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Youngstown State draws players from all over
The Vindicator ( Youngstown)
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Youngstown State wide receiver Kintrell Disher (82) catches some passes during a practice session Tuesday at Stambaugh Stadium. He is among three players from South Carolina who signed with the Penguins as a result of coach Eric Wolford’s hustle and the connections he made while serving as an assistant, including a stint as a line coach at South Carolina in 2009.
The Vindicator ( Youngstown)
Photo
Youngstown State wide receiver Andrew Williams (80) catches some passes during a practice session Tuesday at Stambaugh Stadium. He is among three players from South Carolina who signed with the Penguins as a result of coach Eric Wolford’s hustle and the connections he made while serving as an assistant, including a stint as a line coach at South Carolina in 2009.
By Joe Scalzo
YOUNGSTOWN
In January, YSU coach Eric Wolford somehow managed to pry himself away from warm, beautiful Ohio for a few days to take a recruiting trip to South Carolina. In a little town called Cameron, he met up with wide receiver Brandon Thomas at his home and his school (“He showed me mad love,” Thomas said), then persuaded him to come to Youngstown for an official visit.
“He treated me like a father,” Thomas said of Wolford. “His exact words were, ‘I’m your white father this weekend.’
“I thought that was very funny.”
Thomas signed in February, as did two other South Carolina receivers that live within a half hour of Thomas, Andrew Williams and Kintrell Disher. The signings were the result of Wolford’s hustle and the connections he made over the years as an assistant, including a stint as the line coach at South Carolina in 2009.
“I was fortunate early in my career to make a lot of ties with a lot of people, whether it’s California, Arizona, Utah, Kansas, Texas, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida ...” Wolford said. “You rely on your friends, meaning high school coaches, to shoot straight and give you a guy that’s a diamond.”
Of the 100 players on YSU’s roster this summer, 75 are from Ohio (56 players), Florida (11) or Pennsylvania (eight). But there are also players from 13 other states — and one from Nigeria, senior Obinna Ekweremuba.
This isn’t necessarily new. In Jon Heacock’s final season, 2009, his summer roster had players from 14 states (and Nigeria), with 79 hailing from Ohio, Florida and Pennsylvania.
“We’re not just a one- or two-state recruiting school,” Wolford said. “We recruit nationally.”
In Thomas’ case, committing to YSU was a combination of Wolford’s interest and his own impressions of the school.
“The players were all good but they didn’t convince me to come up here,” he said. “I just liked it, and I saw they had a good graduation rate.
“I want to get a good education.”
Disher (6-foot-4, 200 pounds), who has already used his size and leaping ability to earn reps with the first team, had offers from other schools this winter “but it wasn’t from any place I wanted to go.” When he came to YSU, “it felt like a place I wanted to be; it felt like home.”
“The coaching staff, they’re like your father figures and the players are your brothers,” he said. “They take you under their wing and teach you the right thing.
“The coaches, they’re my daddies now that I’m all the way up here.”
All three admitted they’ve had bouts with homesickness — “I miss my mom and my sisters and my girlfriend,” said Thomas, adding, “not too much though,” — but Wolford told them that’s part of the experience.
“He just said it’s a part of life and part of growing up,” he said. “After talking to me, that gave me a little motivation and I felt better after that.”
YSU brought in five freshman wide receivers in this year’s class. The two regional players — Andre Stubbs from Maple Heights, and Christian Bryan from Irwin, Pa. — are shorter, slot-receiver types. Disher and Williams are rangier, more likely to play on the outside.
“I’m a go-get it guy,” said Thomas. “Throw it up and I’m going to try to go get it.”
Disher has drawn raves for his ability to do the same thing, but he added, “I like to go across the middle. I’m just trying to make big plays and get on the field and make the most of my opportunity.”
As for Thomas?
“I’m just an athlete,” he said. “I’ll just do whatever the coach asks me to do. If he says run to the sideline, I’ll run to the sideline.
“Whatever I have to do to help the team, I’m willing to do that. If it’s getting water, I’ll do that.”
YSU’s core will always be in northeast Ohio and Western Pennsylvania — the Penguins have 33 players from the tri-county area alone — but Wolford said it’s important the program draw players from elsewhere.
“Obviously we feel good about some of the guys we’ve been able to bring in here,” Wolford said. “We’ve been able to get out and recruit a little bit nationally because of the coaching staff’s experience from being all over the country.”