Derek Tomlin--Southlake Carroll

[mavsrage311]

Tomlin is a good kid and a great player. He was the heart and soul of the Carroll defense. He really wants to be an Aggie and really wants to play in the Big 12 and I think he is going to take a shot.

And two words for those who get caught in the trap of just looking at size and speed....JOE PAWELEK

He was not supposed to be big enough or fast enough but all he did was make plays at Smithson Valley and now that is all he is doing for Baylor.

Heart and Smarts don't always show up on paper.

That's ok. SMU has more than its share of potential diamonds in the rough. We are actually on the poster that promotes them. I would, for a change, like to start out with some appropriate size and speed kids. We can mop up with the hidden heart kids. If you wish to keep listing the small players that made it big, I will counter with 100 players that were big and fast and lived up to their expectations. In other words with all due respect to Justin Rogers, I want him as a finished product rather than a work in process.

I've been saying that for a while now, but unfortunately we are not in a position yet where the finished products want to come here. We'll always have to reach for a diamond in the rough or 3, but if JJ can get us winning sooner rather than later, we'll get start getting more of the "finished products"

[jacklewis]

if you ever saw Joe Pawelek play in high school, you'd know he was not a "diamond in the rough". He was a helluva MLB for Smithson Valley...lost to Chase Daniel and Southlake in the state title game....he made virtually every tackle for SV. And sure enough, at the last minute Baylor offered him and a year later (as a RS FR) he was their leading tackler.

the problem is the college coaches don't have time to go watch all these recruits play...they've got to coach their own games during the fall. So, they're just relying on videos, combine numbers, connections w/hs coaches, what their needs are, and I suppose how the so-called "experts" at Rivals or Scouts, Inc. rate a player.....and THEY'VE never seen em all play either!

If you just saw Pawelek, who was 6-3, 215 pounds as a senior in HS, play in the state title game alone, any school in the country would offer him on the spot...but 90% of the big school scholarships are handed out by Dec 20, when a state title game is played. So, it came down to Baylor, Houston, and Wash St for him

This is why you can look at any NFL roster and see that 40% of the players went to non-BCS schools. It's our job at SMU to find those players!