Colleges

Football recruits found in odd places

By GREG AUMAN
Published January 26, 2005

Call it the Antonio Gates effect.

With a week left before South Florida's promising recruiting class signs, one might wonder if the Bulls weren't inspired by the success of Gates, the tight end the San Diego Chargers unearthed as an undrafted free agent two years ago.

Gates never played college football but starred for Kent State in basketball, and this season he set an NFL record for touchdowns by a tight end.

His success raised a question: What if the best football players to be found haven't played much football?

Along the same lines, if you'd asked two of USF's most recent oral commitments what position they played a year ago, they would have answered "forward" and "right wing."

The Bulls have shown creativity in landing commitments from Amarri Jackson and Shane McElwain, who have made names in basketball and hockey, respectively.

McElwain, USF's 15th and most well-traveled commitment, didn't take up football until the past year and played junior league hockey in Saskatchewan for two seasons with the Notre Dame Hounds, a program that boasts Lightning stars Brad Richards and Vinny Lecavalier as alumni.

His 6-foot-4, 250-pound frame is well suited for tight end, and he brings a little hockey physicality to the field. "I was always the enforcer," he said.

USF was recruiting McElwain before he had played a down of high school football, and as recruits go, he's all about intangibles. Ask him for stats and he'll explain that he was a blocking tight end. Receptions last year? "Four or five, I think."

Before then he trained as a freshman at the prestigious IMG Academy in Bradenton, where he played a little tennis with a classmate named Maria Sharapova, or as he casually calls her, "the girl who just won Wimbledon." There's no need for Bulls fans to worry about him leaving football for tennis, however.

"I was horrible," he said.

Jackson is a 6-5, 190-pound sophomore in his second season with the Hillsborough Community College basketball team. USF recruited him for football as a senior at Sarasota Riverview but he didn't qualify academically. Unable to find a junior college football program close to home, he chose to play basketball at HCC and hasn't played football since 2002.

"He won't miss a beat," said John Sprague, his coach at Riverview. "He was our quarterback, but he played some wideout, too. He's got great hands, and he can run, throw and catch. He's going to be a very good football player."

The Bulls are looking at another Riverview quarterback, but not as a passer. Justin Hamilton, a 6-2, 180-pound senior, will make an official visit this weekend, and the Bulls have offered him a scholarship as a defensive back. He knows the position well, having intercepted six passes as a junior.

POPULAR MAN: Receivers coach Lawrence Dawsey continues to draw speculation about leaving. He first was linked with his alma mater, Florida State. Now with national signing day a week away, he has been tabbed a candidate to join former Seminoles coach Chuck Amato at North Carolina State. Four years ago, Amato hired Bulls offensive coordinator Mike Canales, now at Arizona, to run the Wolfpack offense.

But as with the FSU rumors, Dawsey was quick to end any talk of him leaving USF.

"I have no plans to go anywhere," Dawsey said Tuesday. "I don't know anything about (N.C. State). I know this time of year, people like to say you're going here or going there. I'm staying right here."

THIS AND THAT: The Big East will roll out a new logo to coincide with its new football lineup, and the conference took a recommendation from USF in choosing a brand development agency. The league picked the Silverman Group, the Connecticut company that created USF's new logo in 2003 and also designed the Lightning's logo. ... Among those scheduled to attend Thursday's basketball showdown with Cincinnati will be Tom Odjakjian, a Big East associate commissioner. He's in charge of setting up the 2005 conference football schedule, which is due out next month.

Times staff writer Greg Auman covers USF athletics. Reach him at 813 226-3346 or auman@sptimes.com

[Last modified January 26, 2005, 00:13:15]