10-time NCAA champion
and was a member of the 1980 United States Olympic team. She was elected to
the N.C. Sports Hall of Fame in 2003 and now serves as the Director of the
Legacy Program for UNC's athletic booster club.
Stankavage's father is Scott Stankavage,
who was a quarterback at North Carolina from 1980-83. The elder Stankavage
spent two full seasons as the Tar Heels starter, leading them to 16
victories and two bowl games during that span. Scott still ranks 11th on
UNC's career list in passing yards (3,363), is sixth in touchdown passes
(30) and is 10th in completions (272). After leaving Chapel Hill, Scott
Stankavage spent three seasons as a backup in the NFL with the Miami Dolpins
and Denver Broncos.
Wright was immediately aware of the
family tradition when Stankavage joined the Cardinal Gibbons junior varsity
as a freshman.
"Stankavage is a fairly unusual name
around here, so we were aware of his athletic lineage,'' Wright said. "We
were excited to get him. We knew he had potential early on. I think what
stood out to me was just his natural feel for the position. There were
things we had to work on mechanically, especially his footwork and getting
to know our system. But he had that ability right from the start to
recognize and make quick decisions to get the ball to the right guy at the
right time.''
Stankavage started every game for the
junior varsity as a freshman, then was expected to compete for the starting
varsity job as a sophomore. But during the summer before his sophomore year,
Stankavage suffered a stress fracture that kept him on the sidelines for the
entire 2011 season.
He bounced back to claim the starting job
as a junior and hasn't looked back since.
"It was fun to see that blossom
throughout his career and really take off his senior year,'' Wright said.
"We told him early on in our offense we were going to ask him to be a point
guard who would distribute the ball to our playmakers. He's really done a
tremendous job with that while also becoming a creative playmaker himself.''
Stankavage displayed that "Manziel-like''
creativity in a state 3-AA playoff loss against Southern Durham this season.
Under pressure from an intense rush by Southern Durham, Stankavage lost the
football, but somehow managed to scoop it up and throw a touchdown pass to
teammate Dante DiMaggio to put Cardinal Gibbons ahead. Although Cardinal
Gibbons ended up losing the game, videos of the play made the rounds on
YouTube.
Wright pointed to another performance
this season that provided a good example of Stankavage's skills.
"We managed to put up 28 points against
an undefeated Orange (High) team in one half,'' Wright said. "On one play,
Shawn escaped the pocket and essentially tossed a little shuttle pass to a
back to pick up a first down. Two plays later he sticks a post route to a
wide out for a 60-yard touchdown pass.
"He brings that kind of diversity and
skill and ability that's just rare in my experience at the high school
level. I think East Carolina is getting themselves an outstanding
prospect.''
Wright believes Stankavage will be a
perfect fit for ECU's Air Raid offense.
"We do a lot of the things that they do
here,'' he said. "We spend a lot of time in the shotgun with four wide outs
and one back. I think it's a system that fits his abilities extremely
well.''
E-mail Sammy Batten
PAGE UPDATED
01/28/14 09:07 AM.
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