Gamecocks find a true star in Cann
posted by David Cloninger, 6/18/2009 07:41:00 PM
’Cause I’ll accept you as you are.”
--------- MARILYN McCOO AND BILLY DAVIS JR.
I think I’ve been around here long enough for you loyal readers (Tom AND Sally) to know I put no trust or weight whatsoever in the recruiting ranking system. I was forever cured of stars determining a football player’s collegiate worthiness during The Unfortunate Courtney Leavitt Episode.
I’ve learned to trust my own eyes when viewing a player and deciding whether or not he’ll be a stud player at the next level. And it’s not just on the field, it’s off the field – how they react to the glorified stalking that is recruiting is a particular factor.
South Carolina picked up a commitment on Wednesday from four-star recruit A.J. Cann. That apparently means he’s pretty good because the top ranking is five stars.
If five stars means he’s got the best possible attitude to play football in college, then yes, he’s a four-star. I’d say he’s worth five, even though I only talked to him for 15 minutes.
That was time enough for me to determine he’ll be a player when he gets to South Carolina.
He didn’t give a lot of the stock answers, despite having to answer the same questions from all of the media sources that were there. He looked me in the eye when he did it. He introduced himself to me when I did the same to him.
He’s one of those kids who knows he’s better than most when he’s on the field, but doesn’t act like he’s better than most when off the field. Even on his day, he stuck to the back of the room after the TV lights were shut off.
“I’m glad it’s all over,” he said softly. “Now I can get back to playing ball.”
Right there. Amazing.
Cann didn’t want to milk the recruiting process. Just get it done so maybe he’d be left alone while trying to play football during his senior year. Four-star?
And more.
It’s worth it to note I’ve never seen Cann play, and one can only tell so much from highlight video. I know he must be a heck of an athlete, though, just looking at his surroundings.
I’ve said it for years – you want the best linebacker, best quarterback, best receiver, you’ll get it from a Class AAAA school. You want the best athlete, go to a Class A school.
Those are the ones where the enrollments and teams are so small that most of the football players have to play both ways. At Bamberg-Ehrhardt, Cann’s school, that’s certainly the case.
The book on Cann raves about his quick feet and athleticism – that comes from playing both sides of the line on every Friday night. He projects as an offensive lineman in college – he’ll have to add some bulk but the way I see it, recruiting quicker linemen is a sign of the times, since everybody’s running the spread anyway.
His coach told me Cann feels like he’s playing for the community – Bamberg is one of those towns tucked between a few large cities that relies on its prep sports to fuel the town’s spirit. The high school is right beside the hospital and the state championship signs ringing the baseball field (Mookie ’86, anyone?) are those that you just know some old feller spent all week working on so he could be part of the program.
It’s the perfect high-school football town. I’ve only been to a game there once, years ago, but I knew if I was to leave in the middle of the second quarter and cruise the streets, the only life I’d see would be a few stray varmints.
Cann is that rare player who plays the game because he loves it. He doesn’t look at football as a profession. He’s not one of those who quickly becomes tired of hearing about how good he is and treats the rest of his football experience like a job – a guy that plays because he’s good enough to earn a living playing, but doesn’t particularly enjoy it.
Cann’s approach to the hoopla counted more on my ranking system than any tackle or block. I want to see kids who passionately love the game suit up for the Gamecocks – there’s several on the team now, but they and any other program can always use more. I don’t need to hear predictions of greatness – I just want to see earnest expressions of pulling on the jersey some day and getting to play on that stretch of grass off Bluff Road.
Those are the true stars. You just hope they don’t burn out before they get to where they’re going.
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“I don’t need no superstar,
’Cause I’ll accept you as you are.”
--------- MARILYN McCOO AND BILLY DAVIS JR.
I think I’ve been around here long enough for you loyal readers (Tom AND Sally) to know I put no trust or weight whatsoever in the recruiting ranking system. I was forever cured of stars determining a football player’s collegiate worthiness during The Unfortunate Courtney Leavitt Episode.
I’ve learned to trust my own eyes when viewing a player and deciding whether or not he’ll be a stud player at the next level. And it’s not just on the field, it’s off the field – how they react to the glorified stalking that is recruiting is a particular factor.
South Carolina picked up a commitment on Wednesday from four-star recruit A.J. Cann. That apparently means he’s pretty good because the top ranking is five stars.
If five stars means he’s got the best possible attitude to play football in college, then yes, he’s a four-star. I’d say he’s worth five, even though I only talked to him for 15 minutes.
That was time enough for me to determine he’ll be a player when he gets to South Carolina.
He didn’t give a lot of the stock answers, despite having to answer the same questions from all of the media sources that were there. He looked me in the eye when he did it. He introduced himself to me when I did the same to him.
He’s one of those kids who knows he’s better than most when he’s on the field, but doesn’t act like he’s better than most when off the field. Even on his day, he stuck to the back of the room after the TV lights were shut off.
“I’m glad it’s all over,” he said softly. “Now I can get back to playing ball.”
Right there. Amazing.
Cann didn’t want to milk the recruiting process. Just get it done so maybe he’d be left alone while trying to play football during his senior year. Four-star?
And more.
It’s worth it to note I’ve never seen Cann play, and one can only tell so much from highlight video. I know he must be a heck of an athlete, though, just looking at his surroundings.
I’ve said it for years – you want the best linebacker, best quarterback, best receiver, you’ll get it from a Class AAAA school. You want the best athlete, go to a Class A school.
Those are the ones where the enrollments and teams are so small that most of the football players have to play both ways. At Bamberg-Ehrhardt, Cann’s school, that’s certainly the case.
The book on Cann raves about his quick feet and athleticism – that comes from playing both sides of the line on every Friday night. He projects as an offensive lineman in college – he’ll have to add some bulk but the way I see it, recruiting quicker linemen is a sign of the times, since everybody’s running the spread anyway.
His coach told me Cann feels like he’s playing for the community – Bamberg is one of those towns tucked between a few large cities that relies on its prep sports to fuel the town’s spirit. The high school is right beside the hospital and the state championship signs ringing the baseball field (Mookie ’86, anyone?) are those that you just know some old feller spent all week working on so he could be part of the program.
It’s the perfect high-school football town. I’ve only been to a game there once, years ago, but I knew if I was to leave in the middle of the second quarter and cruise the streets, the only life I’d see would be a few stray varmints.
Cann is that rare player who plays the game because he loves it. He doesn’t look at football as a profession. He’s not one of those who quickly becomes tired of hearing about how good he is and treats the rest of his football experience like a job – a guy that plays because he’s good enough to earn a living playing, but doesn’t particularly enjoy it.
Cann’s approach to the hoopla counted more on my ranking system than any tackle or block. I want to see kids who passionately love the game suit up for the Gamecocks – there’s several on the team now, but they and any other program can always use more. I don’t need to hear predictions of greatness – I just want to see earnest expressions of pulling on the jersey some day and getting to play on that stretch of grass off Bluff Road.
Those are the true stars. You just hope they don’t burn out before they get to where they’re going.
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David Cloninger. David is a full-time staff writer for GamecockCentral, and covers Gamecock football, men's basketball, baseball and recruiting. He may be reached by email at david(at)gamecockcentral.com. Replace (at) with @.