Looking Ahead to NSD 2017

By Kevin Price
SouthernPigskin.com

Follow us at Twitter.com/SouthernPigskin.  Become a fan at the SouthernPigskin.com Facebook Page

The countdown to their signing day and their opportunity to fulfill their dream of playing big-time college football by signing a scholarship award is now underway.

Deejay Dallas sat in the audience Wednesday along with his fellow Glynn Academy teammates as several seniors from the Brunswick, Ga., school signed scholarship papers with the college football teams of their choice during a signing day ceremony.

As the four Red Terrors who helped Glynn to Georgia’s Class AAAAA state championship game this past season waited in the corner of the auditorium to talk with reporters, Dallas came up to offer his congratulations and wish them the best of luck going forward. He shook their hands, said something to each one and then quickly left the area, perhaps because he knew this was their time to have the spotlight that National Signing Day offers with his time coming next year.

In a recent interview about just that, the highly-touted 2017 prospect flashed a big smile and his eyes grew wide as he thought about what it will be like to be the one on stage signing a letter of intent following his senior season with the Red Terrors.

“Playing college football has always been a dream of mine,” Dallas said. “I remember when the NCAA video game came out that had Michael Vick on the cover when he was at Virginia Tech. One of my dreams was to be on that game and signing a letter of intent will mean that dream could possibly come true.

“This year will be my third time watching signing day. I remember watching guys my freshman year and saying that could be me one day. Now that day is approaching. It’s almost my time.”

Indeed it is, and it could definitely be a life-changing moment for Dallas, a 6-foot, 192-pound standout who has offers from a slew of big-time schools including several traditional Southern powers.

Dallas is one of several elite prospects in Southeast Georgia who will have the chance to play major-college football after next season. Two others – Shawn Smith and De’Antne Demery – play for Glynn Academy’s crosstown rival Brunswick.

And then, there’s Richard LeCounte from Liberty County in Hinesville who is considered the nation’s eighth-best prospect from the current junior class in the ESPN 300 rankings. The 5-11, 174-pounder is also rated the top safety in the country and the top overall prospect in Georgia.

These players alone will make next year’s National Signing Day one of the biggest in recent memory in terms of major signings for the coastal region of the Peach State which of course is always one of the country’s most fertile grounds for college football recruiters.

LeCounte is different than the aforementioned trio of players from Glynn County in that he is currently committed to a school. He became Kirby Smart’s first verbal commit just six days after the former Alabama defensive coordinator was hired by Georgia to replace Mark Richt as the Bulldogs’ head coach.

The versatile LeCounte had offers from a who’s who list in college football that included Alabama, Florida State, Florida, Clemson, Michigan and Southern Cal, but he was long considered to be headed to Ohio State or Georgia before he committed to the Bulldogs via Twitter in mid-December.

This past season, the four-star recruit starred on both sides of the ball while also returning punts and kickoffs for his high school team. Playing quarterback, running back and receiver on offense, he passed for 506 yards, rushed for 865 and had 564 receiving yards while accounting for 1,967 all-purpose yards and 21 total touchdowns.

On defense, he recorded 72 solo tackles, 28 assists, five sacks, two interceptions and four fumble recoveries.

LeCounte, who did not respond to requests for interviews for this story, took an unofficial visit to Athens last weekend which would seem to confirm his commitment to the Bulldogs for now.

Dallas was once also slated to go to Georgia which recruited the four-star athlete as a wide receiver and defensive back. He verbally committed to the Bulldogs last summer while attending Dawg Night in the Classic City, but Dallas decommitted from the Bulldogs in December after Richt was dismissed as head coach.

That news apparently upset Georgia’s new head coach who made it known on social media.

“I saw (Coach Smart’s) name pop up on Twitter saying that I broke his heart and I felt bad,” Dallas recalls. “I didn’t mean to hurt anyone’s feelings.”

Speculation was Dallas really wanted to reopen his recruitment because of his desire to play quarterback after moving from receiver to signal-caller at Glynn this past fall after four games and leading the team to the state championship game.

Dallas insisted then and now that wasn’t at all the case.

“I like playing quarterback, but it’s just what I do,” he said. “Schools are still recruiting me as a wide receiver and defensive back. One of my goals is to play both ways. That’s something I’d like to do if I can.

“A lot of things have to come together when you’re getting recruited and I just wanted to give everyone a chance to recruit me. I wanted to clear the playing field for everyone including the new Georgia coaches.”

This past season, Dallas had 14 catches for 147 yards and a touchdown before switching to quarterback and passing for 743 yards and seven TDS while running for 1,183 yards and eight scores in his team’s spread offense.

After the season, he was named the ESPN Coastal Georgia Offensive Player of the Year, Region 3-AAAAA Player of the Year and was selected first-team all-state by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Georgia Sportswriters Association.

Dallas is considered Georgia’s 25th best overall prospect and is No. 185 in the ESPN 300 rankings.

He currently has a list of his top 10 schools. In no particular order those are Georgia, Michigan, Miami, Florida, Ole Miss, Georgia Teach, California, Clemson, Mississippi State and South Carolina.

Dallas visited Florida last weekend and wore Gators athletic gear to school on Monday. He has a scheduled visit to Georgia on Feb. 12 and plans to take trips to Miami and Georgia Tech in March. He was sporting a Georgia Tech pullover Wednesday at Glynn’s signing ceremony.

“I’ve learned my lesson with liking a school because of the coach,” Dallas said, referring to Georgia which let go of Richt, who was always popular with recruits, the day after the Bulldogs’ 2015 season ended. “You have to focus on the school and the whole environment. Without football, it’s still a place you have to live. Now, when I go somewhere, I’m going to walk around and see if I actually like it there.”

Dallas plans to narrow his list of favorites to five schools before the end of the summer and take his official visits to those campuses next fall. He said his current plan is to wait and announce his choice destination after his senior season, one which he hopes will end with the Terrors hoisting the state championship trophy.

“It’s pedal to the medal now. We’re full gas to state and not letting up,” he said, looking toward the coming season.

Dallas actually plans to graduate early and enroll in college next January, so his signing ceremony will likely take place in December before he leaves for college.

Brunswick standouts Smith, who is Dallas’ cousin, and Demery, will wait until next February to sign with the schools they pick.

Demery is a 6-6, 312-pound tackle who makes recruiters salivate before they even pop in the game tape. The four-star prospect says he has more than a dozen offers from major schools including Miami, Alabama, Auburn, Georgia, Florida and Tennessee.

He says Georgia, Alabama and Miami are probably his top three at the moment, but that is subject to change. He made an unofficial visit to Tuscaloosa last weekend and had the chance to talk with head coach Nick Saban.

“I was impressed by how they do things there,” he said of this year’s national champion Crimson Tide.

Demery has been to Georgia’s campus several times for camps, but not since Smart became head coach.

He said he got the Miami offer after Richt was hired by the Hurricanes and hopes to take a trip to Coral Gables sometime this month.

“I’ve gotta go see Richt,” Demery said with a grin.

Demery noted that he is in no hurry to commit to anyone. “I’m gonna wait it out. I think it will be after next season,” said the big tackle.

He was named all-state, all-region and was picked for the ESPN Coastal Georgia Team after last season. Demery is listed as the No. 187 overall prospect in the ESPN 300 rankings for the 2017 class and one of the top 20 tackles in the country.

“I’m going to choose a place that feels like home and has good people,” he said.

Demery’s teammate Smith also has plenty of schools seeking his services. The 5-11, 158-pound four-star player is being recruited as an athlete. He played receiver at the beginning of this past season for the Pirates before switching to quarterback in the middle of the year.

The cat-quick Smith rushed for 509 yards and nine touchdowns last fall and had 313 receiving yards and two scores before moving to quarterback. He was named all-region and also made the ESPN Coastal Georgia Team.

Smith is getting interest from Miami, West Virginia, Kentucky, Duke, Georgia Tech, Georgia and Florida which gave him his first offer after his sophomore season. He hopes to take visits to Georgia and Miami this month and would like to get to most of the above schools before the end of the summer.

He will begin taking his official visits in the fall.

“I’m not going to rush it. I’ve still got my whole senior year,” he said about committing to someone. “I want to go somewhere where I feel like there is a botherhood and the coaches are like father-figures.

“It’s going to be a hard decision because so many schools have shown interest and we’re talking all the time.”

But for all of the above players, the countdown to their signing day and their opportunity to fulfill their dream of playing big-time college football by signing a scholarship award is now underway.

And perhaps it was Demery who best described what National Signing Day 2017 will be like in Coastal Georgia for these standout players and football fans throughout the region as they wait to see where the players will actually go to play college football.

“It’s gonna be big, real big,” he said.