Antoine Hicks Can't Qualify
by Wescott Eberts (GoBR) on Jul 8, 2008 10:19 PM CDT
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PrintAntoine Hicks, the Mansfield-Timberview recruit in the Longhorns 2009 recruiting class failed to qualify to play for Texas, according to Scout ($). Hicks played some quarterback in high school, but I'm pretty sure he was offered as an athlete, though Scout lists him at receiver. He only ran a 4.69 in high school, so he doesn't exactly have blazing speed or anything close to the speed to play receiver. As a three-star prospect (per Scout), I don't think this is a big loss for the Horns. He's only six feet tall and without any speed, it's hard to imagine what position he would have played for Texas. Considering the upcoming scholarship crunch and need for attrition (particularly if any of Winston, Kirkpatrick, Kennard, or Kelly commit), I think overall this isn't anything to be concerned about.
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LB or TE
Hicks was expected to be a TE or possibly a LB. He wasn’t an “Athlete” in the John Chiles sense, but he is a “high motor” guy that was a beast blocking downfield. I believe the horns were considering him as a TE.
John Chiles - I'm your foster daddy!
This new
.....emphasis on academics is really working.
1) Brian Ellis
2) Roy Watts
3) J’Marcus Webb
4) Antoine Hicks
5) Almost – D.J. Monroe – I understand his admittance came down to a final, recent exam
If we’re going to take a reach on a recruit’s academics, then why not with a highly rated stud that can make an immediate impact on the playing field – like a Jermie
Calhoun?
--- All roads to the Big-XII Championship lead through OU/RRS. It's not just another game! We're all about championships here. ---
DJ Monroe
would have been a big loss. Calhoun was a RB in Van, TX…is that 2A? I don’t think Mack wanted a RB that played against junior high kids!
that's ridiculous
first off, it’s 3A. second, he was ranked the #2 RB in the country. recruiting ratings aren’t always exactly right, but #2 in the nation probably means he’s good enough to play at Texas.
And third...
... Didn’t Colt McCoy come from a 2A school? I’d much rather take an RB that dominated 2A (3A in this case…) than a QB. I think you kind of have to look at the kid before you say “Nothing you do can impress me because of where you grew up.”
To your point
Adrian Peterson was a 3A RB from Palestine. Unfortunately for us, I remember he turned out all right for Oklahoma.
/insert swearing
by learned hand on Jul 10, 2008 6:50 PM CDT up reply actions
Correct me if I'm wrong
but I think Palestine was 4A when Adrian Peterson went there. They’ve moved down to 3A since then.
But I agree with the point. Being from a small high school doesn’t automatically make you less of an athlete. A kid can’t help which school district his parents choose to live in. You may be competing against fewer talented athletes, but I think we’ve seen that doesn’t necessarily mean you can’t hack it at Div. 1.
On the bright side
thats one more scholarship for 2010, which is already a great class.
Perhaps grades were not the only reason Calhoun was not offered
And given the recent history of Texas players running afoul of the law, the fewer recruits with any kind of question marks, be they academic or character-related, the better.
I just wish someone - parents, teachers, high school coaches, whoever - would sit some of these kids down and explain to them maybe BEFORE they graduate from high school that if they don’t get their minds right about their academics, then their football skills won’t amount to much. Not being able to qualify academically to be an NCAA athlete is not about being dumb. It’s about being stupid. High school is not that hard, and the NCAA requirements are already a joke.
Mack likes to talk about how GPA is the very first thing he looks at when evaluating a recruit. That may be true, but I’m beginning to wonder just how much weight it actually carries. It would be one thing if we were talking a 5-star player with offers from all the top programs who doesn’t have stellar grades. It’s entirely another when you’re talking about a 3-star who doesn’t have nearly that much leverage. What exactly does that say about the standards Mack is so quick to pat himself on the back for?
by bassale47 on Jul 10, 2008 10:36 AM CDT reply actions 1 recs
I have a theory
which is probably full of holes, but I’ll toss it out there.
Several players have had significant academic problems qualifiying, but unlike the Calhoun’s of the world, few are truly top caliber talents. The only way I can justify this strategically is that Mack prefers fewer question marks surrounding the players who he thinks will become vital to the program.
He appears to be more tolerant of questions with players whose loss will not cause a mortal blow. And as we all know, it’s not exactly common for a top tier program to have no question marks surrounding their team.
Admittedly, J’Marcus Webb shoots a massive hole in this theory, as he could have been a cornerstone at left tackle, but most other academic losses have been comparatively minor.
by learned hand on Jul 10, 2008 10:55 AM CDT up reply actions
I think Mack has done a pretty good job in this area.
You’re always going to have some drop outs. Lack of commitment probably is equal to the intelligence factor; sometimes just the shock of a large school experience; and sometimes they just party too damn much.
The basic equation seems to remain stable: that is, one third make the field as starters or special teamers; about a third make the squad as solid back-ups and occasionally see the field; and, about a third never see the field, and this includes most all your drop outs for whatever reason. J’Marcus is more the exception than the rule. I do think Mack and his staff take extra caution with the highly rated because there is so much investment and expectation.
I remember Baylor a few years ago nearly had a third of their incoming class which didn’t qualify academically. That means there’s talent out there but the risks are higher. Overall, Mack has put Texas on a pretty good track in this regard and I agree Mack prefers fewer question marks. I think that is a smart play.
I’ll will add this for your theory: some of those athletes just didn’t have the expectation of going to college early in their HS years or didn’t get the recognition and feedback on their talents as the highly rated and just didn’t apply themselves as much. I bet this follows the rule of thirds, too. That is, about of third of those finally realize the opportunity and go for it, even if they have to go the JC or small school route and find some amount of success. Note that the NFL really takes a fair of players from smaller schools, so there are some real pearls out there. But being Texas means you don’t have to sift through them all so deeply; you get your shots at the pick of the litter.
Join the trend
Maybe he should go play in Europe for a few years until he’s eligible for the draft
by tvr'11 on Jul 10, 2008 3:49 PM CDT reply actions 1 recs
Academics Overrated - Mack Needs to Change
Let me be the first to say that I could care less about the academic prowess of a recruit. If he is a stud that is a good kid – just stupid – you need to challenge your academic staff to find the right curriculum to keep him school.
Now character is critical. That garbage the Joseph, Dre et al pulled was downright embarrassing and was a huge distraction.
Completely disagree
I’m not saying every player on the team needs to be an honor student (although that would be nice), but every single one of them needs to understand that their first obligation is as a student. If they can’t respect the fact that they are not only representing a world-class collegiate athletics program but also a world-class educational institution, then they can go play for OU or some other school that doesn’t give a shit about academics.
To suggest that they should be given “the right curriculum” to maintain their eligibility is also ludicrous. We are not Ohio State or Texas A&M, where fake degree programs are created just for athletes. And that’s beside the fact that less than 20% of these guys will eventually play professional football. That leaves a lot of young men who will have no future if they are not required to make progress toward an actual degree every year, and it’s incredibly irresponsible of any university to ignore that fact.
As far as character, I firmly believe there is a link between character issues and grade issues. Do you think if Ramonce Taylor or Robert Joseph or Andre Jones or Tyrell Gatewood gave a damn about their education that they would have done the stupid things they did? Jones was reportedly an honor student in high school who turned to shit when he got around some of these guys Mack had been recruiting who didn’t care at all about their own futures or the futures of anyone around them.
There is such a thing as an elite recruit who takes school seriously (Jamarkus McFarland, anyone?). We start giving out scholarships to more Ramonce Taylors and fewer Frank Okams, we’re going to officially be the next Thug U, and even if we won a national championship every year, with players like that it wouldn’t be worth it to me. I wouldn’t be willing to sacrifice the reputation of my alma mater for that.
by bassale47 on Jul 11, 2008 7:54 AM CDT up reply actions 2 recs
I'd love to read
To suggest that they should be given "the right curriculum" to maintain their eligibility is also ludicrous. We are not Ohio State or Texas A&M, where fake degree programs are created just for athletes. .
.......your response to the fact that Ricky Williams played ball here for 4 seasons, yet he (depending on the source) is still in need of 60-70 hours to obtain his degree.
--- All roads to the Big-XII Championship lead through OU/RRS. It's not just another game! We're all about championships here. ---
Well, there are a number of possibilities
The first thing I would point out is that John Mackovic is the one who recruited Ricky Williams and coached him for all but his final year, so I wouldn’t hold Mack accountable for his academic shortcomings. I’m guessing Ricky left school at the end of football season, so really only one semester is attributable to Brown.
As far as how he could have been a student for 4 years and still need that many hours for a degree, my first thought would be, I don’t even know how it’s possible that he remained eligible to compete by taking what would have been an average of about 12 hours per year, if we’re assuming 120 hours required for a degree and only 50 hours completed. My next thought would be that it’s been 13 years since Ricky started school at UT, and I’m sure the degree requirements for most programs have changed since then. He would have to be re-admitted to UT under a new catalog with today’s degree requirements. It’s entirely possible that he took a number of classes that no longer count toward a degree. Just in my 4 years at UT (I started in 2001), I finished with 4 classes that were required for my degree (finance) when I was a freshman but no longer fulfilled any sort of degree requirement by the time I graduated. They didn’t even count as electives. I’m not saying that makes up entirely for still needing 70 hours to complete a degree, but it doesn’t mean he only completed 50 while he was on campus either.
by bassale47 on Jul 11, 2008 4:00 PM CDT up reply actions 1 recs
Ricky was a renaissance man
He wanted to know about everything and that is why he is actually 60-70 hours away from all 8 degrees he was pursuing while at Texas.
BS
I’m fine with Mack placing a lot of value on the academic prowess of a recruit. If a recruit is barely maintaining a 2.0 in high school, how is he supposed to pass at UT? High school is not hard, it just takes showing up and staying awake.
Now, once at UT, how is it your academic staff’s job to keep kids in school? Its the kid’s job, period. There is really no excuse for any student(athlete esspecially) at UT to fail out or make grades low enough to lose eligibility. All students are given the opportunity to use tutors and student athletes have 2 hours of study hall every week day with personal tutors. While UT, like most other colleges, is a difficult school, maintaining a C average is not hard, at all. The only people I know of that are legitimately struggling with grades are either premed or predent (which is not a path most athletes take) or are just plain worthless idiots that never show up for class or tutor sessions.
by tvr'11 on Jul 11, 2008 7:56 AM CDT up reply actions 2 recs
Hicks could be a good player
Now I certainly tend to put a bit more weight into what a scout or rivals has to say about a player but espn’s rankings has (I guess i should say had) hicks rated as the 4th best player in the horns ‘08 class. Let’s not be too hasty in puh-pooing his potential. The way espn describes him is pretty much John Chiles but more explosive. If that’s the case this is certainly a huge loss for what I would describe as a class lacking in explosive players.
Not sure how you figure "explosive"
I haven’t seen any highlight films on Antoine Hicks, so maybe I’m not the most informed person on this topic, but it seems to me that he couldn’t be that explosive when he runs such a slow 40. Vince Young ran a 4.58 before the NFL draft, but he hadn’t trained for it before he ran. So it could be that he’s faster than that, and besides, he’s friggin’ Vince Young. Point being, if you are a skill position player and can’t run better than a 4.6, it’s hard to for me to imagine that playing being “explosive”. Forty times aren’t everything (see Williamson, Troy), but I’m not sure how he could be more explosive than John Chiles, who was timed running a 4.39. Basically, I don’t believe ESPN for one second on that evaluation.
by Wescott Eberts (GoBR) on Jul 13, 2008 9:35 PM CDT up reply actions
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