Rivals Junior Day Sunday at Ford

[Stallion]

...one recruiting tidbit mentioned WR Anthony Jenkins of Ennis a likely Texas Top 100 mentioned that SMU coaches might offer after seeing him in person one more time. He said he would be at the Rivals Junior Day at SMU this weekend. He's interested in the Aggies as well as others but he seemed excited about the possibility of an SMU offer. He had a whopping 81 catches for 1,125 yards and 18 TDs last year-I don't think SMU had 18 TDs last year.

[This message has been edited by Stallion (edited 04-04-2003).]

[This message has been edited by Stallion (edited 04-04-2003).]

[Pegasus]

Stallion, I think we will have some offers, and mabey a commit. or two after the Spring game, what do think? Thanks for the info, and see ya Saturday!

[Pony Fan]

Sure would like to have the quarterback from Ennis, Graham Harrell, as well. I also heard a rumor that we are in on the number two quarterback in Florida whose father AND grandfather both played for SMU. Can't remember the name but will try to find it out.

[Stallion]

among the Players in the Rivals Database an extremely educated guess by a longtime SMU follower would be that the player is Drew Weatherford 6-3, 205 4.7 Pro-Style QB who was the Tampa Player of the Year as a Junior. He looks like an outstanding prospect and has been offered already by Auburn and Louisville and has interest from Top 10 programs from across the country. His blurb on Rivals doesn't mention SMU though and Florida St. is his clear favorite. This kid looks like one of the top QBs in the Nation and is considering an unbelievable collection of schools like FSU, Georgia, OU, Tennessee, USC, ND, Penn St. Auburn, and others. I would guess his father's name was Billy Weatherford who played at SMU in the early 1970s-I think he was from Hillcrest-There is also a William Weatherford who played at SMU in the late 1940s so that would fit the description. Check his Stats-151 completions on 215 attempts for 2494 yards and 37 TDs WOW! Keep those hints coming!

[This message has been edited by Stallion (edited 04-05-2003).]

[Pegasus]

Good detective work! Do you know what Juniors will be at the greatness of Ford Stadium today?

[Stallion]

No but Rivals should be adding in the information they get at this Junior Day in the coming weeks so we may get some idea of the players interested in SMU. BTW the Houston Rivals Junior Day at UH attracted only 90 players which is substantially less the number reported to be attending SMU's camp last year.

[Pegasus]

nothing against houston, but that is a positive sign for us! are you coming today?

[Lefty]

Didn't we have 200-plus juniors at LAST YEAR's Junior Day?

[Corso]

Found this in the St. Petersburg Times:

He (Weatherford)'s a natural-born athlete, scion of a family of athletes, the fourth of eight talented siblings. His father, Pat, played quarterback at Southern Methodist University, and his grandfather was on the same team with the famous Doak Walker.

[Corso]

And from Insiders:

Profile 2004 - Drew Weatherford (QB)
By Jamie Newberg
Date: Mar 6, 2003

Drew Weatherford is a quarterback prospect from Land O Lakes, Florida. He had a sensational junior year, completing 65% of his passes for over 2,600 yards and 39 touchdown passes. Weatehrford accomplished this despite playing with a bad knee all season long.

Drew Weatherford will be one of the top quarterback prospects from the state of Florida and in the country among the class of 2004. Weathorford, 6-3 and 200 pounds, plays for Land O Lakes High School north of Tampa. Last season as a junior, he threw for 2,645 yards, 39 touchdown passes and only six interceptions. Weatherford was 162 for 249 (65%). He did this despite playing with a torn cartilage (meniscus) in his knee.

"The knee injury happened doing some drills the week before our opener," said Weatherford. "It locked up on me and I knew I was hurt. I saw a doctor the day of our first game and they did a MRI and he said I couldn't play and scheduled me for surgery the following Monday. I didn't have surgery and played through it the entire season. I wore a brace all year and was about 70%. Playing means too much to me. I had faith that God would protect me."

Weatherford led Land O'Lakes to a 12-1 season. They eventually lost to Melbourne (Fla.) Palm Bay High School in the playoffs.

Obviously, one of his best attributes is toughness but he has so many more.

"Drew is just a great kid," Land O Lakes Head Coach John Benedetto said. "He is such a great competitor. Drew is on a mission to succeed and reach all of his goals. He wants to play in the NFL and I think he will get there. As a player, he is very talented, accurate and a winner who refuses to lose. When the game is on the line, he wants to make that big play and he did that for us on a number of occasions this past season. And Drew is the type of player that makes everyone around him a little better."

After the season, Weatherford did have surgery on the knee. That was the second knee injury in as many seasons. He is not quite 100% but working hard towards that goal.

"God has blessed me with a gift. I try hard out there and leave it all on the field, every game and every practice. That is how I was brought up. On the field, I make good decisions with the ball and I have a strong arm."

Despite it being so early in the recruiting process, Auburn, Louisville, Minnesota and South Florida have all extended him a scholarship offer. Certainly, there are many more to come his way over the next few months.

"Right now, Florida State is my favorite team. They have always been my team. I grew up actually playing middle linebacker and I just always loved the way Florida State played defense. They always got after it and I love (FSU Defensive Coordinator) Mickey Andrews' style.

"I also like Florida, Miami, Auburn, LSU, Notre Dame and Southern Cal. I want to go to a school where I am comfortable. I know football will end one day so academics are important to me. I also want to have a good relationship with the coaches and players."

Weatherford plans to attend the Nike Camp at Florida. He would also like to attend summer college camps at Florida State and Auburn. Last summer, he camped at Auburn.

[Pony Fan]

That is the guy.

[Bergermeister]

His grandad played with Doak Walker at Highland Park HS, too. William Weatherford (Pete) was Bobby Folsom's cousin. Their moms were the Skillern twin daughters (for those of you who remember Skillern's). It hasn't been that long since he passed away. He needs to move back into the bubble for his senior year and then move on over to the Hilltop.

[SMUFan]

Any way we can get Weatherford to SMU's camp this summer?

[Charleston Pony]

Sounds like a big time player looking at big time programs. When we get excited about the "legacy" factor, you have to remember that Dad and Granddad played at SMU when we were playing big time football. I hope, like everyone else does, that we can return to those days...but I see little evidence of that happening anytime soon.

It should make everyone appreciate the job Bennett and his staff did in getting Sturdivant to sign. That might have been an unusual situation, but let's hope guys like Sturdivant can help return this program to the level of it's proud heritage.