Are Cole and Lewis the most highly recruited players in all of SW Virginia ever? If not who? Remember these two kids have offers from Georgia, Alabama, Penn St, Ohio St., Notre Dame and about 30 other power 5 schools.
Just a question for everyone
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By the area SWVA is typically defined as, probably. One city/county over in a couple places (Danville and Lynchburg) would change things. Definitely been some talent to come from the area and the most recent would probably be 4* James Mitchell from Union who had Clemson, UGA, and a bunch of other SEC offers. Pre-Rivals era (20th century) things get murky in terms of offers and just the recruiting game in general back then.
Most definitely, but As onemorehokie stated, James Mitchell had some of those big offers The next in line would have to be Danville’s Covington Brothers (damn near every school in America wanted them) and David Wilson (had Auburn, Clemson, Michigan)..
If by SWVA you mean Botetourt County and west then, Gunner Givens was recruited as high as Cole and Lewis. He had offers from all of the same school's minus UGA. But Cole, Lewis, and Givens are probably the three highest recruited from SWVA in the past 50 years easily.
Now if you include east on Botetourt County (Bedford and Lynchburg) then there are others that could be added to the list as well
Now if you include east on Botetourt County (Bedford and Lynchburg) then there are others that could be added to the list as well
Danville isn't typically considered SWVA (the line usually stops at the Pittsylvania county border) but if it didn't Wilson would be the unquestioned answer here. Wilson was the #1 recruit in the state and just a few spots away from a 5*. His offer list was smaller for a few reasons, among them being no recruit was using Twitter in 2008 to announce all their offers as they'd just report what they could remember to recruiting reporters during an interview so recruits very often had many more offers than were listed on a website (same with Lewis but the difference is he's openly reporting the rest on Twitter). The other reasons are Wilson decided early (before early-NSD existed and the recruiting process in general sped up summer was considered an early decision) and he was a known heavy VT lean back when Frank got who he wanted from his backyard so other schools stayed away. Wilson would have been a take anywhere if he'd have showed interest in a specific school.
But yea, Danville and Lynchburg typically are not "officially" considered SWVA so that's why I strayed away or people like Wilson and Logan Thomas among a few others would be as high or higher than Lewis when it comes to recruiting profiles.
Good stuff. Thanks for the discussion.
A lot of those major programs who offered David Wilson wanted him to run track. Auburn recruited David the hardest. He and Michael Dyer would’ve shared the backfield during that 2010 National Championship run with Cam Newton. Many thought David was crazy when he stated he didn’t want to go to Auburn because he didn’t want to share a legacy with Bo Jackson. He made a great decision.. Hate the Hokies couldn’t win a ship with Logan and David.
We all probably have to think further west as well as considering that the recruiting landscape has changed both in terms of how offers now get announced and a different practice today compared to earlier times of commitable versus noncommittal offers. Thomas Jones and brother Julius to name two for starters are probably in that discussion. Without his unfortunate knee injury early on Marcus Parker is absolutely in the discussion. The farther back in time you go the more difficult, in comparison, the task becomes.
This thread isn't about GW and I do not want to hijack. Just FYI, the Covingtons had a lot of offers as did Jamie Harris and Ferrell Edmunds on that squad and Percy Moorman in a later class. You can go back a few more years to Dwight Parrish and Steve Hendrickson and a few more gets you to Buddy Curry and Kenny Lewis, Sr.. Going forward you get David Wilson as you said. In an earlier period was Tyrone Robertson and there are still a large number not mentioned. You go up 29 to Lynchburg and the conversation starts with Ric Volley and Mickey Fitzgerald but, there are a lot more names there as well.
Showing my age, but the likes of Jake Houseright from Gate City, as mentioned also the Jones brothers from Powell Valley, and the Stonega Stallion, Ed Clarke from Appalachia had offers from all across the country. Granted eons ago. He was a man among boys when he played.
Someone from Pulaski can speak to their '92 and '93 teams a lot better than me, but they had loads of D-1 talent all over the field. I'm pretty sure Dunnigan, Timmy Davis, and Shayne Graham all had multiple offers. Then you had Carl Lewis, Eaves, and Eric Webb who were bound to have some offers as well. They all played together on those squads that earned a state championship and if my memory serves me well, at one point a national ranking in USA Today. I was a freshman and sophomore at Northside and remember thinking they looked like a college team when we lined up against them.
That being said, Cole and Lewis are definitely the most recruited players from SWVA in which I am familiar. It's crazy that they're on the same team! If you add in Jaelyn Allen who probably is going to get some offers and Persinger who is just a step slower than Lewis, Salem is going to have a very special team this year. The only big question is O and D lines (although I think there is going to definitely be some improvement from last season).
That being said, Cole and Lewis are definitely the most recruited players from SWVA in which I am familiar. It's crazy that they're on the same team! If you add in Jaelyn Allen who probably is going to get some offers and Persinger who is just a step slower than Lewis, Salem is going to have a very special team this year. The only big question is O and D lines (although I think there is going to definitely be some improvement from last season).
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Any specific reason for feeling better about the lines? I haven’t heard anything. They did have some good looking sophomores last year.
Bodie Kahoun at PH is stacking offers at a clip similar to Cole but not Lewis.
From the way back machine, Mike Compton (Pitt then the NFL) out of Richlands was a huge recruit. So we’re Reuben Brown from Glass (Pitt then All Pro for the Bills) and Keith Hamilton from Heritage (Pitt then All Pro with the Giants).
Juan Thornhill from Altavista (UVA then 2x NFL champ with the Chiefs) ain’t doing too shabby either.
From the way back machine, Mike Compton (Pitt then the NFL) out of Richlands was a huge recruit. So we’re Reuben Brown from Glass (Pitt then All Pro for the Bills) and Keith Hamilton from Heritage (Pitt then All Pro with the Giants).
Juan Thornhill from Altavista (UVA then 2x NFL champ with the Chiefs) ain’t doing too shabby either.
I think Cole has as many offers and a few that Lewis does not. Notre Dame, Miami and Georgia
Allen is probably the sleeper prospect, actually kind of curious what's going on relative to the others. Chris Martin is going to get some looks as well. It's definitely going to be the most decorated recruiting class in Salem history by a country mile.
247 actually does have him top 30, both by their own rankings and in the composite. The composite is a trash ranking because all recruiting sites are not created equal. Some of them don't have the same manpower (which leads to poorer evals done quickly), some of them favor certain areas of the country. The composite only ever even begins to make sense at literally the last rankings. Early composites for some kids are often very bad because some sites haven't gotten around to evaluating them properly yet so their score for one of the sites can be complete trash and tank their composite ranking. For example, 247 has Lewis the #1 player in VA and ESPN has him as the #2 but Rivals still sees him as a 3* and only #11 in the state which dumps his composite ranking considerably when averaged out.
Cole's offer list is too good to stay that low on the rankings, he'll continue to rise until NSD. ESPN and Rivals are yet to even eval him, both 247 and on3 have him inside the top 30.
Auburn, Georgia, Notre Dame, Penn st, Miami, and another 25 or so power 5 schools is probably evidence that some of the ratings don't know very much
Not in the on3 Top 25 that I looked at today. DJ Tolivwr from LB is though. But honestly it’s obvious that a lot of these offers are coming from a bandwagon mentality and social media where one legit school or several offer a kid and an avalanche follows.
I actually don’t put any stock in rankings if they are unmoored from on field performance. I get Peyton Lewis as a huge recruit, I think the rest remains to be proven on the field.
I actually don’t put any stock in rankings if they are unmoored from on field performance. I get Peyton Lewis as a huge recruit, I think the rest remains to be proven on the field.
Make up your mind. First it was 247, now you want to talk about on3. Then it was a top 30, now you're talking top 25. Cherry pick whatever stat you want to make your argument work better but at least stick with it for god's sake.
Let's see. Do I trust that Notre Dame and Georgia did their due diligence in evaluating Cole or do I trust 247 and on3. Hmmmmm let me think on that for a while. OK, I think I pick the Notre Dame and Georgia evaluation. Duh
The Edmunds brothers David Wilson Herman Moore Buddy Curry Tiki and Ronde Barber
The Edmunds didn’t get many offers surprisingly. Trey and Tremaine maybe had 12 between them both. Terrell only had Hampton, VT and maybe Cincinnati. Maine did get an offer from Southern Cal. 75 million dollar man right now.
A lot of the rating services go by who has offered. Most of the time they are behind in their assessment. Often when a player signs with a certain school like Georgia their rating goes up. It's not like these rating services are evaluating the film of a thousand players. A much more reliable method is see which schools offer. They do evaluate film.
Chris Cole is now ranked #1 in the state on 247. Peyton Lewis down to #3
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2024 Top Football Recruits in Virginia
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I guess the new 247 ratings kind blew your argument to smithereens. Cole 1
Lewis 3. Boom
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You just changed the subject. Salem has a lot of talent in the skilled positions but they also have a lot of questions on the offensive and defensive line. Our discussion had to do with the ratings of Cole and Lewis. You questioned how good they were since the ratings at that time seemed rather disconnected to all the offers they were getting. I told you two things and they both have been proven accurate.
1. The best measure of a kids talent is see who is offering.
2. Rating services often trail behind by weeks or even months from the Coaches evaluation.
Since Cole is now rated 1 and Lewis 3 you have obviously been proven wrong.
Apparently you need a lot of education. The best measure is how they play and that exactly what all these schools do. They have coaches evaluate tape after tape. That's why when these two kids were getting offer after offer from power 5 schools it was just a matter of time before the rating services reflected that reality. You were told that weeks ago but refused to believe it . Now you just look silly.
You could have been thinking maybe I should wait until things get a little further along and see if there is more information that comes available. 😉
The number of offers the brothers received, particularly Tremaine, were affected by several things. The younger ones participated in a minimum number of the camps, it was widely and correctly presumed the younger brothers would follow big brother Trey and both the younger ones committed early in the process. Really the only thing that didn't work out for those guys was the injury bug biting Trey. They are outstanding young men. Danville is lucky they remember where they came from and had the powers that be in Danville had a thimble full of sense they would have done whatever necessary to ensure the brothers did not end up at Dan River. Those idiots screwed both the GW football and basketball programs.
I agree Cut. Trey was on the cusp being great. Remember, Trey had that 78 yard touchdown run against Bama who won the ship that year. Ferrell raised some outstanding and humble young men. I grew up with those guys and Ferrell and Mrs. Edmunds didn’t allow them to eat candy, limited video games and TV, didn’t allow them to hang with any and everyone. All had over a 3.2 GPA. That’s why those guys are making millions. The thing about the Danville boys, whether it’s the Covingtons, Edmunds, David Wilson, Johnny Newman, Malik Clements, etc, they are all down to earth and great guys.
Most certainly to your last point. GW wins at least 3 Triple A state championships in basketball and football, combined, if the Edmunds don’t go to Dan River. They took a lot of talent out of GW to Dan River from 2009-2015. Those 2009 and 2010 GW basketball teams win states those years with Trey. GW was #1 in Triple A both years and Trey led DR to the big game both of those years. That 2008 GW football team with David Wilson and Tahron Goods, wins the state championship that year with Trey playing QB and safety. Should’ve could’ve would’ve now..
I am not going as far as to predict state championships, not that it might not have happened. The real payoff, in my opinion, is there likely would have been a big change in the trajectory of not only the high school programs but, the feeder programs and pipelines as well from competitive, culture and work ethic perspectives. This opinion is formed from knowing the family for over 45 years.
Only reason David Wilson wasn't a 5* is because he committed early and committed to VT. He does the camp circuit and commits to a blueblood like 2000s Texas, he's an easy 5*. Only back for sure better in that class was Trent Richardson. Rivals hated a VT blue chip, they'd do everything in their power to drop them. Tyrod's stock fell all year, he was nearly not a 5* and same happened to Macho Harris, he ended up the very last 5*. Logan Thomas got screwed out of his fifth star because of the VT commit, they had him as a TE the entire year despite always being QB at Brookville and had no problem with him being a 5* and the #1 TE prospect in the country. He commits in November, Rivals drops him 50 spots in the last ranking despite still being the #1 TE prospect.
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It’s just conjecture I’m speaking, but I truly believe that Trey would’ve taken those teams to the next level. Dan River had never ever been competitive in anything other than softball and baseball. Trey’s freshman year he scored 20 points and Dan River almost beat the #1 Triple A team in VA (GW) in the shootout. GW blew a 7 point lead with 2 minutes left in the state semi’s to King’s Fork that year.. They’re not blowing that lead nor losing to Fleming 4 times that year with Edmunds. Trey was one of the most decorated players in our area, I’d argue more than David just because of the Edmunds’ name. I understand what you’re saying about the trajectory of the program. GW is still seeing the fallout of not hiring Ferrell.
2009. GW lost in the state semis to King’s Fork; Fleming lost in the state championship to KF.
Edmunds was the 2nd leading scorer that year as a freshman and they lost to Radford in the state championship game.
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