DeMikel Shankle

[westexSMU]

Another fast DB in this years recruiting class, 4.4 forty with good size 6' 195.

[OC Mustang]

SMU picked up a couple of players after signing day, the most notable will be Serge Elizee and his 6'1" 310 lb frame taking space in the middle of SMU defense's interior line.

Add him and Shankel to the class, and it is rounded out nicely, even if a little late and not BCS (that's for you, Stallion, so you don't get the wrong idea about my comments...and I resent that fact that you will roast me if I don't add that...is like being politically correct...don't like it).

[PonyKai]

Who cares if its football "PC" or not. In the end this is a good recruiting class with several impact players and recruits who have the mindset and ability to become very valuable pieces to the success of SMU football. Keep a very close eye on LB/DE Justin Smart. A very close eye.

[ponyboy]

You really gotta like the way that Bennett is working. Orsini's really lit a fire under him. You don't often see a second honeymoon.

[BUS]

Would look to me that there was no fire lit but maybe a little more slack given to admit players.

Ask Stallion, we are not exactly on a level playing field. Bennett and staff work hard to bring the best players to SMU. As in the past... sometimes SMU won't take what the coach brings by.

I wish Serge could play this year.

[westexSMU]

[quote="BUS"]

I wish Serge could play this year.[/quote]..........First, has Serge already actually signed ?....and does he have to sit out this year ? I know the Div. 1 transfer rule, but I thought there is another rule that says in effect if a student athelete's major is dropped at one school he can then transfer to another without a penalty ? True ? Serge went to Minnesota with the understanding he could get in to the Business School their and could not. Seems he should be allowed to play this year after transfering right ?

[Roach]

No, he hasn't signed yet, but he has been quoted in the Minneapolis Star-Tribune as saying he's "probably going to transfer to SMU" (if I remember the quote correctly). Two interesting rumors: even with the inclusions of Shankle and Elizee (assuming he does, in fact, make the move to the Hilltop), the class might not yet be complete, and apparently there's talk that Shankle could play immediately, without redshirting. First things first: Welcome to SMU, DeMikel, and I hope those knees are 100 percent healthy.

[mavsrage311]

I wish Serge could play this year.

..........First, has Serge already actually signed ?....and does he have to sit out this year ? I know the Div. 1 transfer rule, but I thought there is another rule that says in effect if a student athelete's major is dropped at one school he can then transfer to another without a penalty ? True ? Serge went to Minnesota with the understanding he could get in to the Business School their and could not. Seems he should be allowed to play this year after transfering right ?

I like to hear that, not that Minnessota wouldn't let him into their business school, but that Serge is smart enough to realize that there IS life after college football, and maybe just maybe he won't get into the NFL. That he's thinking about what degree he wants to get makes me think he's already a smart young man

[WorldStang]

Welcome to the Hilltop DeMikel.. hit the weight room and build muscle all around those knees my man! Look forward to seeing you, Jesse Henderson, Bryan McCann and Aldrick Robinson blazing the turf at Ford!

Speed Baby!! It's not something you can teach..

[OC Mustang]

Who cares if its football "PC" or not. In the end this is a good recruiting class with several impact players and recruits who have the mindset and ability to become very valuable pieces to the success of SMU football. Keep a very close eye on LB/DE Justin Smart. A very close eye.

I paraphrase (for the umpteenth time) back to a current coach here at Marshall who coached in Commerce when Justin Rogers was in high school that Justin Smart was as talented as Rogers, he was just bigger than Rogers at the some point (at the end of high school). Coach Rodney Southern, former coach of Marshall, told me straight to my face that he expected me to keep an eye on Justin, because he was definitely going to. He said that the only person as talented as Smart that he had ever coached was drafted and played in the NFL (didn't get the name, but Southern isn't prone to hyperbole, so I take him at his word).

I hope that I don't see Justin this summer (he has good friends who live two doors down from us) b/c I hope he stays in Dallas and studies, trains, and generally enjoys himself. I think he will be a real player for SMU.

[westexSMU]

[quote="Roach"]apparently there's talk that Shankle could play immediately, without redshirting.[/quote]............Shankle is not a transfer. He is a High School Senior and therefore he could play immediately just like any of the other recruits in the 2007 recruiting class. The only difference between him and the other recruits is he did not sign on the first signing day.

[Roach]

Right (not a transfer). All I meant is that while many freshmen do redshirt (Coach Bennett has said many times he'd like to redshirt them all, or at least most of them), there is talk that he's good enough to step into the rotation right away. We'll see in August.

[Grider]

apparently there's talk that Shankle could play immediately, without redshirting.

............Shankle is not a transfer. He is a High School Senior and therefore he could play immediately just like any of the other recruits in the 2007 recruiting class. The only difference between him and the other recruits is he did not sign on the first signing day.

Maybe I missed it, but I think he was simply saying that Shankle might be good enough to play this year, not that he was eligible to play this year. Regardless, I've got to think this a good guy to take a chance on. It didn't work out with Happy Gilmour, as I don't think he ever fully recovered, but there's a lot of upside to taking chances like this.

*edit* Roach, you posted while I was writing. Now I don't feel as cool

[ponydawg]

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