It’s of no surprise to me that one of the classiest and most professional programs I’ve ever witnessed at the prep level managed to coordinate, host and execute the closest thing you can get to an all-human circus act today on the campus of Berkeley Prep. Between the staff, the players, students and all of those in attendance what had taken months to build was over and gone quicker than Christmas morning to a 9yr-old; and in an instant, one of the most heralded players in the entire nation confirmed to us what we already knew 2 years ago.
What we already knew was Nelson Agholor was a young “man” of his word the day he emphatically said to me in the trailer with his QB Destin Nichols standing right next to him the summer going into his sophomore season. When Mr. Agholor speaks, we should listen. He may have used this recruiting process “the right way” so-to-speak, but I’d be willing to bet there’s weight equivalent to a parade of elephants off his shoulders and chest right about now and it’s time for him to continue to “Fight On” at the next level smack dab in the middle of Los Angeles at the University of Southern California.
Not to be overshadowed one ounce more than Nelson’s accomplishments are the additional signees that put pen-to-paper with him in the gymnasium. You can make the case that four of the most underrated players in Hillsborough County joined Nelson as FB/LB/TE Schyler Miles (6-1, 228) inked with Kansas while (DE/TE/WR) Reggie Barnes (6-3, 205) will serve our country as a member of the Air Force playing in Colorado Springs next season. Barnes will play against another Hillsborough County Alumnus when he faces Charles Lovett’s Colorado State team. Reggie caught 12 passes this season for 287 yards and 3 TD’s. He also registered 43 tackles and 3.5 sacks.
Barnes will also get the chance to see more of his teammates at the next level when Colgate comes to Air Force in August of 2013. That’s because (6-0, 190) WR/DB combo Christian Hardegree has signed his LOI to play for the Raiders. Hardegree caught 20 passes for nearly 600 yards and 10 TD’s on the season for the Buccaneers. He also added 56 tackles. Miles was by far the leader in this category out of the group with 123 on the season. He also caused four fumbles and was credited with four sacks.
The final piece on the mantle for Coach Ciao and his Class of 2012 was the signing of TE/DE Tyler Davis (6-2, 210) to play for Jacksonville University of the Pioneer Conference (FCS.) Davis may have only caught 6 passes on the season, but he made them count racking up 156 yards and accounting for 2TD’s. He also contributed on the defensive side of the ball with 26 tackles, 8 sacks and a caused fumble.