CFB Recruiting – 5 Years Later – The Bust Edition

Look I get it. I really do.

People don’t live up to expectations, whether the ones that are cast on them are too much to shoulder or maybe they are just lazy, but here is my list of recruits who just did not make nearly the impact that they were expected to.

#4 Overall – Melvin Alaeze - 1# Defensive End – Committed to Maryland
Ah, it was over before it even began. Mr. Alaeze (pronounced UH-LAZY) never even stepped foot onto the Maryland campus. That’s right, the highest recruit during the Ralph Friedgen Era never played a down for the Terps. Was it the drug charges that did him in or was it the attempted murder charge? Take your pick.

Players he was ranked ahead of:

• Everette Brown – Florida State – Currently the Carolina Panthers
• Kyle Moore – USC – Currently the Tampa Bay Buccaneers

#6 Overall – Fred Rouse - #2 Wide Receiver – Committed to Florida State.
When he was a senior in high school he openly stated that he could right there , at that moment, play in the NFL. He projected himself as a 4th round draft pick! Well kid, there’s rules regarding that so off to college went Fred Rouse. He was kicked off of the Florida State team in 2006 after a string of incidents, one including breaking into teammate Lorenzo Booker’s room and stealing electronic equipment. He then transferred to UTEP and was eventually booted from the team there. He now currently plays for Concordia College in Alabama. Good luck trying to get to the NFL, kid.

Players he was ranked ahead of:

• DeSean Jackson – Cal – Currently the Philadelphia Eagles
• Mohammed Massaquoi – Georgia – Currently the Cleveland Browns
• Malcolm Kelly – Oklahoma – Currently the Washington Redskins
• Darrius Heyward-Bey – Maryland – Currently the Oakland Raiders
• Mario Manningham – Michigan – Currently the New York Giants
• Kevin Ogletree – Virginia – Dallas Cowboys

#13 Overall – Marlon Lucky – #2 Running Back – Nebraska
Unlike the aforementioned “winners” listed, Lucky does not have a resume that includes criminal charges. However, for a running back that was supposed to turn around the then fading Cornhuskers program, he did not live up to the hype. The Cornhuskers record during Lucky’s four seasons there was just 30-21 and he went over 730 rushing just one time. He went over 1,000 yards just once and barely. He tried to latch on with the Bengals in the pros, but was cut (as seen on the HBO’s Hard Knocks).

Players he was ranked above:

• Jamaal Charles – Texas – Currently the Kansas Chiefs
• Rashard Mendenhall – Illinois – Currently the Pittsburgh Steelers
• Glen Coffee – Alabama – Currently the San Francisco 49ers
• James Davis – Clemson – Currently the Cleveland Browns
• Javon Ringer – Michigan State – Currently the Tennessee Titans

#14 Overall – Callahan Bright - #2 Defensive Tackle – Florida State

The second Florida State recruit to make this dubious list. Callahan Bright never made it to the Florida State campus. Having a hard time staying academically eligible will do that to you, along with the legal troubles of course. True story, my step brother used to work in a correctional facility for minors in the late 90′s and early 2000′s and he told me of a kid named Callahan Bright that was going to go to a big time college program that was in this facility. I wasn’t really into the whole college recruiting thing when I was 14 so I didn’t really pay any attention to the news. He told me he got to rough him a couple of times because Callahan often would get out of line.  So the fact that he was kicked off of the Florida State team and then found himself in trouble is not surprising, at least to me. After Florida State he was employed as a trash man until finally deciding to play football again for Shaw University in Raleigh, North Carolina, where he seems to be a standout. Here’s hoping that the kid keeps his head on straight.

Players he was ranked ahead of:

• Ndamukong Suh – Nebraska – Won many postseason awards in 2009 – Potential top 5 pick in the 2010 NFL Draft.
• Jerrell Powe- Ole Miss – Will be selected in the 2010 NFL Draft

#15 Overall – Jason Gwaltney – #3 Running Back – West Virginia

The highest rated recruit to ever commit to West Virginia didn’t even finish his freshman year with the team. It did not help that while he was injured at the start of the season that fellow freshman running back Steve Slaton scored 6 td’s against  Louisville, all but sealing the fate that Gwaltney would be relegated to spell back. The only true freshman in West Virginia history to have his jersey on sale at the school bookstore transferred to Nassau Community College on Long Island.  He played for Kean University during the 2009 season.

Players he was ranked ahead of: (See: Marlon Lucky above)

#16 Overall – Ryan Perrilloux – #1 Dual Threat QB
Ryan Perrilloux was touted as having the strongest arm in the quarterback class of 2005 as well as being the most elusive. He stated his freshman season that he could compete for the Heisman Trophy, however he was redshirted. During his sophomore season he was suspended for using a fake I.D. Later on in his sophomore season he as involved in a fight along side two of his teammates, those two were both dismissed from the LSU Football team (playing favorites much, Les Miles?). While he was in trouble often, he did endure some success when he did play. When Matt Flynn was injured during the SEC championship game in 2007, Perrilloux came in and defeated the Tennessee Volunteers to launch LSU into the National Title game versus Ohio State, which they would find win under the guidance of Matt Flynn. After the season he Perrilloux ran into some more trouble and was finally dismissed by Les Miles, thus ending his turbulent tenure with the Tigers.

Players he was ranked ahead of:

• Chase Daniel – Missouri – 3 Year Starter for the Tigers – New Orleans Saints
• Colt McCoy – Texas – 4 Year Starter – To be drafted in 2010 – 2 time Heisman Trophy Finalist

#37 Overall – “Grand” Marques Slocum – #1 Offensive Guard – Michigan

When I was in 8th grade playing for Our Lady of Loreto (RIP O.L.O.L) we played another school elementary school in Philadelphia by the name of St. Francis De Sales. They had a center, who seemed at the time to be seven feet tall. This center went by the name of Marques Slocum. For those of you who are interested in my great tale, just know I had a steal before their offense was fully set, Slocum was slow to get back on offense so I saw myself (5’3 at the time) going up against Marques .(had to be about 6’1 as a 7th grader) I went right at him, like any great elementary guard would do, and basically threw up a runner from the free throw line and it went in. This may or may not be what started the downfall of young Marques’ career.

He didn’t make it to Michigan at the start. (Sound familiar with this group?) Although he went to a very good academic school (West Catholic High School) he just did not have the brains or the grades to become eligible.  After he put in the hard work to become academically eligible, he had some run ins with coaches. He was lazy and had no drive. He was rated the best guard in his recruiting class, but ended up switching to defensive tackle to fill some needs. This experiment did not last long as his grades began to slip and he fell out of favor with the coaches which resulted in him finally being dismissed from the team.

If only he would of defended that running Steve Nash-esque runner from the young crafty righty a little bit better.

Players he was ranked ahead of:

If you think I’m about to list of bunch of guards, you’re out of your mind.

There we have it, the most notable (in my mind) busts of the 2005 recruiting class. Are there more? I’m sure there’s a ton of players from this class that did not fulfull their expectations, but let’s just take all of this information in and appreciate these people for the failures as college athletes that they were. Because let’s be honest, if Marques Slocum knew that I wrote about him, I’m sure he had be happy people are still talking about him, ditto Jason Gwaltney for crying out loud.

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