Tuesday August 28, 2007

I Was Wrong; Stanley; Bowers; TigerTickets; Soccer

I Was Wrong
In the summer of 2005 the staff at Clemson had a big decision to make.

Brent Schaffer was a quarterback that looked like a future super star when he played as a true freshman at Tennessee but he left school and transferred to a JUCO in California. He visited Clemson and told the staff he wanted to commit.

At the same time the staff was recruiting Willy Korn who was coming off a big sophomore season at Byrnes High School. Clemson had offered him a scholarship and the rising junior knew he would not want to drag out his recruiting process. Korn might not have been as eager as Schaffer to commit because his timetable was a couple of years behind but he also knew of Schaffer’s interest.

The staff had a choice. They could take Schaffer and continue to recruit Korn or they could turn down Schaffer and really help their chances with the high school star. The Korn family did not give the staff an ultimatum but not taken Schaffer would have definitely helped their chances with Korn.

At the time I thought the staff should have taken Schaffer and then gone full speed ahead with Korn as well. I thought Schaffer was a difference maker who could have taken over after Charlie Whitehurst and played in 2006 and 2007. This would allow the staff to tell Korn he could come in and backup Schaffer or red-shirt and be ready to take over after he graduated.

The staff decided to turn down Schaffer and Korn committed a few days later.

I did not know Schaffer would have had a hard time getting eligible at Clemson because of his junior college transcript. I also was not aware Schaffer had a hard time at Tennessee from a discipline standpoint. I knew he had some trouble there but it was more widespread that I realized according to sources later within the Tennessee athletic department.

I was also unaware he would not be the same football player once he returned from JUCO. Schaffer had an awful season at Ole Miss last year and has since moved to wide receiver.

I knew Korn was a high character kid but I did not realize just what a wonderful person he was at the time. I knew he was a good quarterback with all of the physical tools but I had no idea he would develop into the player he is today. I also had no idea then about his incredible leadership skills.

One Clemson coach told me last Thursday Korn was the best true freshman quarterback he had ever seen. So I say the staff made the right decision and I must admit I could not have been more wrong than I was in the summer of 2005.

Stanley
The Clemson golf team has had some terrific accomplishments under Larry Penley and Monday they received another piece of great news when it was announced that All-American Kyle Stanley was named to the United States Walker Cup team. In amateur golf the Walker Cup is the biggest event in the world and in my opinion being named to the team is the highest honor in all of amateur golf. The event will be on September 8-9 at Royal County Down in outside of Belfast, Northen Ireland.

Stanley may lead Clemson to national and ACC titles and he may win a ton of amateur tournaments but playing in the Walker Cup is an entirely different honor.

Clemson has been represented in the even recently when both Lucas Glover and D.J. Trahan played for our country.

Bowers
I know some of you are current subscribers to scout.com and rivals.com but if you are not then go to their sites and sign up. I think you will like both sites but I know you will enjoy the video both have up of Clemson commitment DaQuan Bowers. If anyone had doubts when many called him the best defensive line prospect to ever come out of this state then these videos may change your mind.

Bowers is a freak of nature. He is an amazing athlete with superior skills. This is a 6-5, 265-pound monster that plays running back, tight end, defensive end and even returns kicks. I had the pleasure of seeing both Courtney Brown and Shaun Ellis come out in the same year and I can tell you Bowers is a better prospect than both at this stage. Brown and Ellis were 245-pound guys that were athletic but Bowers takes it to another level. Watch him pursue ball carriers on the perimeter and haunt quarterbacks in these videos.

Bowers plays like a 200-pound linebacker/tailback but he packs it in a 265-pound body. I love watching video of prospects but have not seen a defensive end look like this on tape. He is to a defensive front what Spiller, Davis and Korn are to their respective positions.

Tickets
If you have not visited the Tiger Tickets section on TigerNet then I would suggest it when you are looking to buy or sell. It is nice to know that Tiger fans usually end up with the tickets instead of professional scalpers or ticket websites or even worse, opponent’s fans. I started looking this morning because I am in need of two for the FSU game. The pair I had for my wife and son fell through recently so (shameless plug)…if you have two for sale for the Clemson-FSU game please e-mail me at mickeyplyler@hotmail.com. I hope I won’t do that too often.

Editor's Note: The powerful internet is incredible. Within three minutes of putting up the blog I already had e-mails and have purchased two. Sorry to bother you guys and thanks for the response.

The Weekend
Things are obviously different for this weekend because of the Monday game so we will have a First Sunday Parade for the first time ever. For those coming early please support Trevor Adair and the men’s soccer program in their game Friday against South Carolina and Sunday against Gardner-Webb. Friday’s game is scheduled for 7:30 and Sunday’s 7:00 contest will be immediately after the parade. Trevor is a great friend who would appreciate your support in his team’s attempt to continue their dominance of South Carolina. Also there are several concerts planned in the upstate all weekend.

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