First commitment

[Hoofprint]

Way to go coaches! Get some big meaty fellas on the lines!

[Hilltopper]

If we can hang on to Billups, this is a HUGE start to this year's class! Getting a player of that size, especially if he has the talent to draw recruiting interest from other major programs, is a great way to get the ball rolling. And getting the first commitment this early is sure to lend confidence to other players who are considering making a commitment to the Ponies.

Great job, coaches. Stay on him, keep recruiting him to make sure he knows he made the right decision!

[Guest]

Let's see if this guy stays with us the entire season. I hope so. At least we are moving in the right direction.

[SMUguy]

How did we get this guy? Has anyone seen him play? Is he for real?

[WildHorse]

This is huge that this kid has committed, but we need to recruit him almost as much or more than other kids. We need to stay on him all the time -- he'd better be at camp -- and encourage him to help recruit other players into his class. For all the work our coaches and players put in recruiting a kid, there's nothing as convincing as hearing another HS senior say "I'm going to SMU, here's why I'm going to SMU, and I want you to be there with me." Get Billups a hat and a shirt, and have him at EVERY home game, meeting other members of his class.

[Coach Rob]

I volunteered at the SMU camp last Sunday, and Darrian Billups was there. He is a ligit 6'31/2 or 6'4 and every bit of 275-285lbs. I helped Coach Giles and Coach Sawyer with the DL and got to see Billups up close and personal. He's a good one. If the Mustangs can land Corey Ford to play DE. they will definitely be moving in the right direction.

[HorsePower]

Nice work, Coach Rob - help us get Corey to bolster the defensive line!

[smu'06]

Coach Rob,
We need to get you a SMU shirt/hat and a direct line into Coach Cavan's office.

It seems as if you could be a huge allie in teh DFW area recruiting battle(s)

[Guest]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR><font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by SMUguy:
<B>How did we get this guy? Has anyone seen him play? Is he for real?</B></font><HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Hello SMUguy,
I am new to ponyfan.com and I am the mother of Darrian Billups. Yes he is for real and he committed to SMU for the 2002 school year.
Look out this year he has a brother that was given a chance as a walk on also. His name is Cedric Billups. Cedric and Darrian lost their junior and senior year season because of an evil coach who refused to sign an Athletic Participation form as required for athletes who transfer to other schools. Cedric and Darrian transferred to Arlington Bowie in September 2000 from Mansfield H.S. maybe you read about them. The head coach protested all the way and labeled the move as being for athletic purposes. When actually we had a new home built and my mom died so that left Cedric and Darrian with relatives and attending Bowie. The both of them lost their 2000 season. This hurt Cedric and he lost all of the recruiting offers. As for Darrian after almost a year away from Mansfield, the head coach and principal filed yet another protest to block Darrian's senior year play. But it was ruled on June 6 that we did not move for athletic purposes and mansfield had to shut-up. Cedric in his junior year was selected as all - district 7 5A, 1st team defense, all area and ended his season with 118 tackles. he is 6'0 and 190 runs the 40 in 4.6 played linebacker in high school. Will be attending SMU as a walkon DB. Has been working out with the new strength and conditioning coach this summer and will be in pre-med. He is not yet a scholarship athlete for SMU, but mark my words he will be.

[SMUguy]

MOTHEROF -
Welcome aboard. Glad to have you on <A HREF="http://www.PonyFans.com." TARGET=_blank>www.PonyFans.com.</A> Thanks for all the information on your sons, and we all look forward to seeing them play.

[PonyPride]

MOTHEROF: Will Darrian be at the SMU camp July 28?

[Guest]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR><font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by PonyPride:
<B>MOTHEROF: Will Darrian be at the SMU camp July 28?</B></font><HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

YES, HE ALSO ATTENDED CAMP BACK IN JUNE

[Guest]

Welcome to the Mustang family. Your boys will get a first class education and will not fall through the cracks of a football factory. As fans, we would like to win more games than we have the past two years, but SMU takes care of its players and does it the right way. Best of luck to your family.

[smu man]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR><font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by MOTHEROF:
<B> Hello SMUguy,
I am new to ponyfan.com and I am the mother of Darrian Billups. Yes he is for real and he committed to SMU for the 2002 school year.
Look out this year he has a brother that was given a chance as a walk on also. His name is Cedric Billups. Cedric and Darrian lost their junior and senior year season because of an evil coach who refused to sign an Athletic Participation form as required for athletes who transfer to other schools. Cedric and Darrian transferred to Arlington Bowie in September 2000 from Mansfield H.S. maybe you read about them. The head coach protested all the way and labeled the move as being for athletic purposes. When actually we had a new home built and my mom died so that left Cedric and Darrian with relatives and attending Bowie. The both of them lost their 2000 season. This hurt Cedric and he lost all of the recruiting offers. As for Darrian after almost a year away from Mansfield, the head coach and principal filed yet another protest to block Darrian's senior year play. But it was ruled on June 6 that we did not move for athletic purposes and mansfield had to shut-up. Cedric in his junior year was selected as all - district 7 5A, 1st team defense, all area and ended his season with 118 tackles. he is 6'0 and 190 runs the 40 in 4.6 played linebacker in high school. Will be attending SMU as a walkon DB. Has been working out with the new strength and conditioning coach this summer and will be in pre-med. He is not yet a scholarship athlete for SMU, but mark my words he will be.

</B></font><HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Does anyone know anything about coach Schumann ? Does he have an eye for prospects whether they are walk-ons or scholarships ? or does he just focus on scholarships. Cedric is there as a walk -on DB and was told by coach schumann that there was no chance there for him because of 8 scholarships ahead of him. He hadn't hit the field when he was told this. He was told that he didn't have the moves of a safety because he lost ground doing the back pedal. This made him feel displaced. you know what I mean. sort of like o.k. where do I go now ? So someone tell me is there room for a prospective DB or not ?

Thanks
MOTHEROF

[Corso]

Not so fast, my friends! Yes, there definitely IS room for a walk-on DB. It might just take a while. Sure, Schumann is like other coaches who focus first on the guys they worked hard recruiting and signed to scholarships -- that's logical enough. But Schumann is a smart coach, too. He's not going to turn a player away simply because the player isn't on a scholarship. Have Cedric talk to Brian Bischoff when Bischoff gets to his first practice with the returning players. Brian walked on two (or is it three?) years ago. He was told he's too small and too slow. So all he did was out-work just about everyone on the team. He bulked up by working hard in the weight room. He started with the scout team in practice, and made play after play after play. Coaches could point to any measuring tape or stopwatch they wanted, but they could not deny he was a player. Eventually, before last (1999) season, he earned a scholarship and started some games.

Tell Cedric to keep his head up and work hard, and to not let the coaches defeat him just because they're committed to covering themselves by trying to coax performance out of the guys they signed to scholarships. Help him be the hardest worker out there and the most resilient, thick-skinned Pony on the field. Because if he's as good as you say, and others who have seen him, he'll appreciate it even more when he does earn his spot.

(By the way, one scholarship is out of the way -- there's rumors that Leroy Price is out for the year.)