Joshua Shelmire
	Height	6-2
	Weight	185
	40-yard Dash	4.35
	Bench Press	240
	Vertical Leap	35 inches

247sports: **
Rivals: **
Scout: **
Greater Houston Top 100 (Houston Chronicle)
Second-Team All-Greater Houston (Houston Chronicle)
Finalist for Private School Offensive Player of the Year (Houston Touchdown Club)
247sports: No. 290 WR in country
247sports: No. 270 player in Texas

Last Year Statistics

73 receptions
1,543 yards
19 touchdowns

Strengths as a Player

Joshua Shelmire was the focal point of the Lutheran South offense, and with good reason: he has good size and exceptional speed. It would be easy to assume that anyone who averages a jaw-dropping 21.1 yards per catch would want to do nothing but catch the ball, but that’s not the case with Shelmire, an able — and just as importantly, willing — blocker. That combination of skills has drawn comparisons between Shelmire and Buffalo Bills wideout — and former Chad Morris student — Sammy Watkins.

Interviews

Lutheran Southern Academy head coach Stephen Robbins on Joshua Shelmire:

With his speed and size, especially at the high school level — he runs a legit 4.4 and has been clocked at 4.35 — we throw it up quite a bit and he can just run right by just about anyone. I don’t see Coach Morris doing that as much as we do, but he could if he wanted to.

It’s fun to watch him run. That sounds funny, but it’s true. During warm-ups, our quarterback would try to out-throw Josh … and that’s very hard to do. It’s hard to overthrow him.

I think he was a little overlooked in recruiting — not because he plays at a private school, but because there’s such a saturation of athletes in the Houston area. There’s a lot of talent in this area.

But D-I talent is D-I talent. If you’re able to excel and do all the camps, if you have the intangibles like he has and you’re able to put down a 4.35, you’re going to get found. Josh got found, and had some good schools after him.

I was a little surprised when he committed as early as he did — that was about a year ago. Full disclosure: I spent some time in Dallas, and I love SMU and what Coach Morris is doing up there. But with Josh, his upper end is really high, and I thought he kind of pulled the rug out from under himself as far as getting attention from top programs.

I sent an e-mail to the coaches. They do things the right way. They work together the right way, they treat their players the right way. Their family atmosphere, the way they get along — that had a big impact with him. He was supposed to go up to Northwestern that next week after he committed to SMU, but he called them and said “thank you, but no thank you.”

There were quite a few (schools that tried to get Shelmire to change his commitment), although I won’t give any names. I had a great conversation with an SMU coach who realized that with a guy as big and fast as Josh is, he knew we would need to keep the wolves away. I’m here for the kids, so if they want to look elsewhere, that’s one thing, but like Coach Morris said, once you’re committed, you’re committed.

Coach (Justin) Stepp came to one of our games after the Houston game. It’s one thing to see Josh on film, but to see him in person … it’s a man among boys.

I don’t know who he reminds me of. Kids are so infatuated with the receivers these days. The (Odell) Beckhams, down here the (DeAndre) Hopkinses … I don’t know if he’s like Dez Bryant, but there are some similarities. We know that when we throw the ball up, he’s going to go get it, and he makes some of the craziest catches, tapping his toes inbounds. He has amazing body control when the ball is in the air, just like Dez Bryant.

You know he’s going to run one of three routes — the fade, the comeback or some kind of post or slant. When you see Josh, when he catches the ball, there’s not one guy who’s going to bring him down, at least not at the high school level. We’ll throw him a tunnel screen, and when he makes one cut, you know he’s going (to the end zone). You’ve got to stop him, because you’re not going to run with him.

He’s stronger than he gets appreciated for. That’s one thing I’m really interested to see. There’s so much attention paid now at the college level to the strength room and diet. We don’t have an athletic period here — we lift two or three times a week, but at the college level, that’s only going to magnify, and when he starts that, he’s going to turn a lot of heads. He’s got the hands and he obviously has the speed, so now you’re talking about route running and strength, and that will get better — a lot better — when he gets coached at SMU and works out in their strength program.

One of the things about Josh: this kid does things the right way. I think he’s really going to be a good get for SMU. Not just the physical side — it’s the mental side and the work ethic. He’s going to be a really good get for SMU.

He had a lot of choices — a lot of really good choices, like Northwestern and Stanford. But now SMU is the best choice — it really is. If you look at those programs that offered him, to a football junkie who cares about academics, you could ask “how do you pass them up?”

I admit, I did a double-take when he committed so early, but once we talked it was clear SMU is the right choice. He has been committed for so long, there’s no doubt what he wanted to do and what he wanted to be a part of, so he spent a year dedicated to what he wanted to be a part of, dedicated to where he wants to be. It’s going to be fun to watch how good he gets at SMU.

Joshua Shelmire on why he chose SMU:

I got to meet (receivers) Coach (Justin) Stepp and Coach Morris, and I really liked both of them. It was nothing specific, but just the way they treated me and my family. If you spend any time around them, you’ll see what I mean. Coach Morris is a great family man, who really emphasizes character, cares about his players and really wants to win, just like my head coach (at Lutheran South: Stephen Robbins). Once I got to campus and got to meet the coaches, I knew I was going to commit.”

It was flattering to get the interest from other schools. I never wavered on my commitment to SMU, but I did enjoy the other schools being interested. Other schools — San Diego State, Oklahoma State, Northwestern, Memphis — came in late and tried to get me to change my mind. But I was never wavering.

I didn’t expect to commit as early as I did, but it just felt right from the start. Once I got to know the coaches and see the campus, I knew where I wanted to go to school.

Courtland Sutton was my host, and he was great. He took me to his dorm and showed me around campus. He’s a really excitable guy, a fun guy. He told me I’m going to love it, that the coaches are great, that I’ll get a great educational experience. He said I’ll fit right in.

It’s too early to say what happens next year. Coach Stepp told me, ideally, he wants me to play, but we have to wait and see what I can do. I plan to be in shape and ready to work, but there’s a lot to learn, too. (Stepp) was just saying that (LSA’s) offense does a lot of the same things they do at SMU — a lot of the same kind of plays, similar routes — so he thinks I should be able to make the transition pretty well. He seems really passionate, excitable. I think I should enjoy playing under him.