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Two more quarterbacks choose Tigers
Nick Deriso
nderiso@thenewsstar.com
January 29, 2004
Verbal commitments from two more quarterbacks come in the wake of an Internet-based report that a key prospect may be wavering on Grambling State.
If Larry Kerlegan of LaMarque (Texas) High - ranked No. 11 nationwide among Rivals.com's dual-threat quarterbacks - decides to go elsewhere, the Tigers can now count on McCall (Tallulah) High's Brandon Gultery or Westbury (Houston, Texas) High's Mike Nichols.
Kerlegan - who was also being recruited by Texas A&M, Syracuse and Texas A&M - was GSU's second verbal commitment at quarterback, after Carroll High's Brandon Landers.
Landers was honored last month by The News-Star as the Bert Jones Offensive Player of the Year on the 2003 Glenwood SportsCare All-Northeast Louisiana football team.
This year's prospects will vie for a spot behind senior Bruce Eugene, a Walter Payton award finalist at Grambling State. Eugene's backup, Gary Cooper, was granted his release after the 2003 season.
"I would love to be there a year to see how Bruce Eugene develops," Gultery said. "For me to sit and watch and learn, whenever I get my chance, I'll make the most of it."
Gultery - who is 5-10, 160 pounds - passed for more than 100 yards in his first two games as a starter, something all the more impressive in a rush-first scheme like McCall's.
"What I've been wanting to do, I can finally get a chance to do. At McCall, we did nothing but run," Gultery said.
He finished the year with 2,218 yards, completing 64.1 percent of his passes, said McCall coach Levi Washington - a former Grambling State standout who earned induction into the Southwestern Athletic Conference Hall of Fame in 1998.
"He was the only returning senior we had," Washington said. "But he still gave us a chance to win nine or 10 ballgames by himself. He carried us on his shoulders."
Gultery - who passed for 22 touchdowns and ran for six more - is joined by Nichols, ranked No. 38 on The Insiders Top 100 of Texas prospects.
"I thought it was a good opportunity, because Grambling is a school where they pass the ball," Nichols said. "I was born to be a quarterback. That's my job."
Still, at 6-5 and 220 pounds Nichols is big enough that the InsideTexas recruiting Web site said he could "also play tight end, linebacker or defensive end on the next level."
Nichols said he was particularly pleased to learn under the watchful eye of head coach Doug Williams.
"People were talking about him and how he played and the connections he has. That's what really baited me," said Nichols, who earned second-team All-District 18-5 honors this season. "He played quarterback in the NFL and won the Super Bowl and the MVP - people know that. He's going to look out for me."
SuperPrep listed Nichols as 90th out of the Top 100 prospects in the entire Big 12 region. He was also recruited by Missouri, Purdue and Tyler Junior College, he said.
Hills heads to GSU: Grambling State also received a verbal commitment at wide receiver from Clinton High's Kovarus Hills, an All-Metro Baton Rouge selection as a junior.
"I've been going to their camps since I've been 12 or 13," the 5-9, 180-pound Hills told The (Baton Rouge) Advocate. "It just feels like home to me because I've been going there every summer for a while now. Some of the coaches feel like my uncles."
Hills, who also received interest from Southern and McNeese State, caught more than 40 passes for 900 yards and 14 TDs as a junior - earning All-District 8-2A honors. His receiving numbers leveled off during his senior year, however, when Hills was forced to fill in for three games at quarterback.
?The News-Star
January 29, 2004
Nick Deriso
nderiso@thenewsstar.com
January 29, 2004
Verbal commitments from two more quarterbacks come in the wake of an Internet-based report that a key prospect may be wavering on Grambling State.
If Larry Kerlegan of LaMarque (Texas) High - ranked No. 11 nationwide among Rivals.com's dual-threat quarterbacks - decides to go elsewhere, the Tigers can now count on McCall (Tallulah) High's Brandon Gultery or Westbury (Houston, Texas) High's Mike Nichols.
Kerlegan - who was also being recruited by Texas A&M, Syracuse and Texas A&M - was GSU's second verbal commitment at quarterback, after Carroll High's Brandon Landers.
Landers was honored last month by The News-Star as the Bert Jones Offensive Player of the Year on the 2003 Glenwood SportsCare All-Northeast Louisiana football team.
This year's prospects will vie for a spot behind senior Bruce Eugene, a Walter Payton award finalist at Grambling State. Eugene's backup, Gary Cooper, was granted his release after the 2003 season.
"I would love to be there a year to see how Bruce Eugene develops," Gultery said. "For me to sit and watch and learn, whenever I get my chance, I'll make the most of it."
Gultery - who is 5-10, 160 pounds - passed for more than 100 yards in his first two games as a starter, something all the more impressive in a rush-first scheme like McCall's.
"What I've been wanting to do, I can finally get a chance to do. At McCall, we did nothing but run," Gultery said.
He finished the year with 2,218 yards, completing 64.1 percent of his passes, said McCall coach Levi Washington - a former Grambling State standout who earned induction into the Southwestern Athletic Conference Hall of Fame in 1998.
"He was the only returning senior we had," Washington said. "But he still gave us a chance to win nine or 10 ballgames by himself. He carried us on his shoulders."
Gultery - who passed for 22 touchdowns and ran for six more - is joined by Nichols, ranked No. 38 on The Insiders Top 100 of Texas prospects.
"I thought it was a good opportunity, because Grambling is a school where they pass the ball," Nichols said. "I was born to be a quarterback. That's my job."
Still, at 6-5 and 220 pounds Nichols is big enough that the InsideTexas recruiting Web site said he could "also play tight end, linebacker or defensive end on the next level."
Nichols said he was particularly pleased to learn under the watchful eye of head coach Doug Williams.
"People were talking about him and how he played and the connections he has. That's what really baited me," said Nichols, who earned second-team All-District 18-5 honors this season. "He played quarterback in the NFL and won the Super Bowl and the MVP - people know that. He's going to look out for me."
SuperPrep listed Nichols as 90th out of the Top 100 prospects in the entire Big 12 region. He was also recruited by Missouri, Purdue and Tyler Junior College, he said.
Hills heads to GSU: Grambling State also received a verbal commitment at wide receiver from Clinton High's Kovarus Hills, an All-Metro Baton Rouge selection as a junior.
"I've been going to their camps since I've been 12 or 13," the 5-9, 180-pound Hills told The (Baton Rouge) Advocate. "It just feels like home to me because I've been going there every summer for a while now. Some of the coaches feel like my uncles."
Hills, who also received interest from Southern and McNeese State, caught more than 40 passes for 900 yards and 14 TDs as a junior - earning All-District 8-2A honors. His receiving numbers leveled off during his senior year, however, when Hills was forced to fill in for three games at quarterback.
?The News-Star
January 29, 2004
