If I had checked some stuff online, I could have gone right to the home of Pitt’s newest verbal and said hello. Instead, I find out after leaving Lebanon that the Cedars are sending an offensive lineman to Pitt.
A senior-to-be on the offensive and defensive lines at Lebanon, [Arthur] Doakes is the latest in an increasingly long line of LHS gridiron standouts to reach the D-1 level, joining, among others, Penn State defensive tackle Jared Odrick and former teammate and soon-to-be Iowa State quarterback James Capello.
In addition, Doakes, who cannot officially sign on the dotted line with the Panthers until February, will be the first in his immediate family to attend college, something that made for an emotional moment Tuesday evening when Doakes and his mother — his father is deceased — informed Pitt coach Dave Wannstedt of his intentions.
“It means a lot to me,” Doakes said yesterday. “In my family, I’m the only one (to go to college). It’s a great chance. She (his mother) is just really happy for me.”
“He’s proud to make his mother proud,” Lebanon High head coach Gerry Yonchiuk said of Doakes. “He’s really ecstatic, but I don’t know if he understands how big a deal this is. It’s a really big deal.”
It’s just good to be getting another offensive lineman.
“It was really close between Syracuse and Pittsburgh,” said Yonchiuk, who accompanied Doakes on a Monday visit to Syracuse.
“I think it’s where he felt the most comfortable.”
Doakes confirmed his coach’s assertion.
“Pittsburgh made me feel really comfortable,” he said.
“I wanted to do this now so I could focus on this season instead of letting it go on through the football season.”
I’m not sure I could have shown my avatar at the next Big East bloggers meeting if a recruit from my high school had picked Syracuse. So, I appreciate him choosing Pitt.
Pitt jumped on him early.
Even so, the Panthers identified him as a prospect early and invited Doakes to their Blue Chip Day for a men’s basketball game against Cincinnati and to coach Dave Wannstedt’s individual skills camp in June.
“A lot of other schools wanted to wait for my senior film,” said Doakes, who also was receiving interest from Connecticut, Michigan State, Notre Dame, Virginia and West Virginia, “but I’m glad Pitt saw (potential) in me.”
The emphasis is apparently on potential (Insider subs). The stories love pointing out that despite now being a 6-6, 325 to 350 pound man-child, he didn’t start playing football until the 8th grade and only has one year as a starter. Doakes is a 3-star recruit according to Scout.com and unstarred by Rivals.com.
Ya’ll need to see the video on Givens. He has run a 10.8 100m already and should get bigger and faster. He really has a quick launch through the line and bursts into defensive secondary with good vision. He can play CB too. Rated #1 RB in Ohio this year.
I like theway this class is shaping up.
Meanwhile, Sam signed with Grizzlies .. according to P-G, for 3 years with $2M guaranteed plus incentives.
And Doakes is a good worker, has fast feet and is real strong, over 400 lbs bench press and 26 reps at 225 lbs. His arms are bigger than my legs. If he keeps developing he’ll be outstanding.
Mark, it’s possible that you may be right. Most of the time last year, it appeared that he was lost and really didn’t fully comprehend the offensive and/or defensive sytems. But the kid seems to have a very nice work ethic and is trying hard to improve. Contrast him as a person with Chris Taft. Gary appears to represent the university well, and I will be rooting for him. I wish him well (as I know you do also).
How about we all meet on this blog 40 years from now to discuss who made out better (financially, socially and personally) over the course of their lives: the degreed Young or the non-degreed Blair. Chas, will you agree to establish the format for the discussion?
I think that could be interesting. Of course, we’ll all be communicating in telepathic binary code. But still, sounds fun enough. I’m in.
But seriously, Blair has the upper hand right now since he signed ofr more money and guarantee. However, if his knee gives in the next couple of years, will the lack of degree hurt him? …. stay tuned.
There is nothing I would like more than to see McGhee do well, but for once I have to side with Mark .. he needs to do it against better competition. From what I saw, there were not a lot of competition under te boards in the summer league.
That’s too bad IMO.
Let’s face it, these are guys that possibly wouldn’t even go to college if it weren’t for football or basketball.
Uh, Reed. Here I was thinking that I spent too much time on the soap box when I posted, but I see that you tuned me (and obviously others) out. (That’s OK. My wife tunes me out also.)
I’ll tell you right now what I wouldn’t trade for a million $$ – the joy that I have had for the last 30 years of having any and all intellectual challenges leading to my learning new things; the ability to hold up my end of a conversation in both a social setting or professionally and the desire to keep moving forward in my life on all fronts. Not only does it make life interesting – it adds to the quality of life things money literally can’t buy.
I ‘learned how to learn’ in HS and college – but most importantly I learned how to WANT other peoples knowledge and opinions on things so that I could help myself grow.
And please, spare me the socio-economic-athletic argument in all of this – that’s demeaning and basically a load of crap. Anyone can flourish in the years of growing to maturity between 18-22, all they need is the ability to speak, read and to have someone in authority care more about them as human beings than as pieces of meat that can score points or grab rebounds.
Note that while this area hasn’t experienced the major layoffs as some other areas, new hiring has been reeled in almost everywhere. Despite my credentials and contacts I have made in past 25 years, I have gotten just a couple of interviews, and nothing in the past 2 months.
Personally, I am not close to bottoming out, however, individual healthcare costs are prohibitive. Looking forward to fb season but I have yet to renew my season ticket since I don’t know if I will even be living here come Sept.
Note: I consumed a lot of booze last night, and I hope that this is not residual intoxication nonsense coming out of my mouth!
Reed, my sentiments exactly. Pitt (or nature) taught you to express yourself quite eloquently and more eloquently I can. (Maybe it is because my degree is in a technical field where we were taught to express ourselves with numbers rather than with words.)
