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Update: Jovani Chappel and Jerel Leak

Highstreet

Heisman
Update: Jovani Chappel and Jerel Leak
By: Greg Powers

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Trotwood Madison head coach Maurice Douglass was a standout in the defensive backfield for the Chicago Bears, so it is safe to assume that Douglass knows a good defensive back when he sees one.

Jovani Chappel and Jerel Leak are both being heavily pursued by college recruiters from across the nation.

Jerel Leak is drawing interest from schools like Boston College, Ohio State, West Virginia, Florida, Wisconsin, Toledo, Purdue, and South Carolina. Leak claims no offers at this time, but one school may be close to making a move. “Boston College looks like they want to put one (an offer) on the table,” said coach Douglass.

Just because Leak holds no offers “in-hand” there is no reason to doubt his talent. Standing at 5’10 he is an explosive force on the offensive side of the ball, and wide receiver is the position where some schools project him at on the next level. “He is probably one of the best open field runners I have seen with the ball. He reminds me a lot of Chris Gamble with the ball in his hands, but I view everyone as a defensive back and that is where I think he will end up playing in college,” informed Douglass.

Look for Leak to be mentioned more and more as the recruiting season and his grades progress.

Jovani Chappel is a name that has been resonating in the minds of college coaches for over two years. Jovani was offered a scholarship by Illinios, as a freshman, after a standout performance at a Cincinnati combine. To this point he has also received offers from Notre Dame, Boston College, North Carolina, Penn State, West Virginia, Purdue, and Toledo.

It is obvious that by the offers that have been extended to Chappel that he has the physical tools to be a “flat-out lockdown corner” on the next level. Standing at 5’8 Jovani plays much bigger. He is a fearless and aggressive tackler. Although his stature may be slight he is very strong as is evident by the fact that while he weighs in at only 170 he can bench-press 300 pounds. “He is strong, he is physical, and he has got the hips. He can play pound you corner with anybody right now,” Douglass astutely proclaimed.

There has been much speculation on where Ohio State and Chappel stand with each other, and let there be no confusion…there is a strong mutual interest on behalf of both parties.

Jovani was invited and attended the Ohio State junior day, and he receives a letter from the Buckeyes two or three times a week. To date the Buckeyes have not extended an official offer, but that is not going to deter Chappel from working hard to gain one. Douglass has been constructively advising Jovani on this subject, “I told him if you really like Ohio State and that is one of the schools that you would be really interested in attending then you go out and show them.”

There have been incidents in the past where top in-state student athletes have not gotten an early offer from the Buckeyes and have simply dropped them from consideration. Could this be the case with Jovani?

“For some kids it is kinda hard because a lot of times their pride steps in the way. I guess if you look at it and you say I got an offer from this school here and this school there and your home state school is not going to offer me then I will go somewhere else. My thing is if you really want to be at your home state school and maybe you are not an early February or March offer kid, but if you go in there and they offer you in June, well then June sounds good to me. As a defensive back you have to believe that nobody can beat you, so you have to walk with a little chip on your shoulder anyway, but you still have to be reasonable. The key thing is having it (offer) at the end.”

There may be a couple of things play in Ohio State’s favor when it comes to Chappel’s recruitment.

“Coach Hayes is taking over for coach Mel and I know Hayes liked him a lot up at Michigan State.” Jovani also has a personal connection to the Buckeyes program. “One of his good buddies is Will Allen. He learned some lessons from Will being at Ohio State. You can go in and sit for two or three years and still make out, or you can go in and start right away. He is open-minded about the whole thing and that is the good thing about it,” said Douglass.

Chappel is well on his way to having a successful career whether it is on the field or off. He currently checks in with a 3.2 core grade point average and plans an early enrollment into the college of his choice.
 
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