Menchville’s Richardson To Take Official Visits
by Andy Hilton, recruit757
Clifton Richardson (Photo: Andy Hilton/recruit757.com)
Clifton Richardson has been touted as one of the jewels in Coach Mike London’s 2011 class at Virginia. When Richardson (QB/FS 6-1 195)committed to Virginia back in March, the buzz was significant. Richardson was one of London’s first blue chip verbals in the 2011 class. At the time, his commitment was a hot topic and has since been clarified as a soft verbal.
In recruiting parlance, a soft verbal is hardly a commitment. In fact, a verbal commitment isn’t truly a commitment but it is a non-binding agreement between the college program and the player. A soft verbal means, “I really like you and I plan on coming there, but I might change my mind.”
In other words, Virginia plans on having Clifton Richardson as part of their 2011 class. Clifton Richardson plans to be there, most likely.
That being said, he’s still going to see what else is out there. We caught up to Richardson last night at the Grassfield scrimmage, and he’s still looking around.
“I’m going to make my final decision soon. I’m going to take some official visits and make my decision after that.” Richardson then went on to list the schools he plans to visit. “Tennessee, West Virginia, Maryland, UVA and probably South Florida. I like Virginia because of the coaching staff. They’re going to turn that program around,” said Richardson. Clearly, he’s impressed with Coach London and his efforts to rebuild the Cavalier Football program.
West Virginia also has his eye. “I like Chris Beatty. He’s a great running back coach.” Richardson would obviously fit the mold as a speedy slot receiver or running back in the Mountaineer program.
”With Tennessee, I just met the new coach a few months ago. Coach Chaney’s a good guy.” Playing in the SEC and joining Ocean Lakes wide receiver Justin Hunter at Tennessee would be appealing to Richardson. Tennessee has a bit of rebuilding to do as well, but unlike Virginia, Tennessee hasn’t suffered losing seasons and may make a quicker recovery in spite of playing tougher competition.
Richardson went on to speak positively about Coach Tom Brattan at Maryland and Coach Skip Holtz at South Florida. “I’m going plan to visit them too. I’m going to try to take all my visits and make my decision in the fall.”
While Virginia is still a strong possibility for Richardson, he’s definitely going to look around and be sure of his decision.
Academically, Richardson still has some work to do. He has to take a few more classes that will help him with his core GPA and he plans to take the SAT in September. From there he’ll know where he stands with the NCAA Clearinghouse. Richardson remains confident about qualifying and is determined to stay focused on the field and off the field. “I had a rough night tonight, but I’m going to work that out and cut out the mistakes.” Richardson fumbled the ball a few times while at quarterback Monday night.
His Menchville team will need the best Clifton Richardson they can get on Friday nights. His college choices are looking forward to a focused and ready Clifton Richardson on Saturday afternoons. That will come soon enough.
WVU Works Hampton Roads Through Beatty
Jay Parchman, Contributing Correspondent
Chris Beatty (courtesy WVU Sports)
If you monitored high school football in Hampton Roads in the mid-2000s, you certainly remember the name of Chris Beatty. Beatty had success as the head coach at Salem High before moving to the same position at Landstown High School. It was at LHS where Coach Beatty really made his mark leading the Eagles to three state championship game appearances and one title.
Now the recruiting coordinator at West Virginia, Coach Beatty has made “home” a prime recruiting priority. Already this year, WVU is in double digits for scholarship offers to local players. Unfortunately for the Mountaineers, several have already committed to Atlantic Coast Conference schools. Those include three to Virginia: Clifton Richardson (Menchville), Caleb Taylor (Phoebus), David Watford (Hampton), and David Dean (Green Run). In addition, Daquan Romero of Phoebus is a North Carolina commitment.
It appears that Mike London’s arrival at Virginia has impacted WVU’s effectiveness with local players. However, it would still be a mild surprise if WVU is shut out since there are several outstanding offers to prime area players such as Travis Hughes of Kempsville (LB 6-1 230), Quinta Funderburk of Oscar Smith (WR 6-5 205) and Demetrius Nicholson of Bayside (WR/DB 5-11 170). All three of those players have double digit scholarship offers. Hughes and Nicholson have kept their recruitment open to this point, but Funderburk recently narrowed his list to five: West Virginia, Florida, Michigan, Penn State and Arkansas. Outside of WVU, there’s not a regional school in the bunch for Funderburk.
Expect to see the Mountaineers offer more local players as Coach Beatty understands firsthand the quality and depth of talent that exists here. WVU’s commitment list is only around five players right now, so they’ll have the room to add.
Beatty made a splash with the 2009 class in obtaining signatures from three local players: Shawne Alston and Domenik Davenport of Phoebus and Logan Heastie of Great Bridge. Though Davenport and Heastie have departed Morgantown, their signings did make a buzz that carries over. WVU is also recruiting other parts of the Old Dominion.
WVU is hot after prized prospect Lafonte Thourogood, Quarterback at Ocean Lakes High School. His style of play would seemingly be a natural in Morgantown. As we have reported, David Watford, QB at Hampton committed to Virginia this past weekend. Without defections at UVa or position reassignments, this would have to work in WVU’s favor in recruiting Thourogood. As it stands now, UVa looks to have a glut of young QBs.
Thourogood has already announced that he’s narrowed his list, leaving just two others in competition with Arkansas and Virginia Tech. Though Arkansas can offer a spot to play in the Southeastern Conference, arguably the best college football conference in the nation, Fayetteville, AR is well over 1,000 miles from home. Logically speaking, it looks like a Hokies vs. Mountaineers battle that was a classic rivalry on the field when Tech was still a member of the Big East. Thourogood might be tempted to play far from home, but the smart money would be on a team closer to home.
- Jay Parchman
Reading Between The Lines on Watford, Thourogood Recruitment
QB Lafonte Thourogood of Ocean Lakes (Photo: Andy Hilton/recruit757.com)
At first, you might think the two players are unconnected. One is the star quarterback for the Hampton Crabbers, playing in the Peninsula District. The other is the star quarterback for the Ocean Lakes Dolphins, playing in the Beach District. Look closer.
Both David Watford of Hampton and Lafonte Thourogood of Ocean Lakes are rising seniors. Both have been courted and offered by multiple colleges. Watford’s offer list includes Virginia, Virginia Tech and West Virginia. Thourogood claims offers from Tennessee, Arkansas, UNC, NC State, West Virginia, Stanford, Virginia and Virginia Tech. There’s some cross over in that group, but look even deeper.
Thourogood has reported that his list has been narrowed down to Virginia Tech, Virginia, West Virginia and Arkansas. Arkansas is a relatively new addition and a wildcard in the bunch.
Watford has narrowed his list to UVA, Virginia Tech and West Virginia. He’s set to announce his decision on Saturday in a ceremony at Christopher Newport University.
Here’s how the circumstances stack up. Both QBs are highly desirable and very unlikely to pick the same destination. Watford’s head coach, Mike Smith, has sent players to Virginia Tech including their current quarterback, Tyrod Taylor. Virginia Tech’s recruiter for the area, Curt Newsome, used to coach against Mike Smith when Newsome coached at neighboring Kecoughtan High School. Virginia Tech is still the “big dog” in-state school and Watford would be a good, traditional “get” for Coach Frank Beamer. Beamer has no fewer than four quarterbacks on his roster now, but it’s not at all unheard of for Beamer to move a player off the QB depth chart and into another position.
While UVA Coach Mike London would love to have Watford, London already has 19 of a projected 25 scholarships committed already. London has six quarterbacks in his system now after giving scholarships to four QBs in the 2010 class. Marc Verica is London’s only senior signal caller. Face it, there’s a glut of quarterbacks at Virginia. London could move two of his QB prospects to other positions and still have plenty of depth.
That leads us to Thourogood’s status. First of all, it’s interesting to note that Tennessee was not enticing for Thourogood. His teammate Justin Hunter committed to the Vols in the 2010 class. He’s stated an interest in Virginia Tech, Virginia, West Virginia and Arkansas. He’s also stated that he has no desire to move out of the quarterback position. Thourogood has announced that no decision is imminent, but that he’ll decide before the start of the season. That should mean that Virginia’s out from a depth chart standpoint no matter how much he likes the coaches there and the Charlottesville campus. If Watford commits to Virginia Tech as anticipated, then it should mean that Tech is out for Thourogood. That leaves West Virginia and Arkansas.
Arkansas is a late arrival and they should lose their starting QB Ryan Mallett to the NFL draft after this season. Arkansas’ depth chart is a little more shallow than most at the QB position and there could be a possibility for Thourgood to earn playing time early. At West Virginia, there’s the Chris Beatty connection. Beatty coached Landstown High School only a few years ago and Beatty sports tons of connections in The 757. The Mountaineers will be led by sophomore Geno Smith this season, and they have 2010 class QB phenom Barry Brunetti of Memphis waiting in the wings.
Arkansas is truly a quality wildcard, but expect proximity and familiarity to win out. Thourogood looks like a future Mountaineer. Watford should be a Hokie. It could make for an interesting VA Tech/WVU game if we can ever get that rivalry going again.
Thourogood Narrows To Three?
QB Lafonte Thourogood of Ocean Lakes (Photo: Andy Hilton/recruit757.com)
Ocean Lakes is prepping for the fall with Passing League games and offseason conditioning. QB Lafonte Thourogood has that and more on his mind.
Thourogood has been courted by well over a dozen universities and has a choice between a bunch of attractive BCS offers including Stanford, Tennessee, Arkansas and North Carolina. As sweet as those offers are, Thourogood is inclined to stay closer to home. He has excellent choices for academics and facilities at any of his choice schools. The decision now has come down to relationships.
At Virginia Tech, Assistant Coach Curt Newsome and Head Coach Frank Beamer have shown distinct interest in Thourogood. Tech has also shown interest in Hampton QB David Watford from the 2011 class and Virginia Tech reportedly has more than a dozen quarterbacks interested in a scholarship offer from the Hokies. Coach Beamer also has a history of gathering quarterbacks, then moving them to other positions once they’re in Blacksburg. Quarterbacks have a good head for the game on both sides of the field and they often make great leaders.
Virginia is also in Thourogood’s top three. Coach London at UVA has infiltrated The 757 and between London and Recruiting Coordinator Chip West, the coaches there have the region thoroughly covered. UVA is already more than halfway done with their 2011 recruiting class, but Thourogood would be a gem of an addition. London’s class is already 757 heavy and the Ocean Lakes QB would simply push the balance further.
West Virginia is the last (but not least) of Thourogood’s top three. Assistant Coach and Recruiting Coordinator Chris Beatty has deep roots in Hampton Roads and it should be no surprise that WVU is pursuing one of the hottest area QB prospects in this year’s class.
So between the three schools, what’s going to be the difference maker? Two things. First of all, the relationship. All three relationships are good, but who’s going to take the best care of Lafonte? Secondly, he wants to be a quarterback. Thourogood may be 6-3 220, but the talented signal caller has no desire to play linebacker.
With his size and skill, Lafonte Thourogood could easily get a scholarship at most any school for football. At this point, he has to make the decision based on what’s best for him and he’ll decide which program will truly give him a shot to earn the starting quarterback position.
After watching Thourogood in the Beach Passing League, I can attest that he looks like a quarterback. There will be more development along the way, but his future as a quarterback is bright.
When will a decision be made? It’s tough to say. According to Coach Chris Scott at Ocean Lakes, Lafonte still needs to develop more of a relationship with the quarterback coaches at WVU, UVA and Virginia Tech. Then again, these decisions are never easy. Thouroughgood’s teammate, Justin Hunter, committed to LSU last summer only to change his commitment to Tennessee just before signing day. Is there a chance that Lafonte will commit to the Vols in order to join Hunter? Thouroughgood’s not there yet, but once he’s ready, the decision will come.
Picture Still Hazy on Heastie Transfer
It’s been talked about for months. Logan Heastie is dissatisfied at West Virginia. Heastie is transferring out. Heastie’s headed to Old Dominion. It hasn’t happened… yet.
Logan Heastie was a nationally ranked “four star” wide receiver coming out of Great Bridge High School in Chesapeake. WVU’s recruiting guru and 757 connection Chris Beatty landed Heastie along with Phoebus D-Lineman Dominik Davenport and Phoebus running back/defensive back Shawne Alston in the 2009 class. Beatty even had Phoebus quarterback Tahj Boyd for a little while. Boyd decommitted from West Virginia after an early verbal. Davenport transferred to his hometown to play for Old Dominion University after the end of the 2009 season. Alston is still at WVU, but Heastie’s status is undetermined.
Coach Bill Stewart has stated that there are no disciplinary or academic issues with Heastie. Still, Heastie’s transfer has been announced. No destination has been named, but ODU is an obvious choice.
The 6-2 200 WR would be a fantastic fit if he’s ready to play football. Heastie redshirted for his first year in Morgantown. He would come to ODU with four years to play four and could start immediately. Is he coming to Norfolk? Is he ready to play? Wait and see….
Chris Beatty Article on PilotOnline
Kyle Tucker published a fantastic article on Chris Beatty this morning in the Virginian-Pilot. If you haven’t read it yet, you should. I’ve linked it at the bottom of the page.
For those of you unfamiliar with regional recruiting, or maybe you’ve just been living under a rock for the last five years or so… Chris Beatty is a rising star in the football world who got his first big break here in The 757. Beatty coached Percy Harvin at Landstown High School from 2003 to 2005 after two previous high school coaching gigs at North Stafford and Salem (Virginia Beach). Beatty’s Landstown teams made three straight State Title game appearances, winning it all in 2004, Percy Harvin’s junior year.
From there, Beatty was offensive coordinator at Hampton for one year, coached running backs at Northern Illinois for one year, then landed at West Virginia in 2008. This year, Beatty was promoted to recruiting coordinator and H-Backs coach for the Mountaineers. He’s been recognized as one of the nation’s top recruiters and he regularly visits his old stomping ground in search for new talent. Beatty knows the area. He knows many of the area’s high school coaches and he has a fantastic web of contacts for recruiting The 757.
For a great read on Chris Beatty and his recruiting efforts in the area, check out the article at PilotOnline.com.
Clemson QB Situation Might Help Tajh Boyd
Kyle Parker, QB at Clemson for now... (Photo: ClemsonTigers.com)
Clemson may have itself quite a quarterback situation.
Often hyped QB prospect Willy Korn has transferred to Marshall. Korn was supposed to be the heir apparent at Clemson, but he never earned the starting job. He spent three years at Clemson, one as a redshirt. Korn moves to Marshall without having to sit out a year by taking advantage of a NCAA policy that allows grad students to transfer for their masters program without penalty. Korn graduated from Clemson in only three years.
Now current QB Kyle Parker is torn. Parker took over the starting job at QB last year and excelled. In his first year as QB for the Tigers, Parker threw for 2,526 yards and 20 touchdowns in a 9-5 season capped by a Music City Bowl win over SEC foe Kentucky. This spring, Parker is tearing up opposing pitching on the baseball diamond with 10 homers and a team leading.396 batting average as an OF/1B. Clemson is #10 in the nation and at this rate, the team could be on its way to another College World Series. All of that is more than enough to get the attention of MLB scouts.
Parker has played three seasons of baseball at Clemson, which means he’s eligible for the MLB draft. If he’s picked, does he go? He won’t say yet.
If Parker opts to go with baseball, that puts quite a dent in the Clemson depth chart. It also offers unexpected opportunity for Phoebus grad Tajh Boyd.
Boyd went to the Tigers after a long and convoluted recruitment. Boyd originally committed to Coach Chris Beatty and West Virginia early on in his senior year. Phoebus teammates Dominik Davenport and Shawne Alston also committed to WVU in the 2009 class. Boyd had a change of heart midway through his senior season and changed his commitment to Tennessee. Then Coach Phil Fulmer was fired at the end of the Vols 2008 season and Lane Kiffin was hired. Kiffin told Boyd that he wasn’t a fit for the new direction of the Volunteer program, so Boyd was in search of another college program. Clemson was it.
As a redshirt freshman, Boyd is already second on the depth chart at Clemson behind only Kyle Parker. With Parker away playing baseball, Boyd is getting lots of reps at the Tigers’ spring practices. Senior Mike Wade seems to be Boyd’s only other competition at QB, which could be good for Boyd. Wade has been in the program for years but hasn’t won the starting job. Wade would provide excellent depth for the Tigers, but there’s not much need to groom him to play one year and move on. There seems to be no doubt that Boyd is the quarterback of the future for the Tigers.
Will fate shine on Kyle Parker and Tajh Boyd at the same time?
Ex-Great Bridge Star Heastie Struggling at WVU
Logan Heastie (Photo: WVU Sports)
A few years ago, Chris Beatty left Northern Illinois after one year and took an upgrade at West Virginia. Beatty came to WVU to coach running backs and slot receivers in 2008. While Beatty’s an excellent coach, he brought with him an added asset: access to the lucrative 757 recruiting territory. Beatty coached at Landstown High School and guided his Percy Harvin led team to two state title games and one State Championship. Coach Beatty knows the region well and brought in several area recruits in his first year including Phoebus’ Dominik Davenport, a four-star defensive lineman, and Great Bridge’s Logan Heastie, a five-star wide receiver. With that contribution, Coach Beatty made quite a splash. Unfortunately, that haul hasn’t been the difference maker it could have been for the Mountaineer program.
Dominik Davenport left the West Virginia program at the end of the Fall semester and transferred to Old Dominion. The move was a homecoming for Davenport and a thrill for Monarchs fans. Davenport was highly touted coming out of Phoebus but didn’t see playing time at WVU. He redshirted in his first year and spent last season on the bench for the Mountaineers. Overall, Davenport’s time at West Virginia was a disappointment.
Now there’s news out of Morgantown that Logan Heastie may be considering a move as well. Reports from West Virginia have Heastie struggling in the classroom and struggling with his limited role with the Mountaineers. Heastie was seen as a top reserve as a redshirt freshman before the 2009 season, but that role never materialized. Head Coach Bill Stewart has told West Virginia press that Heastie is “dealing with personal issues” and while Heastie is still listed on the WVU roster, he hasn’t participated in spring practices. A WVU blogger has reported that Heastie’s issues weren’t football, academic or legal, but that he walked out of practice over a month ago and hadn’t been back. It’s also been reported that Coach Chris Beatty and Heastie’s position coach Lonnie Galloway have discussed the situation with Heastie’s parents, but added that Coach Stewart and Heastie had yet to talk to each other about the situation as of a couple of weeks ago.
The story isn’t over yet. Heastie’s ultimate destination still seems to be undetermined. The situation is not an indictment of Beatty’s ability to bring in stable, quality players, nor is it an indictment of 757 players and their ability to handle the situation of living away from home. It’s an unfortunate circumstance that first Davenport and now Heastie have had problems in Morgantown. The last word out of camp was that Coach Stewart would welcome Heastie back into the Mountaineer fold at anytime, no questions asked. The question is… “will he return?”
Beatty Adds Recruiting Coordinator Title at WVU
The promotion says a lot about Chris Beatty as a man, as a coach and as a recruiter. WVU coach Bill Stewart has announced that Coach Chris Beatty will add the responsibilities of Director of Recruiting to his plate. Additionally, Beatty will coach Fullbacks in 2010. That group is added to his current responsibilities of coaching running backs and slot receivers.
Beatty’s rise to coaching stardom has been a quick one. Beatty was a high school coach until Percy Harvin finished his high school career at Landstown High School in Virginia Beach. Beatty moved on to become offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Hampton University in 2006. In 2007, Beatty became running backs coach at Northern Illinois. The departure of Rich Rodriguez from West Virginia opened the door for Beatty to join a BCS staff. Beatty started his tenure at WVU in 2008 and hasn’t looked back.
Beatty has been recognized as a top recruiter and now will head up the recruiting efforts for WVU since the departure of Doc Holliday who moved on to become head coach at Marshall University. Since Beatty has numerous 757 connections, you can expect Beatty and WVU to continue to recruit heavily here.
Congrats on the promotion, Coach Beatty!
WVU’s Chris Beatty Honored As Top Recruiter
Chris Beatty (Photo: WVU Sports)
It should be no surprise that Chris Beatty brought in more than his share of West Virginia’s recruiting class. He’s been a tireless worker, connected to the gills, and a persuasive son of a gun.
Beatty’s work with WVU’s 2010 class has him recognized again as one of the top recruiters in the country. A lot of the names in the list come from familiar schools, but the names will not be familiar to the casual fan. Some may know Ed Orgeron of USC and Wil Muschamp of Texas. Their names were in the headlines a lot this offseason due to Lane Kiffin’s move to USC taking Orgeron with him, and the subsequent filling of the Tennessee head coaching job where Muschamp was rumored to be a candidate. Names on the list that are closer to home include Tom Bradley of Penn State, James Franklin of Maryland, and Sal Sunseri of Alabama who recruited Oscar Smith quarterback Phillip Sims.
But Beatty is the name that will be nearest to the hearts of football fans in Southeastern Virginia. Beatty first made a splash at Landstown where he coached the Eagles and Percy Harvin to back to back State Championship games and one State Title, the only one in the history of the school. Beatty parlayed that into a position as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Hampton University in 2006. In 2007 he left for Northern Illinois and became their running backs coach. Beatty didn’t stay there long. After a season he moved closer to Virginia, working his way onto Bill Stewart’s staff at West Virginia after Rich Rodriguez left the Mountaineers for Ann Arbor, Michigan.
In his first season at West Virginia, he brought in a stout recruiting class for a first year coach with no BCS experience. Beatty tapped his Hampton Roads connections, something he found hard to do while at Northern Illinois. For the 2009 class Beatty brought in Logan Heastie (wide receiver – Great Bridge), Dominik Davenport (D-Line – Phoebus) and Shawne Alston (running back – Phoebus). Beatty was in on the recruitment of several other players from Hampton Roads that went on to big name schools: Jerod Askew of Oscar Smith went on to Tennessee, Tim Smith of Oscar Smith went on to UVA, Telvion Clark of Granby went on to Virginia Tech, and Sterlin Phifer of Landstown who went on to Boston College.
For the 2010 class, Beatty had no players come to WVU from Hampton Roads. He has still established a pipeline. West Virginia was seldom successful at recruiting players out of The 757 prior to Beatty’s arrival. Now Beatty has established West Virginia as a viable “Big Time” option for blue chip football players in Hampton Roads.