Football Recruiting
Report
Thursday, May 7, 2015
By Sammy Batten |
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Ruff wins over star recruit and mom
By
Sammy Batten
©2015 Bonesville.net
All rights reserved.
Recruiting Class of 2016 Thumbnail Sketches...
Brian Foster has worked at Southern Nash
High School in Bailey, NC, for so long he's coaching the children of his
former athletes.
One of those is the latest star football
player for the FireBirds and newest member of East Carolina's recruiting
Class of 2016.
Southern Nash's Tahj Deans, a 6-foot-2,
180-pound wide receiver, became the second high school player to make a
verbal commitment to ECU's 2016 class on Tuesday after returning from an
unofficial visit to campus last weekend. Deans made the trip to Greenville
with his mother, Shavonnie, and both were sold on the Pirates after a
face-to-face meeting with ECU head coach Ruffin McNeill.
“Coach McNeill is such a real, genuine
person,'' Deans said Wednesday. “He reminds me of Coach Foster because he's
like a second dad to so many kids on campus. I love being around a coach
like that.''
That's quite a compliment for McNeill
since Deans has been around Foster almost since birth.
Foster actually coached Shavonnie in
track and field at Southern Nash and he's been tracking Tahj's progress on
the football field since his youth-league days.
“Shavonnie was a middle distance runner
for us,'' Foster said. “We had a really good track team back then, and we
won a lot of conference and regional championships when she was here.
“Tahj has played in our youth program
here since he was 7. I've known him since he was a baby. He's a talented kid
and pretty much has been his whole life. It's been fun watching him grow and
mature.''
Deans saw limited action on the Southern
Nash varsity as a freshman before landing a starting job at wide receiver
and safety as a sophomore. He made 19 catches for 308 yards and three
touchdowns on offense in the FireBirds' run-oriented Wing-T offense, while
also collecting 42 tackles and two interceptions on defense.
The Rocky Mount Telegram newspaper named
Deans to its 2014 All-Area squad on defense after he made 63 tackles and
three picks as a junior. He also grabbed 21 receptions for 348 yards and
three scores.
The talent Deans displayed in his first
two varsity seasons at Southern Nash caught the attention of not only the
Pirates, but Appalachian State, Georgia Southern, Virginia Tech and Wake
Forest as well. All those schools offered him scholarships, and the Demon
Deacons made a strong play for his services during an on-campus visit the
weekend before he came to Greenville.
But Deans chose instead to attend ECU and
pursue a football career, which wasn't always his intent. He originally
fancied himself a basketball player, and has indeed been a good one for the
FireBirds since joining the varsity as a sophomore. Deans averaged 9.6
points and 6.4 rebounds as a junior on the hardcourt.
“As a kid, I'll be honest, I really
wasn't the type to play football,'' Deans said. “I thought I'd be more of a
basketball player. I didn't like the contact and all that (in football). But
I had some older family members in the pee wee tackle leagues who told me,
'Hey man, you're tall for your age and that'll help you in football.'
“So I started with flag football, then
made the decision to go ahead and try tackle football later. Since then,
everything has just taken off.''
Deans is following in some pretty
imposing family footsteps on the football field. His father, DeAngelo,
played NCAA Division II football in Georgia and his cousin is none other
than former North Carolina All-American and NFL All-Pro defensive end Julius
Peppers.
Peppers doesn't come home often, and when
he does he never makes a big deal of it.
“When he comes home it's pretty quiet,''
Deans said. “You wouldn't even know he's here unless you drive by his Dad's
house and see him there, or he drops by to see Coach Foster at the school.''
Like his famous cousin, Deans has
displayed a knack for playing great defense at Southern Nash. In fact,
Foster came up with two defensive gems turned in by Deans last season as the
best examples of the type of athlete who'll be joining the Pirates.
“He had an interception against (Wilson)
Fike that was a very big deal for us,'' Foster said. “He came from a long
distance to get to the ball, and we ended up beating them in a big game at
the time for us.
“Then we played Swansboro in the state
playoffs. He came out of nowhere to make a one-handed interception. It
looked like he was playing center field in baseball instead of football.''
The Pirates have committed to using Deans
at receiver to start his college career. By the time he arrives on campus in
the fall of 2016, Deans hopes to be ready to compete for playing time very
quickly.
“You throw it and I'll go get it,'' Deans
said in describing his style as a receiver. “I think I can do a combination
of things. I can go get the deep ball, but then again if you need a short,
fast route, I can do that, too.''
Deans is the second high school player to
join ECU's Class of 2016. He follows
Raleigh Millbrook quarterback Reid Herring,
who committed back on April 18.
E-mail Sammy Batten
PAGE UPDATED
05/07/15 03:07 PM.
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