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Topic: Deontai Williams

Topic: Deontai Williams

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StroudsRunGoose
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Member Since: 9/10/2012
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Deontai Williams

Posted: 2/5/2015 2:43:11 PM

anybody else pumped up over this?

"Get used to seeing #NoFlyZone on Twitter over the next four years as a result of Ohio having netted five defensive backs on National Signing Day.

The most prominent is safety Deontai Williams, who no one but the coaching staff knew was on the Bobcats’ radar. Williams, who had verbally committed to Georgia, flipped in favor of Ohio. He’s a four-star recruit, according to ESPN, and was not only sought by Ohio but also by the likes of Auburn, Florida, Louisiana State, Mississippi State and Notre Dame"

sargentfan
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Member Since: 3/16/2005
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RE: Deontai Williams

Posted: 2/5/2015 3:17:01 PM

Yeah I was pretty pumped, I sent out the article from the Athens Messenger to the alums at my work about it. Here's to hoping he can qualify academically to get in for this Fall.

L.C.
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RE: Deontai Williams

Posted: 2/5/2015 3:56:18 PM

StroudsRunGoose wrote:

....Get used to seeing #NoFlyZone on Twitter over the next four years as a result of Ohio having netted five defensive backs on National Signing Day....

It's not just D. Williams. All five DBs look outstanding:
1. Deontai Williams, S - ESPN 4 stars, 3 from the others, offers from Auburn, Florida, Georgia, LSU, Miss. St, Notre Dame, UCLA, and many others
2. Javon Hagen, S - ESPN 3 stars, 2 from the others, offers from Mississippi, Wake Forest, Cincinnati, Utah, and many others
3. Mayne Williams, S - 3 stars from ESPN and Scout, 2 stars from the others, offer from EMU
4. Maxwell Howell, CB - 3 stars from ESPN and Scout, 2 stars from Rivals. Was originally rated 88 (high 3 stars) by 247Sports, but after he chose Ohio, they lowered it to 78, then to 72. Had offers form Indiana, Purdue, Maryland, Cincinnati, Temple and several others.
5. Jeff Christian, CB - 3 stars from all four services, offers from Purdue, Minnesota, UConn, and about ten others

No "under the radar" guys here. There are 2 guys each from two of the bettter high school teams in the country, Trinity Christian, State Champion of Florida, and Colerain from Cincinnati.

Besides athletic ability, there are some leaders here. Mayne Williams sold teammates Christian and Colbert on Ohio. Javon Hagen sold his teammate Deontai Williams on Ohio, without Deontai even taking a visit. On January 30th he tweeted "I got a surprise coming to Athens", and he wasn't kidding.

FWIW, while their ratings by the services aren't as impressive, I'm equally impressed with the defensive additions. Both DTs (Arp, McKnight) are going to be very good, and so are the linebackers (Cloud, Croutch, Glasco). This is going to be a very good defense for years to come.

Last Edited: 2/5/2015 4:38:03 PM by L.C.

“We have two ears and one mouth so that we can listen twice as much as we speak.” ― Epictetus

The Optimist
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Member Since: 3/16/2007
Location: CLE
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RE: Deontai Williams

Posted: 2/5/2015 6:15:27 PM

I felt the incoming DB's was the best (on paper) group Frank had ever recruited here, and that was PRIOR to Deontai Williams.

I am pumped. This group has some of the size and athleticism coupled with their skills that you just don't see regularly in the MAC. With how important passing has become, a great set of DB's could really make a defense.

3/5 have Big 10 offers. 2/5 have SEC offers.....

Lets go!
#NoFlyZone

Last Edited: 2/5/2015 6:16:15 PM by The Optimist

I've seen crazier things happen.

Pete Chouteau
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RE: Deontai Williams

Posted: 2/6/2015 7:18:05 AM

As a rule, I try not to worry about recruiting because I choose not to make Ohio football the cornerstone of my existence.

But on this, I'm not optimistic.

Five SEC schools were on the table, and he lost the opportunity due to grades?

He's committing to come to Athens sight unseen? He did so on the advice of his friend who also committed here?

It just seems like a recipe for a no show.

I hope like hell it works out because I love to see people sieze opportunities to succeed.

L.C.
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RE: Deontai Williams

Posted: 2/6/2015 8:57:06 AM

Pete Chouteau wrote:

....
Five SEC schools were on the table, and he lost the opportunity due to grades?
...

There is no evidence of this, only speculation. Fans of Georgia were expecting him to sign on Februarty 4th, and when he didn't, their reaction was essentially that "the only possible reason he would have flipped to Ohio was if there was a grade issue". It's not impossible that grades were the only reason he flipped to Ohio, but at this point it's only speculation, and nothing more.

Are there other possible explanations? Absolutely. In fact, I'll give you 3:
1. Cover-4 - When Ohio made the switch in defensive strategy last year, I made the prediction that recruiting would dramatically improve on the defensive side of the ball. Build it and they will come. Defensive players, by their very nature, want to play aggressively. Give them a choice between an aggressive "attack-and-react" defense, and a passive "read-and-react" strategy and I believe that a strong majority will favor the former. Ohio had some growing pains with the new defense (particularly against Marshall), and while it was painful at times to watch DBs getting burned 1 on 1, I expected it to attract dramatically better defensive players. Look at this class! It's loaded with excellent defensive players! Williams is the highest rated, but certainly not the only one. Four of the five DBs had P5 offers, but they chose Ohio. To believe that grades are the only possible reason why D. Williams chose Ohio, does one also have to believe that the same thing applies to Christian, Hagen, and Howell?
2. Playing time - Georgia's recruiting class was loaded with Safeties. ESPN, which rated D. Williams as a 4-star recruit, considers him to be the #18 Safety in the country. Georgia's class also includes the #4 Safety (Roundtree) and the #10 Safety (McGraw). They probably have some pretty good Safeties on the team already, too. How long will it be before he is playing? How long before he is starting? How much exposure will he get in his career? Enough to get drafted? By contrast, at Ohio he will likely be playing as a Freshman, and quite possibly will start for 3 of his 4 years. He will play, and he will be seen. If he is good enough, he will be drafted.
3. Friendship - His friend Hagen committed early to Ohio, and never waivered. He was solidly pro-Ohio, and he's clearly got leadership potential. I'm sure he worked on his friend, not just for hours, but for weeks, telling him good things about Ohio. If you look back on Hagen's twitter feed, he was solidly promoting Ohio all recruiting season, and go back to January 30th, he posted "I got a surprise coming to Athens", then after signing "See, I told you I had a surprise". If you start by signing the leader, they convince their friends to come with them sometimes. That happened three times in this class. Hagen convinced D. Williams to join him. M. Williams sold Colbert and Christian. Cloud sold Stevens-McKenzie, who unfortunately had some academic issues, and wasn't allowed to sign (he will be at Fort Scott CC next year).

Add these three factors together, and while I was as shocked as the next guy when it happened, I can easily believe that it could have happened for reasons other than grades. At Ohio he can come play with a friend, play right away, play a fun defense, and get the exposure to get drafted if he is good enough.

“We have two ears and one mouth so that we can listen twice as much as we speak.” ― Epictetus

Ted Thompson
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RE: Deontai Williams

Posted: 2/6/2015 10:11:31 AM

Pete Chouteau wrote:

I don't think it was sight unseen. During the Signing Day reception, I'm pretty sure they said he visited with his parents and loved the campus. But they said that about a lot of guys so I could be wrong. I'll go back and listen but at the minimum I think they said he did make an official visit.

EDIT: I went back and listened and I was wrong. They didn't say anything about him making a visit.

Last Edited: 2/6/2015 10:23:34 AM by Ted Thompson

Follow Ohio Football recruiting on the BobcatAttack.com football recruiting database.

OhioCatFan
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Member Since: 12/20/2004
Location: Athens, OH
Post Count: 14,409

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RE: Deontai Williams

Posted: 2/6/2015 10:28:12 AM

I like this concept of "peer recruiting." If you will recall, we got Beau that way when TT recruited him here as a transfer student from Iowa State. I believe, if memory serves, that was also "sight unseen." (Or should it be "site unseen"? Both work, if you think about it.;-)

The only BLSS Certified Hypocrite on BA

"It is better to be an optimist and be proven a fool than to be a pessimist and be proven right."

Note: My avatar is the national colors of the 78th Ohio Veteran Volunteer Infantry, which are now preserved in a climate controlled vault at the Ohio History Connection. Learn more about the old 78th at: http://www.78ohio.org

The Optimist
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RE: Deontai Williams

Posted: 2/6/2015 10:43:46 AM

Give Javon Hagan some credit. You can tell from his tweets he loves Peden's atmosphere and also the campus (who doesn't) and has been talking up Ohio since he gave his verbal last summer.
He was visiting here two or three weeks back (having already verbally committed) and also here that weekend was corner Jeff Christian. Christian committed after that visit. Christian is teammates with Mayne Williams who also was previously committed. Then Deontai Williams who is Hagan's teammate commits.

I love bringing in these two pairs of teammates. Then you add in Maxwell Howell to that group... Yeah buddy.

I've seen crazier things happen.

Bobcat Grad 86
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RE: Deontai Williams

Posted: 2/6/2015 1:19:19 PM

Pete Chouteau wrote:

Maybe he thinks Ohio is a Big Ten Team who won the National Championship?

http://a.espncdn.com/photo/2012/0618/rn_i_beatohio_ms_600...

I actually had a work associate in Baltimore who thought he was taking his two boys to the Maryland - Ohio State game in 1997, when Kareem & Hookfin showed up instead and beat Maryland 21-14.

OhioCatFan
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Location: Athens, OH
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RE: Deontai Williams

Posted: 2/6/2015 2:30:49 PM

BG86, When O$U played in the Rose Bowl in years past they would always put "OHIO" in one end zone and the other team's name in the other end zone. After the OHIO-Ohio State agreement was signed, Ohio State made it to the Rose Bowl again and there was that erroneous "OHIO" in the end zone. At that point, Ohio President Glidden wrote the Rose Bowl a letter telling them they'd be sued if they did that again. The next time the Buckeyes played in the Rose Bowl the end zone said "OHIO STATE" for what I believe was the first time. It's always said that since. It's been an evolutionary thing, but more and more people are beginning to know the difference. Go OHIO!

bobcat28
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RE: Deontai Williams

Posted: 9/27/2015 8:16:35 AM

what happened to this kid?

L.C.
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Location: United States
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RE: Deontai Williams

Posted: 9/27/2015 10:33:57 AM

I have no idea. He signed a letter of intent to Jones County Junior College, too, but he is not on their roster, either. Perhaps he is enrolled somewhere, but taking the year off from football to focus on grades, or perhaps personal issues caused him to defer a year before enrolling.

“We have two ears and one mouth so that we can listen twice as much as we speak.” ― Epictetus

The Optimist
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RE: Deontai Williams

Posted: 9/27/2015 1:48:18 PM

https://twitter.com/Von_Legacy/status/648192070423838720

I've seen crazier things happen.

L.C.
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Member Since: 8/31/2005
Location: United States
Post Count: 10,470

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RE: Deontai Williams

Posted: 9/27/2015 2:26:47 PM

!!!!!!!!!!

That made my day, thanks Optimist!

“We have two ears and one mouth so that we can listen twice as much as we speak.” ― Epictetus

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