Football Recruiting
Report Wednesday, July 29, 2015
By Sammy Batten |
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Pirates lure RB from familiar program
By
Sammy Batten ©2015 Bonesville.net All rights reserved.
Recruiting Class of 2016 Thumbnail Sketches...
Johnnie Glaspie has been clear on his
college destination for more than two months, but he was waiting for the
right time to make it public.
The dynamic running back for the
reigning North Carolina state 1-AA champion Wallace-Rose Hill Bulldogs
decided that time had arrived on July 20 when he made a verbal
commitment to play for the East Carolina Pirates.
Glaspie's decision followed by one
week the decision of his teammate, running back-cornerback
Keyshawn Canady, to choose the
Pirates. But in reality it was the 5-foot-11, 180-pound Glaspie, who
actually decided on ECU first, according to WRH head coach Joey Price.
“Johnnie always knew he was going to
commit to East Carolina,'' Price said. “He was just waiting for a day
when his Mom could go up and visit the campus. That was last week while
we were at the (N.C. high school) coaches' clinic.''
Glaspie became solidly sold on
becoming a Pirate back in April when he and Canady made an unofficial
visit to Greenville and dropped by ECU's spring practice. The duo got
the red-carpet treatment from ECU head coach Ruffin McNeill.
McNeill's folksy, down-to-Earth
personality appealed to Canady and Glaspie.
“They were the only ones on campus,''
Price said. “Coach McNeill really made an impression. He let them know
he would look out for them and make them part of a family.
“I think Coach McNeill can identify
with Johnnie because he's from a small town in this part of the state,
too. He and Johnnie really hit it off.''
The connection with McNeill led to
Glaspie choosing ECU over offers from Appalachian State, Charlotte,
North Carolina, Wake Forest and West Virginia.
Glaspie's emergence as a college
prospect occurred a bit later than Canady. Price first noticed him in
middle school, but it wasn't until he was a sophomore at Wallace-Rose
Hill that Glaspie began to show his potential.
“The one thing we did recognize early
on was his speed,'' Price said. “You can't coach speed, but you can
recognize it anywhere. So we noticed his speed in middle school, but it
wasn't like we were expecting him to play for East Carolina or Wake
Forest some day.
“As a matter of fact, it wasn't until
last year he finally came into his own and showed he could play at the
next level. About midway through the season he really turned things
around.''
After toiling for the Wallace-Rose
Hill junior varsity, Glaspie really made a major impact as a safety on
defense during his sophomore year on the varsity. He collected 76
tackles, 8.5 tackles for loss and made seven interceptions, while also
picking up 306 yards and six touchdowns rushing on 31 attempts playing
offense.
But as promising as those results
were, Glaspie still had some maturing to do as his junior year unfolded.
Despite some impressive performances on both sides of the ball, Glaspie
was suspended for a game by Price due to a “bad attitude.'' Glaspie sat
out an October 17 game against Midway, but returned a week later
determined to prove himself.
“We had a come to Jesus meeting,''
Price said. “After that, it turned around.''
Canady and Glaspie would spearhead a
second-half run to the state 1-AA title for Wallace-Rose Hill. Glaspie,
who has been timed at 4.4 seconds in the 40-yard dash, would amass 1,040
yards and 23 touchdowns on 110 carries as a running back, pile up almost
500 yards in return yards and make 69 tackles, eight tackles for loss
and two sacks on defense.
The effort earned him first-team
All-Area honors from the Wilmington Star-News.
When the Bulldogs needed Glaspie the
most, he came through in a big way during the final two games of the
season.
In a 34-31 state semifinal victory
against area rival James Kenan, Glaspie racked up 231 yards rushing and
four touchdowns. He followed that up by rushing for two scores and
returning a kickoff 73 yards for another touchdown in a 34-21 state
championship win against Starmount. Glaspie finished with 113 yards
rushing to earn game most valuable player honors.
“In that game against James Kenan he
broke off a 75-yard run,'' Price said. “I don't know that I've had two
or three kids who could have made that same run. He just broke about two
ankles and then ran away from them.''
Price compares Glaspie's running
style to one of his former players at South Columbus High School,
Antonie Nealy, who wound up playing safety for ECU 2003.
“Antonie was a national recruit,
too,'' Price said. “They (Nealy and Glaspie) have lot of similarities in
style. They are both long and lean athletes.''
Price noted the Pirates are getting
two competitive, hard-working athletes in Canady and Glaspie along with
the support of the Wallace-Rose Hill community.
“They are part of a competitive
senior class,'' Price said. “They're liable to fight each other about
who had the most yards on a Friday night … and I'm talking a real fist
fight. They grew up like that, competing with one another.
“East Carolina is getting two good
kids who'll play hard for them. They're also going to get a lot of
support from our community. There is already a lot of purple-and-gold
fans around here. Now I think they'll be even more.''
Glaspie is the lone running back in
ECU's
recruiting class of 2016, which
now numbers 10 players.
E-mail Sammy Batten
PAGE UPDATED
07/29/15 02:01 AM.
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