Football Recruiting
Report
Thursday, May 28, 2015
By Sammy Batten |
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Injury brought ECU, Herrin together
By
Sammy Batten
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Recruiting Class of 2016 Thumbnail Sketches...
Showing loyalty when others shied away
helped the East Carolina football coaching staff land its latest prospect
for the recruiting class of 2016.
The Pirates received their third verbal
commitment from a rising high school senior late last week from Saluda, SC,
offensive lineman Cortez Herrin. Herrin, a 6-foot-4, 320-pounder, chose ECU
over scholarship offers from Football Championship Subdivision programs N.C.
Central and South Carolina State.
Those schools were joined in pursuit of
Herrin last winter by Clemson and South Carolina. But the interest from the
Tigers and Gamecocks lessened somewhat when Herrin suffered an ACL tear in
his knee five games into Saluda's basketball season. The injury, and the
fact that Herrin had only one season of varsity football under his belt at
Saluda caused the in-state schools to take a “wait-and-see'' attitude in
regards to his recruitment.
East Carolina, however, took a different
approach. After having Herrin on campus in April and discussing his injury
thoroughly with Saluda head coach Stewart Young, the Pirates extended a
scholarship offer on May 7.
It came as no surprise to Young that
Herrin accepted the ECU offer.
“Why did he choose East Carolina? It's a
real simple answer to be honest,'' Young said. “Before he tore his ACL he
was getting recruited heavily by in-state schools, and I'm talking Clemson
and South Carolina. But after the injury everybody slowed down on him
because of the knee and because we didn't have a lot of film on him since
he'd only played his junior year. They all wanted to wait and see him at
their (summer) camps.
“East Carolina jumped on him and gave him
their word they'd give him a scholarship and would honor it. They knew he'd
get healthy. We had some long talks about it and he kept saying he wanted to
go to ECU because 'they believe in me.' I said, 'OK, let's make the
commitment.' ''
Herrin is already well ahead on his road
to recovery, according to Young. He had surgery in January and wasn't to be
cleared to work out with no restrictions until August 1. But that date has
now been shifted back to July 1.
“He's ahead of schedule,'' Young said.
“He's running, cutting, jumping over small hurdles and everything. He's
getting back to his form.''
It was that form and size that caught
Young's eye when Herrin and older brother Cedric showed up for the start of
Saluda's preseason practice in August 2012. The pair had transferred in from
another school and made an immediate impact on the Saluda program as
defensive linemen.
But after an impressive freshman season,
Cortez stepped away from the gridiron as a sophomore in 2013.
“We knew he was something special after
his ninth-grade year,'' Young said. “But issues – nothing serious – kept him
away from football. It actually ended up being a good thing for him. He came
back last year with renewed energy and spirit. He became a team leader for
us.''
Young used Herrin exclusively on the
defensive line for the first three games of the 2014 season. He played both
nose tackle and end alongside his brother, who would later earn a spot in
South Carolina's annual North-South All-Star game.
But after determining the Tigers had
plenty of depth on the defensive line and were in need of help on the
offensive line, Young inserted Herrin into the starting lineup at guard as
well.
“We played a small school in South
Carolina, McCormick, in our fourth game,'' Young said. “We plugged him in
there at guard and he came out of that game with 14 pancake blocks. I said,
'Wow! We're going to keep him on offense.'
“He played on both sides of the ball from
then on out. He was in shape to do it. But we used him so much on defense I
don't know if he really was at his best. He'll be a whole lot better when he
plays one way.''
Young said Herrin doesn't rely on size
alone to get the job done.
“He's very athletic,'' he said. “Before
the knee injury he could dunk a basketball. He's a big kid who moves like a
cat.''
The Pirates are expected to use the “Big
Cat'' as an offensive guard, although Young believes he's versatile enough
to play multiple positions.
“He's focused squarely on offense in
college, but the intriguing thing about it is some of the other schools
recruited him to play defense,'' Young said. “But right now East Carolina is
looking at him strictly on the offensive line. He has a guard body, but he
can move so in our league we use him as a tackle, too.
“With the offense East Carolina runs, I'm
not sure where they'll put him. He could be a center with his frame.''
Young said he expects more schools to
start engaging Herrin in recruiting talk next fall after getting a look at
him during the 2015 season. But he's just as sure Herrin will remain
committed to the school that was loyal to him from the start.
“I think his recruiting will blow up
after a few games next year,'' Young said. “But I'm convinced he's a man of
his word and he'll stick with East Carolina.''
Herrin joins
quarterback Reid Herring from
Raleigh, NC, and
wide receiver Tajh Deans from Bailey,
NC, as prep players in ECU's recruiting class. The Pirates also have a
commitment from
junior college
wide receiver Dre Massey, who first signed with ECU out of
Mauldin (SC) High School in February 2014. Massey is currently on the team
at Holmes (MS) Community College.
E-mail Sammy Batten
PAGE UPDATED
05/28/15 01:46 PM.
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