Football Recruiting
Report
Friday, May 2, 2014
By Sammy Batten |
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Versatile Virginia star picks Pirates
Hoops hopes turned into football
scholarship for Abu Kai Kai
Recruiting Class of 2015 Thumbnail Sketches...
By
Sammy Batten
©2014 Bonesville.net
All rights reserved.
Abu Kai Kai fancied himself a
basketball player upon arrival at Kettle Run High School in Nokeville,
VA.
Kai Kai was so immersed in basketball
that as a freshman he didn't even try out for football, a sport he'd played
and excelled at in middle school.
But one day as Kai Kai was heading to
class, he was intercepted by Kettle Run varsity football coach Jeff Lloyd.
"I pulled him aside in the hallway one
day and told him if he committed to the weight room he could be a
scholarship kid (in football),'' Lloyd said. "He had the frame. He was
athletic.
"I had to do a pretty good sales job,
truthfully. He thought he was a basketball player. But I told him, 'trust
me.' And he did.''
Kai Kai's trust in Lloyd was rewarded
last February when East Carolina defensive line coach Marc Yellock took
notice of his talents. A scholarship offer came soon after Yellock's initial
contact and on April 12 Kai Kai accepted while in Greenville attending
the annual Purple-Gold spring scrimmage.
The 6-foot-2, 250-pound
linebacker-defensive end became the second member of ECU's
recruiting Class of 2015. Kai Kai
was also being pursued by Old Dominion, but the visit to Greenville for the
spring game sold him on becoming a Pirate.
"Old Dominion had offered,'' Lloyd said.
"He'd been over there for their junior day, and it was OK, but he wasn't
sold on it.
"After he went down to East Carolina he
came back and told me it felt like the right place. I encourage our kids,
once they start getting offers, not to stockpile offers. If you find a place
you like, go ahead and commit. That's what he did.''
Kai Kai joined Lloyd's varsity team as a
sophomore when he was a mere 5-11, 190-pounder. He worked as a backup at
defensive end that season before emerging as a varsity starter in his junior
year after experiencing a major growth spurt.
Between his sophomore and junior years,
Kai Kai grew two inches taller and added about 45 to 50 pounds of bulk to
his frame.
“He's a weight room freak,'' Llloyd said.
“His weight room numbers are astronomical.''
Kai Kai owns the Kettle Run school
records in the power clean (315 pounds) and the dead lift (6-05). He's also
produced personal bests of 335 pounds on the bench press and 545 in the
squat.
Those physical gains translated into
improved production on the field last season. As the Cougars starter at
strongside defensive end, Kai Kai made 77 tackles and registered seven
quarterback sacks . The performance earned first-team all-conference, All
3-A East Region and second-team all-state honors.
“He had a fantastic year,'' Lloyd said.
“He had gotten into some games as a sophomore in a backup role, and you saw
flashes. But in the off season he really concentrated on getting his body
bigger. By his junior season he was eager and really dominated at times.''
Kai Kai demonstrated his ability to
dominate in the very first game of the season.
“On the very first play of the game he
shot through the gap and destroyed their tailback,'' Lloyd said. “That
really opened our eyes to, 'Hey, this kid could have a great year.'
“He showed his athleticism on another
play (in opener) when he went to rush the quarterback. He hit the
quarterback, but the quarterback got rid of the football on a route to his
running back. Abu chased the running back down and tackled him 10 yards down
the field. He made up some serious ground to go from almost sacking the
quarterback to making the play on the running back.''
That sort of athleticism and versatility
is exactly what attracted the Pirates to Kai Kai. They envision him as a
hybrid athlete in their 3-4 alignment, who can put his hand on the ground
and rush the passer or stand up and play in pass coverage.
Lloyd will give Kai Kai the opportunity
play some at tight end on offense and at outside linebacker on defense as a
senior at Kettle Run.
“Right now they think he can play end for
them,'' Lloyd said. “But they're eager to see some tape of him on his feet
playing at the linebacker position. Last year during our practices before
the playoffs we stood him up just to see what he could do. He destroyed our
backup quarterback from the outside linebacker spot.''
Kai Kai isn't the only Kettle Run player
on East Carolina's scope.
David Eldridge, a 6-1, 165-pound wide
receiver-defensive back-kick returner, has already earned scholarship offers
from Boston College, Connecticut, Illinois, Old Dominion and Virginia after
scoring 15 touchdowns and accumulating 1,463 yards receiving as a junior.
Lloyd said the Pirates are interested in
Eldridge as well, but want to see him in person before offering.
“They want to eyeball him first,'' Lloyd
said.''
E-mail Sammy Batten
PAGE UPDATED
05/02/14 08:34 PM.
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