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'06 MD CB A.J. Wallace (Penn State signee)

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From the Washington Post:

Terps Playing Catch-Up In Recruiting


[SIZE=-1]By Josh Barr
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, October 19, 2005; E01
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<NITF>There was no mistaking the sales pitch that Maryland made to Ike Whitaker. The most unsettled position on the Terrapins' roster was quarterback. Whitaker, the Northwest High star, had pretty much narrowed his college choice to the Terrapins and Virginia Tech. At Maryland, he would have a chance to start as a freshman, perhaps leading the state school as it tried to reclaim a spot near the top of the ACC.
"They made no bones about it," Northwest Coach Randy Trivers said. "They wanted him to be the quarterback of the future and felt he was good enough to come in there and compete. And he made no secret that was something that intrigued him."
As much as that interested Whitaker, though, tomorrow night he will be a spectator on the visitor's sideline at Byrd Stadium when Virginia Tech plays Maryland. Instead of vying to be the Terrapins' quarterback, Whitaker chose to go to Virginia Tech, where he is a freshman redshirting while junior Marcus Vick leads the third-ranked Hokies.
For all of the gains Maryland has made in Friedgen's tenure, he knows there is a ways to go before the Terrapins are on equal footing with some of the schools against which they often compete for players.
"Sometimes you have to have a tradition that is longer than three years," Coach Ralph Friedgen said, alluding to the 31 victories in his first three seasons before last year's 5-6 finish. "Eventually, that's what I would like to have. I just went through Ohio and every kid there dreams of going to Ohio State and they come in late [in the recruiting process] and get those kids. I'd like to get to that point, but we're not there yet.
"Virginia and Virginia Tech have had a little longer tradition of winning. George Welsh got Virginia going [in the 1980s] and tailed a little bit but not a lot. [Virginia Tech Coach Frank Beamer] has had a chance to build that program over 19 years. I would like to think over the same amount of time, we will be able to do that also."
Football recruiting is an inexact science, as much about quantity in some senses as it is about quality. On an individual level, being a highly ranked recruit does not guarantee success at the college level, and even well-regarded classes can fall short of expectations. Still, the schools ranked highly by recruiting gurus from year to year tend to be the same schools that finish among the best on the field.
Friedgen believes his staff is making progress, having landed what most experts regarded as top-20 classes the past two seasons. Maryland currently has five players from Virginia, but only one starter, wide receiver Derrick Fenner of Hampton. Virginia Tech has five players from Maryland and three from Washington on its roster with guard Jason Murphy of Baltimore the only starter.
"We really hit the state of Virginia hard, and we include Maryland and the Washington area in that same vicinity," said Virginia Tech recruiting coordinator Jim Cavanaugh, who was a Maryland assistant in the 1980s. "If you're in Northern Virginia, it's just a stone's throw to Maryland and the D.C. area."
One aspect that Virginia Tech uses as a selling point is the continuity of its staff. Beamer's assistants have been at Virginia Tech for an average of 11 years. Billy Hite, a DeMatha High graduate who recruits the Washington Catholic Athletic Conference, has been at Virginia Tech since 1978. The Hokies have had plenty of success under Beamer, playing in bowl games in 12 consecutive years.
"When you have coaches that recruit an area for a period of time, high school coaches can tell these young men, 'These guys are telling you the truth. They're not just giving you the recruiting pitch,' " Cavanaugh said.
Maryland also has had coaching stability, with only two departures from Friedgen's original coaching staff. But those departures were significant, with the Terrapins changing recruiting coordinators twice in the three years. Mike Locksley, retained by Friedgen from Ron Vanderlinden's staff, went to Florida and now is the offensive coordinator at Illinois, where he continues to recruit the Washington area. James Franklin succeeded Locksley but left this past offseason to join the Green Bay Packers' coaching staff.
"You can't lose two guys like those guys," said Jeremy Crabtree, a national recruiting analyst for http://rivals.com . "Franklin and Locksley were two of the best guys in the business. Not just locally, but in the country. They're virtually irreplaceable. There are not just dynamic recruiters, but also for their organizational skills."
This year's senior class is considered one of the best ever in the Washington area, with a dozen nationally recruited prospects. With so many good players, some more distant schools -- including some that seldom recruit here -- are entering the fray. Quince Orchard linebacker Bani Gbadyu has committed to Louisiana State. Schools such as Oklahoma and Nebraska are in the mix for players such as McDonough defensive back A.J. Wallace and Forestville offensive lineman Antonio Logan-El, who once pledged to Maryland but since has said he wants to explore his options before making a decision.
"When I first came in, I said I wanted to recruit area kids and people didn't think we could win with area kids," Friedgen said. "Now we not only have Virginia and Virginia Tech [recruiting the Baltimore-Washington corridor], we have Oklahoma, Michigan, Ohio State and Southern Cal in here. It's become a lot harder from that standpoint."
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© 2005 The Washington Post Company​
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also from the post:

McDonough's Wallace Answers Self-Challenge
Touted Recruit Reverses Slow Start


[SIZE=-1]By Alan Goldenbach
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, October 12, 2005; E09
[/SIZE]
<NITF>In a quiet respite from his chaotic senior season, McDonough's A.J. Wallace stood before the mirror in the school's weight room last week and challenged himself.
"I looked at myself and I said, 'I know I could do better than this,' " he said.
One of the nation's most heavily recruited players in the class of 2006, Wallace entered Monday night's game at Huntingtown having rushed for just 92 yards on 28 carries his previous two games. There were whispers around Southern Maryland -- which Wallace heard -- that he might not be worth all the hype.
"I was thinking about that a little bit," said the 6-foot-1, 195-pound Wallace, who is being recruited as a defensive back. "Some people around [Charles County] were questioning my ability. When I got named to the [U.S. Army All-American Bowl on Sept. 14] that's when I felt the most pressure to start to produce."
Wallace certainly produced in McDonough's 24-6 victory against the Hurricanes. On the first play from scrimmage, he ran 38 yards for a touchdown. After Huntingtown scored on the next series, the Rams handed off to Wallace again on first down, and he ran 68 yards for another touchdown.
On a slippery field, Wallace finished with a career-high 268 yards on 24 carries with three touchdowns.
"A.J. was back to his old self," McDonough Coach Dave Bradshaw said.
It might be because Wallace is healthy for the first time this season. He pulled a quadriceps muscle in McDonough's first scrimmage, and was not recovered by the opener. He still played, but was clearly a step off, gaining only 75 yards in a 20-6 loss to Chopticon.
Then, in the second quarter of last week's loss to No. 6 Westlake, Wallace was spiked in the ribs while making a tackle, which gave him trouble breathing the rest of the game.
All the while, he has managed dozens of phone calls and gossip about his recruitment, which has taken him to Ohio State and Florida State on official visits, and last weekend to Penn State on an unofficial trip. He plans to visit Nebraska in two weeks, and Florida, LSU and Miami are competing for his final two official visits. He said he plans to announce his college choice at the All-American Bowl on Jan. 7 in San Antonio.
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© 2005 The Washington Post Company​
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http://ohiostate.scout.com/2/455381.html
<table align="center" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="1" width="98%"> <tbody><tr> <td colspan="3"> Bucknuts Mag Excerpts: A Man In Demand

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A.J. Wallace
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</td> <td valign="top"> By Bucknuts.com Staff

Date: Oct 20, 2005

One of the top out-of-state recruits looking in Ohio State's direction is cornerback A.J. Wallace of Pomfret, Md. In the latest issue of Bucknuts the Magazine, Charles Babb did a profile on Wallace and what makes him such a highly sought after prospect. Check out an portion of that article in this week's version of Bucknuts Magazine excerpts.
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As part of the redesign of the Bucknuts.com web site, we have added an area where we can publish excerpts from Bucknuts The Magazine. Each week, we will put in a new excerpt from the latest edition of Bucknuts The Magazine.
BTM has evolved from humble beginnings as a 32-page magazine into its current format as an 80-page magazine. It is published 10 times a year (monthly from September through April, then once in the Spring and Summer).
The magazine retails for $4.95 on newsstands. We also sell annual subscriptions to the magazine on the Internet for $39.95.
But the best deal going is our annual subscription bundle. For $99.95, you get a full year of BTM as well as access to all of the premium content and message boards on Bucknuts.com. Subscriptions to the web site, itself, are priced at $9.95 per month. So, for roughly $100 you receive the value of almost $160 between the web site and magazine.
In each issue of Bucknuts The Magazine, we have in-depth features on Ohio State football players, coaches and prospects. We also have analysis pieces on the Buckeyes as well as their opponents, the Big Ten and college football world in general. Plus, we have features on OSU athletes in a variety of sports, including men's and women's basketball, hockey, wrestling, baseball and other sports.
Our newest issue, the cheerleader issue, will be on newsstands and in mailboxes soon. Click here for more on Bucknuts the Magazine.
Headline: A Man In Demand
Charles Babb

If A.J. Wallace stole a page out of a medical doctor’s book by charging even a slight fee for his time, he would be one wealthy young man right about now. Each year, there are a few recruits who garner massive attention, and with nearly 60 scholarship offers (56 to be exact), Wallace, one of the country’s top defensive backs in the class of 2006, is one of those recruits.
Duane Long, the recruiting editor for Bucknuts The Magazine, noted, “His offer list speaks for itself. When you look at who wants this kid, I think it says a lot about what kind of athlete he is – not that many recruiting coordinators will make that kind of a mistake. LSU, Oklahoma, Ohio State, Michigan, and all these schools – that’s pretty impressive what he has done.”
Long left out Miami (Fla.), Florida, Virginia Tech, Tennessee, Maryland, Georgia and a host of others who are after Wallace, a product of Pomfret (Md.) McDonough High School. Wallace’s head coach David Bradshaw admitted were he not trying to be professional and avoid asking college coaches for autographs, he could have a wall full of pictures to make rabid collectors insanely jealous.
“I’ll tell you there have been so many through,” said Bradshaw. “Even teams that aren’t on his radar anymore are still calling. Ohio State, Nebraska, Florida, Maryland, Michigan are the ones I have had the most interaction with lately.”
According to Wallace, “I get calls probably about four or five times a week (from reporters).”
The new horizon in recruiting, though, is a loophole the NCAA has yet to close. This year, coaches are making hay with text messaging, and Wallace is beleaguered with messages “all times of the day, basically every day.”
“Ohio State, Florida State, Florida, LSU, Nebraska and Miami have sent the most. They just give me an update on how their schools are going, how practice is going and how spring practice went. They’re trying to get me out there to see their school.”
OSU assistant coach Luke Fickell, Wallace’s lead recruiter at Ohio State, often text messages him a half dozen times daily. But Wallace doesn’t mind.
“I don’t have any problems with it,” he said. “I guess it just keeps me motivated because the coaches really want to talk with me. I enjoy talking to the coaches.”
“For some it is overwhelming,” Bradshaw said of the attention Wallace is earning. “I feel bad for some kids without a good family structure. Nobody is looking out for them, and it can hinder their academic performance during their senior year. He is doing pretty good. It was overwhelming for him. He was a 16-year-old kid when it first started coming in; at the beginning it was a little overwhelming. We tried to keep him focused. I met with his parents several times and have a plan.
“We tried to have college recruiters only come in during his elective classes so he didn’t miss any core classes – or tried to have them come in after school. It was a little tough on him at first, but he didn’t have any major problems other than the phone calls, but he has dealt with it well. It hasn’t changed his personality at all. It hasn’t made him cocky or big-headed. He has remained pretty constant.”
So does Wallace suddenly have more fans than a rock star? What has so many top flight programs and a virtual who’s who of the early top 10 teams of 2005 drooling at the thought of him wearing their uniform?
“He just has a great amount of God-given ability,” Bradshaw believes. “He is a big kid at 6-1 ½ and 200 pounds. He is able to move laterally and get back to top speed. He is a great competitor on both sides of the ball and has been a conference leader as a rusher. He has great hands. He is just very dangerous. He is very tough to defend because he can do so many things.
“Defensively, he is able to defend larger receivers. He is able to read things well and able to break on the ball and read well. We watch a lot of film. The kids can come in and put extra time on that. He has always come in before practice and after practice. He has a natural ability to see things happen. He has great vision on both sides of the ball. Some kids have talent but things move 100 miles per hour for them out there. Other things slow down because they have that great vision. He has that vision.”
While viewing several online film clips of Wallace, Long could not help but express his appreciation for his talents with grunts and appreciative murmurs. Summoning his voice at last, he said, “The thing is he is a great athlete. He has a great body on him and has that thing you hear all the time in recruiting and is very important – explosiveness. That’s why we measure high jumps. That’s why we measure long jumps. That is what you are looking for – that explosion. You have to see the ball and adjust to the ball. Some do it instinctively, some can be taught, but others never catch on. I don’t think people get a grasp of the importance of that for a defensive player. It’s hugely important. You think it is a simple thing, but it’s not. It’s depth perception. This kid here, he has it. He has ball skills.”
If that weren’t enough to interest schools who want to win, like the infomercials on television – “Wait, there’s more.” Wallace admits he relishes contact and enjoys being free to legally hit people as much as he wants on the field and never get in trouble for it. A competitor in the 100- and 200-meter events for his high school, he blazes down the track with a hand held time of 10.46 seconds in the 100-meter dash (10.6 electronically). In the 200, he clocks in at 21.6 seconds.
His body size will allow coaches in college to take their choice; they can keep him slim and play him cornerback in college or add 15-20 pounds and move Wallace over to become a headhunting, ball stealing safety. He is already physically ready to compete with a 305 bench, 400 squat, and a vertical of 37 ½ inches.
Academically, he will have no problems clearing NCAA requirements with his 3.2 grade point average and a 21 on his last ACT. He produces on the field, playing running back and corner as a junior. He amassed 177 carries, 1,367 yards and 22 touchdowns rushing the football. He also had 12 receptions for 224 yards and two touchdowns catching the ball. Defensively, Wallace tallied 65 tackles, 17 pass break-ups, and three interceptions at defensive back. And, for good measure, he returned three punts for touchdowns.
For Wallace, though, his physical gifts or jaw-dropping numbers are not what sets him apart; he believes what might turn him into a special player at the next level is “dedication for the game.”
“I work on a lot of things to improve my game,” he said. “When I get on the field, it all pays off with speed, making moves and being able to read quarterbacks. Outside of practice time I go out to the field and work on my defensive back drills and work in the weight room.”

<center>Excerpt from Nov. 2005 issue of Bucknuts the Magazine</center></td></tr></tbody> </table>
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Nebraska Rivals - 10/20/05

A.J. talks about his upcoming visit to Nebraska (10/29 for the Oklahoma game); he has made two unofficial visits to Lincoln, for camp in 2004 and for the spring game in 2005. He will visit with his friend, OL J.B. Walton.

Personal take: I know that A.J. liked his Florida State official visit and his Penn State unofficial, but Nebraska has always been the Bucks strongest competition for this top recruit. A.J. is familiar with the Husker program, and coach Elmassian (Nebraska's DB coach) is a great recruiter, so his official visit to Nebraska could be very telling.
 
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LordJeffBuck said:
Nebraska Rivals - 10/20/05

A.J. talks about his upcoming visit to Nebraska (10/29 for the Oklahoma game); he has made two unofficial visits to Lincoln, for camp in 2004 and for the spring game in 2005. He will visit with his friend, OL J.B. Walton.

Personal take: I know that A.J. liked his Florida State official visit and his Penn State unofficial, but Nebraska has always been the Bucks strongest competition for this top recruit. A.J. is familiar with the Husker program, and coach Elmassian (Nebraska's DB coach) is a great recruiter, so his official visit to Nebraska could be very telling.
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I agree, but I think in the end, he's a Buckeye
 
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Nebraska may just beat Oklahoma (2 OTs to beat BAYLOR?!?!?!?!) this season, but that beating that Nebraska took at the hands of Mizzou tells me that this program is still a few years off. I imagine that would hurt them with a player the caliber of AJ.
 
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