5/1/2002 football Edit

A look at the Williamston Combine

Steve Williams

Publisher

The first of several Shrine Bowl Combines was recently held at Williamston High School in Williamston, NC. Shrine Bowl coaches are using the combines to scout potential selections to this years prestigious Shrine Bowl squad. The Wolfpacker takes a look at 9 prospects receiving division one recruiting interest and how they fared at this past Saturday's event.

CB/RB Quinton Person of N. Pitt HS in Greenville, NC is generally considered one of the state's top cornerback/running back prospects. He has garnered scholarship offers from ECU and UNC and attention from schools around the region. As a junior he rushed for over 1,500 yards and 18 TD's.

Pos

Name

Hgt

Wgt

Shuttle

Bench

Quinton Person

5-10

170

4.74

4.75

27.5

QB Brad Roach of Williamston HS has garnered a lot of buzz around NC as one of the state's top rising senior signal-callers. The junior all-area and all-conference performer completed 192 of 320 pass attempts for 3,014 yards and 26 touchdowns. He also added 10 scores on the ground. He does not currently have any scholarship offers but is being recruited by Duke, Wake Forest East Carolina, NC State, North Carolina, South Carolina, UCLA, Penn State, Texas A & M, Michigan, Stanford, Syracuse, Maryland and Tennessee. At the combine, Roach had a very respectable 40 yard dash time of 4.88 seconds and showed good lateral quickness with a shuttle time of 4.50-seconds.

Pos

Name

Hgt

Wgt

Shuttle

Bench

Brad Roach

6-6

197

4.88

4.5

QB Kyle Ellis of Kinston, NC is one of the better QB's in the state that no one has heard of. He had a solid showing at the Nike Camp in Chapel Hill and looked to improve his stock at the Williamston Combine. He was an all-conference performer as a junior and is interested in Wake Forest, UNC, NC State and ECU.

Pos

Name

Hgt

Wgt

Shuttle

Bench

Kyle Ellis

6-4

205

5.08

4.65

WR Brian Howard of Clinton, NC is another wideout generally considered as one of the top five in the state. He has received a scholarship offer from ECU and is getting attention from UNC, NC State and Wake Forest among others. He is reportedly related to NC State wide receiver Brian Peterson. Howard has good height and showed overall good athleticism at the combine with a 32.5-inch vertical jump, 4.58-second 40-yard dash and 4.40-second shuttle time.

Pos

Name

Hgt

Wgt

Shuttle

Bench

Brian Howard

6-2

152

4.58

4.4

32.5

WR Mike Mason of Rocky Mount, NC established himself as potentially the state's top WR prospect at the Nike Camp held in Chapel Hill. He did nothing to hurt that reputation as the UNC-commitment ripped off a blazing camp-best 4.32-second 40-yard dash. He also showed great lateral speed with a 4.18-second shuttle and athleticism by posting a 32-inch vertical jump.

Pos

Name

Hgt

Wgt

Shuttle

Bench

Mike Mason

6-0

168

4.32

4.18

WR Damien Linson of Plymouth, NC is an outstanding two-sport star that tallied over 1,600 yards receiving as a junior. He is currently favoring NC State, UNC, ECU, Florida, Miami and Florida State. Linson had a respectable 40-yard dash time of 4.59 seconds and vertical jump of 31.5-inches.

Pos

Name

Hgt

Wgt

Shuttle

Bench

Damien Linson

5-11

160

4.59

4.43

31.5

RB Kory Fisher of New Bern, NC is of particular interest to NC State fans as he is the younger brother of former Pack LB Levar Fisher. He had a super junior season that saw him rush 236 times for 2,163 yards and 17 touchdowns. Fisher had a great shuttle time of 4.31-seconds and vertical leap of 32-inches.

Pos

Name

Hgt

Wgt

Shuttle

Bench

Kory Fisher

5-9

179

4.64

4.31

DE/LB Chad Green of Northern Nash HS went into the Nike Camp as an unknown and emerged as one of the state's top prospects. He only enhanced that showing at the Williamston Combine as he had the top 40-yard dash time of any DL or LB at the event. Perhaps even more impressive is the fact that although Green outweighs super athlete WR Mike Mason by nearly 40 pounds, he bested Mason's shuttle time of 4.18-seconds with a camp best 4.13-second effort. It's that lateral pursuit speed and quickness that has reportedly garnered Green a conditional scholarship offer from NC State and interest from UNC, Wake Forest, ECU, Maryland and Virginia. In fact, one high school coach told The Wolfpacker that Green went into the combine attracting mostly regional attention but came away with schools from around the nation inquiring about his services.

Pos

Name

Hgt

Wgt

Shuttle

Bench

DE/LB

Chad Green

6-5

206

4.63

4.13

7 x 225

Most observers consider DE Terry Hunter of E. Wake HS in Wendell, NC to be one of the state's top 10 prospects. He has reportedly collected scholarship offers from NC State, UNC, Tennessee and Wake Forest. As a junior he had nine sacks and 60 tackles and will look to build on that during his senior campaign. Hunter had a respectable shuttle time of 4.78-seconds and 27-inch vertical jump.

Pos

Name

Hgt

Wgt

Shuttle

Bench

Terry Hunter

6-3

233

4.88

4.78

27.5

10 x 225

Thanks to Williamston HS Athletic Director Harold Robinson for his help with the combine information. The Wolfpacker will have more combine results in the coming days.

Steve Williams can be contacted at pack8398@yahoo.com

Last Updated on 5/1/02

By Steve Williams