Football Recruiting
Report
Tuesday, October 14, 2014
By Sammy Batten |
|
Future looks bright at running back
position
Stellar talents Chris Mangus, Shawn
Furlow primed for 2015
Recruiting Class of 2015 Thumbnail Sketches...
By
Sammy Batten
©2014 Bonesville.net
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The pass-centric “Air Raid'' offense
that Ruffin McNeill and Lincoln Riley brought to East Carolina from
Texas Tech back in January 2010 has from the very start attracted
talented recruits at the quarterback and wide receiver positions.
But the Air Raid is also starting to
become an appealing option for running back prospects, especially with the
success enjoyed by Vintavious Cooper the last two seasons. Cooper churned
out back-to-back 1,000-yard rushing performances in 2012 and 2013, and
capped his ECU career by racking up 198 yards in
the 37-20 Beef 'O' Brady's Bowl victory
against Ohio University.
The signings of Chris Hairston, Marquez
Grayson and Anthony Scott in recent recruiting classes is proof that the Air
Raid' is a drawing card for running backs. Hairston, Grayson and Scott were
all highly regarded prospects in their home states before choosing to play
for the Pirates.
Further evidence became public in the
final days of September when East Carolina landed verbal commitments from
not one, but two running backs who were ranked among the top prospects in
North Carolina. Those rankings, however, occurred in different years.
CHRIS MANGUS
Chris Mangus, who prepped at Raleigh's
Broughton High School before signing with Virginia Tech in February 2012,
decided to leave the Hokies in August after two years in Blacksburg. Mangus
chose ECU as his transfer destination and was admitted to school for the
fall semester, although it wasn't until September 23 when McNeill confirmed
his arrival.
The 6-foot, 180-pound Mangus was rated
the third-best running back prospect and No. 21 overall in the state by
Rivals.com as a senior at Broughton. The only backs rated higher in that
in-state Class of 2012 were Georgia signees Todd Gurley (Tarboro) and Keith
Marshall (Raleigh), as well as Jela Duncan (Charlotte), who plays for Duke.
Two days after Mangus's transfer became
public, the Pirates scored another in-state running back coup with a pledge
from Shawn Furlow, who stars at South Central High in Winterville just
outside of Greenville. Rivals.com rates Furlow the No. 32 overall prospect
for North Carolina's Class of 2015, and as the sixth-best running back.
Furlow's in-state running back ranking is
a bit deceiving because of the incredible depth at that position this year.
Princeton's Johnny Frasier (Florida State), Greensboro's Reggie Gallaspy
(N.C. State) and Concord's Rocky Reid (Tennessee) are included in the
Rivals.com rankings of the nation's Top 60 running back prospects, while
Wake Forest's Bryce Love and Nyheim Hines of Garner are top-10 picks among
all-purpose backs.
So, both Mangus and Furlow have been
rated among some pretty talented company.
East Carolina was actually the first
major school to offer a scholarship to Mangus during his junior season at
Broughton. He had already burst onto the Raleigh prep scene as a sophomore
when he ran for 1,184 yards before racking up another 1,312 yards and 13
scores as a junior to earn Cap 8 4-A Conference Offensive Player of the Year
honors.
Chris Martin was Mangus's head coach back
then at Broughton. Martin is now an assistant at Raleigh's Athens Drive
High.
“They (ECU) recruited him hard out of
high school,'' Martin said. “What happened though was, all of a sudden –
Notre Dame, Virginia, Clemson, Virginia Tech – all those guys started
looking, too, then offered. I kind of think East Carolina fell off the back
burner, even though it was a good fit for him.''
The opportunity to play for a legendary
coach in Frank Beamer at Virginia Tech prompted Mangus to commit to the
Hokies in September of a senior season in which he piled up career-bests
with 1,658 yards rushing and 28 touchdowns.
Virginia Tech used a red-shirt on Mangus
in 2012 before he made his college debut last season, appearing in 12 games
and starting once. One of his five receptions during the season actually
came on a 7-yard reception against ECU.
Mangus, who also spent time playing wide
receiver, finished the season with 26 rushes for 141 yards – 76 of which
came on a touchdown dash against Western Carolina – and five catches for 84
yards. But when Virginia Tech began spring practice last March, the Hokies
had no less than seven backs vying for playing time. The situation prompted
Mangus's decision to seek a new home for his talents.
“Scrappy-Doo,'' as Mangus was known to
his Broughton teammates because of a voice that sounds like the cartoon
character of the same name, immediately contacted the ECU coaching staff
once he decided to leave Virginia Tech.
“I think it was a natural place,'' Martin
said. “On the one side, he was concerned about having to sit out a year.
Sometimes you think, 'Heck, I wish I had done like the quarterback from
(Durham) Hillside (Vad Lee), who transferred from Georgia Tech to (FCS)
James Madison. His first thought was to do something like that and be able
to play right away.
“But realizing he still had two years of
eligibility, I think he realized after sitting out a year at East Carolina
he would be able to come back and kind of showcase his talents next year.''
Mangus's agility and versatility could
earn him a dual role at running back and receiver for the Pirates. But we
won't find out exactly what ECU's plans are for him until spring practice
begins next March when Mangus is expected to take the field with the Pirates
for the first time.
Either way, Martin believes ECU has
gotten a special player in Mangus.
“I think they've got a steal,'' he said.
“He had a good time at Virginia Tech. Some unfortunate things happened to
him when he first got there – a shoulder problem – and he just fell out of
their rotation.
“I think his decision to go to East
Carolina will help him and them out in the long run. They've got a player
with two years of eligibility left, who understands the college game and
what he's got to do to compete. He's a dual threat, catching the ball out of
the backfield or running with it. He's a good blocker and a person who
should help them out tremendously the next few years.''
SHAWN FURLOW
The Pirates were also the first school to
extend a scholarship offer to Furlow, doing so in July 2013 between his
sophomore and junior years.
By then, Furlow had already been a
varsity regular at South Central for two seasons. He'd started the first
three games of his freshman season due to another player's injury, then took
over the full-time duties as a sophomore when he gained 1,154 yards rushing
on 113 carries. Highlighting those statistics was a 12-carry,
three-touchdown, 206-yard performance against West Carteret.
Furlow followed up by carrying 181 times
for 1,610 yards and 23 scores as a junior.
Other major programs like Clemson, Duke,
North Carolina and Syracuse made plays for Furlow, but ECU separated itself
from the pack because of a relationship he'd developed with the coaching
staff over the course of his high school career.
“I've been to every one of their home
games since I was a freshman,'' Furlow said. “I built a bond with their
coaches over that time. They did a lot of talking with me, and coming to see
me and that stood out to me.''
Furlow's path to football stardom has
been a winding one.
He was born in North Carolina, but when
his parents separated when Furlow was just three he moved to New York to
live with his father. He eventually returned to North Carolina at age six to
live with his mother briefly in Williamston.
The family moved to Greenville, then to
Richmond, VA, until finally returning to the Pitt County area when Furlow
was a sixth grader. A year later, he decided to start playing football.
“I love to run,'' Furlow said when asked
how he got started in the sport. “That was the thing that got me out (for
football). I was good at it immediately. The only thing that held me back as
a seventh grader was memorizing the plays. By the eighth grade, I had it all
down.''
Furlow's first season on the South
Central varsity was spent operating out of a Delaware Wing-T formation. But
the arrival of Tim Carter as head coach in his sophomore year prompted a
change to the spread attack.
Through the first six games of the 2014
season, Furlow has produced 826 yards rushing. His totals include a 300-yard
rushing performance against Hertford County.
“As a running back, I just read and
react,'' Furlow said. “That's how I'd describe myself. I go with what the
coaches tell me to do, then read and react.''
With Breon Allen scheduled to complete
his eligibility at the end of the 2014 season, and Chris Hairston and Cory
Hunter departing after 2015, Furlow and Mangus could be competing for
playing time as early as next season. Of course, they'll be joined in that
battle by Marquez Grayson and Anthony Scott in what should be a well-stocked
running back position for several seasons to come for ECU.
E-mail Sammy Batten
PAGE UPDATED
10/14/14 04:28 AM.
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