Football Recruiting Report
Wednesday, May 9, 2012
By
Sammy Batten |
![](../../../../images/StaffPix/SammyBatten_62x106.jpg) |
Pirates reel in
a big catch in Smith
Mammoth
lineman shuns budding attention from other suitors
By
Sammy Batten
©2012 Bonesville.net
All rights reserved.
East Carolina may have
scored the biggest in-state recruit of the entire year last weekend. And
“biggest'' is exactly the way to describe 6-foot-7 1/2, 330-pound
Brandon Smith.
An offensive lineman at East
Forsyth High School in Kernersville, NC, Smith cut short what was shaping up
to be an intense recruiting battle for his services by making a verbal
commitment to the Pirates.
Clemson, Connecticut, North
Carolina, N.C. State, Vanderbilt, Virginia and Wake Forest were just some of
the programs showing interest in Smith after he earned All-Piedmont Triad
4-A Conference honors for a 9-3 club. But most of those schools wanted to
see Smith perform in person at their summer camps before offering
scholarships, while East Carolina was the first to come through with a grant
back in late February.
“I would say a lot of people
wanted him to come to camp and do a bunch of stuff,'' East Forsyth coach
Todd Willert said. “He didn't want to do all that. He wanted to go to a team
that truly believed in him like East Carolina. I'm sure he would have
gathered more offers, but he didn't want to go through that circus every
weekend all summer at camps. He decided to be loyal to the guys who wanted
him right away at East Carolina.''
The East Carolina staff began
initial contact with Smith last season through defensive coordinator Brian
Mitchell, who recruits the Winston-Salem area for the Pirates. Mitchell then
introduced Smith and Willert to offensive line coach Brandon Jones.
“We got to talking and they
told us they'd watch Brandon on film and get back to us,'' Willert said.
“They came back pretty quickly with an offer. They've been consistent with
Brandon. They've been very caring with his Mom., too.
“Brandon, his mother and I sat
down last week and we asked him a bunch of questions. His answers made the
decision feel right. He called Coach Mitchell and told him ECU was the place
he wanted to be.''
Offensive line has become a
real priority for the Pirates in the wake of the 2011 season. Due to
numerous injuries in the blocking corps, ECU was constantly shuffling its
lineup all year, resulting in inconsistent performances.
So the Pirates are anxious to
not only improve their depth on the offensive front, but they're trying to
prepare for the graduation of seven scholarship blockers over the next two
seasons.
Smith has been recruited to
play tackle by ECU, although for most of his career at East Forsyth he's
played guard.
Due to his height and the fact
that Forsyth County schools don't offer middle school football, Smith didn't
actually begin playing for an organized team until the ninth grade.
“We heard all the stories
about this big kid over at the middle school,'' Willert said. “But when you
first see him you are kind of taken aback a little bit because he was so big
from the start.
“We knew it would take him
some time to develop because of the mere fact we don't have middle school
football here. When we got Brandon, it was basically his first year ever
playing organized rules. And a lot of big kids go through a very big
learning curve anyway. So we played him on the junior varsity as a
freshman.''
Smith remained on the JVs
through most of his sophomore year, too, before earning a late-season
promotion to the varsity where he started several games. He moved into the
starting lineup at guard as a junior.
Willert likes to use his
offensive guards to pull and trap. Because Smith is so big and athletic, he
became the perfect player to lead East Forsyth runners through the holes.
“For his size, he's very
mobile,'' Willert said. “He has a size 18 foot, so he has to work hard to
keep those bad boys moving. But once he gets going you better be careful and
not get in his way.
“There were a couple of plays
last year, just on traps, when he got that 6-7 1/2, 320-pound body going
that he just punished people. He understands how to do that (trap) and how
to get his body in the right position.''
Smith will shift to tackle as
a senior due to a change in East Forsyth's offensive scheme. Willert
believes Smith could excel there or at guard for ECU in the future.
“I think he can play anywhere,
besides center,'' Willert said. “I think his versatility is something the
East Carolina coaches like about him.''
Smith plays for the same East
Forsyth program that produced North Carolina offensive lineman David Collins
and former Atlantic Coast Conference Rookie of the Year Danny O'Brien at
Maryland. O'Brien, a quarterback, recently transferred to Wisconsin for his
final two college seasons.
The commitment from Smith
increases ECU's recruiting Class of 2013 to five. Smith is the second
offensive lineman to make a pledge, joining Havelock's
Malcolm Ashley. Four of the
Pirates' five commitments are from in-state prospects.
E-mail Sammy Batten
PAGE UPDATED
05/09/12 04:00 AM.
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