D’Anta Johnson has gone from ballboy to superstar for the Dinwiddie County (VA) High School football team. Next fall, Johnson hopes to make the leap from prep standout to major college contributor at East Carolina. The 6-foot-2, 275-pound defensive tackle made a verbal commitment to the Pirates on Halloween during a ceremony at Dinwiddie’s auditorium.… [ More… ]

Playing in a Greensboro Page program that won 25 games and reached the state 4-AA finals once in his first two seasons, C.J. Crump didn’t emerge as a major college football prospect until his junior year. But while recruiting Page safety Alex Angus last season, the East Carolina coaching staff quickly recognized the height, range… [ More… ]

East Carolina wasn’t really a school on Xavier McIver’s recruiting radar when he decided to accompany his Cheraw (SC) High wide receiver teammate Jalen Coit to Greenville for a Junior Day function last March. The Pirates had extended a scholarship offer in January to the 6-foot-1 1/2, 290-pound McIver, a defensive tackle starter for Cheraw… [ More… ]

Chris Tolbert was working as defensive coordinator at Louisburg, a junior college north of Raleigh, back in the fall of 2015 when Larrell Murchison showed up for preseason practice. Murchison had been a two-way star at East Bladen High in Elizabethown, splitting time between fullback in a Delaware Wing-T offense and end on defense. Despite… [ More… ]

W.D. Woodson High School in Washington, D.C., has a well-earned reputation for producing big-time secondary talent. Currently, the school located just East of the White House and the U.S. Capital building has three defensive backs on National Football League rosters. They include eight-year veteran safety Tavon Wilson with the Detroit Lions, fourth-year cornerback Ken Crawley… [ More… ]

David Laney thought his destiny was to play quarterback when he arrived as a freshman at Highland Springs High School just East of Richmond, VA. Laney had played under center since recreation ball, but as a sophomore at state powerhouse Highland Springs he lost a quarterback competition with then-junior D’Vonte Waller. Fate, however, intervened for… [ More… ]

Eric Doctor wasn’t well acquainted with East Carolina football on May 1 when the Pirates extended a scholarship offer to the linebacker-safety from Edgewater High in Orlando, FL. “Their coaches had come around during our spring (practice),” Doctor said. “I didn’t know much about them other than seeing them on TV a couple of times… [ More… ]