College Football Recruiting: Zeke Pike and other Five star Busts
There’s no such thing as a can’t-miss prospect. For every Matthew Stafford, Matt Barkley, and Adrian Peterson there are, you have the Will Hill’s, Bryce Brown’s, and Michael Dyers of the world. Why would someone who possesses all the talent of the world simply become lazy and unmotivated and throw it all away?
As a freshman at Florida, Will Hill had the size and speed of most NFL caliber safeties, but didn’t have the drive, and admittedly so. The now Safety for the NY Giants never hid what he did:
“I had smoked in college,” Hill said. “It wasn’t about failing drug tests, but the coaches knew I smoked, and that’s what the NFL asked about.
“My problem was off the field. By me doing this I can stay in shape and still look at the NFL. I had off the field problems like partying and things. That’s what kept me from the NFL. If I clean up my act and show I can still play, I can still get there.”
Hill’s admittance seems genuine, and he looks like he could achieve the ultimate goal, but why put yourself in the position of failure and uncertainty in the first place. Chalk that one up to selfishness. Putting yourself before your team when you have a chance to do something only other dream about.
Then there are odd cases where a once-a-decade player just quits. Bryce Brown was arguably the top prospect in the 2009 class. He had it all, speed, size, ability to make people miss. But for whatever reason he didn’t want to work towards a higher goal.
After he amassed 460 yards as a freshman at Tennessee he left abruptly on the first day of spring practice to attend Kansas State with his brother. He sat out the 2010 season and was in line to get significant playing time the following season. After 3 games and 16 yards later, Brown quit on his teammates.
“He lost a whole lot in making that decision,” said Brown’s close friend and former adviser Brian Butler. “He hurt himself a whole lot, and the team did really well without him. In the end, he made the decision that he thought was the right one for him even though others, including myself, wanted him not to make the decision. He was prepared to live with it.”
Laziness. Lucky for Brown he’s getting another chance with the Philadelphia Eagles. And he has a great chance to make the team, and show the world his talent. Something he never did at Tennessee or Kansas State.
Zeke Pike, a highly recruited QB out of Kentucky, reminded many of a young Ben Roethlisberger. He had the size and arm that could force him on the field early in his career. He came to Auburn early, entered spring drills competing for a starting role with Clint Moseley and Kiehl Frazier, but struggled to make an impact and appeared to be third on the depth chart.
Then June came, along with a public intoxication arrest. This was superseded by missing his first game as a senior in high school for being ejected in a playoff game as a junior, getting kicked out of a 7-on-7 tournament and getting benched during a playoff game for a violation of team rules. Not to mention the twitter fights after he committed to Auburn with Alabama fans that brought negativity to the school.
After the public intoxication arrest coach Gene Chizik sent Pike home for the summer, and within the last week the decision for Pike to transfer came out.
Pike will get his second chance, but not as the Elite 11 QB he came to Auburn as, but instead as a TE for the Louisville Cardinals.
“You’re not in this game because you’re Joe Schmo. You’re here because you’re a good football player, and everybody who’s playing is a pretty good player,” Pike said at the Elite 11 camp. “It’s about me proving my ground and proving that I’m the best quarterback in the country. Now it’s time to prove to everybody watching the game.”
How about you prove you can keep your head on straight and maybe, just maybe, you can become the best TE in the country.
Then there is Michael Dyer, the starting RB as a freshman for the National Champion Auburn Tigers. One year after he made one of the biggest runs in Auburn history against Oregon in the BCS title game, he was given his conditional release due to the ever common violation of team rules. So Dyer, one of the most gifted RBs in the nation gets a second chance. He heads to Arkansas State for one more shot to prove to his family, friends, and most importantly himself that he can stay focused and make a name for himself at the next level. It didn’t last long as Dyer was pulled over for speeding and found with a gun and Marijuana in his possession.
State Trooper Royce Denney probably said it best, “It pisses me off that someone of your stature and your ability does this kind of stupid (expletive),”
Yes it does.
Coaches are putting a lot of time, effort, and money in teenage kids just to get a solid forty time and a promise to their school. So you can poke, prod, go over hours of tape, and see a player at multiple All-Star games, the things that you can’t measure – heart, drive and plain old-fashioned want – are the things that are most important. Unfortunately, these traits, or lack thereof, tend to show up too late
Now, the career of Zeke Pike is certainly not over by any means, but stories like his and countless others remind you there is no such thing as a can’t-miss prospect.
