Damarius Bilbo

gtie73

Ramblin' Wreck
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513
Location
Marietta
Yes, Darius and another ex player worked for an agent. They gave sports gear to both bay bay and butler ( now with Green Bay). Gtaa was conducting an internal investigation but a disgruntled gtaa employee on her way out the door sent the report to the NCAA. The NCAA person investigating told Dan R not to tell the players or coach Johnson. He shared the information with Johnson and the rest is history.
 

Whiskey_Clear

Banned
Messages
10,486
It was both. I think the GTAA overreacted by banning both from the AA

I don’t know all the details but....act as or for an agent in any way, and gift any player anything bringing their eligibility into question....plus they knew the rules from being former players themselves... = lifetime ban.
 

SidewalkJacket

Helluva Engineer
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1,656
I thought Bilbo was a great story of finding a way to be successful at GT. Came in as a highly touted QB with incredible physical tools, but found a way onto the field as a pretty decent WR. I think he would be dominant in our offense today with his size and strength. Kinda similar to Smelter.
 

Techster

Helluva Engineer
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17,810
I thought Bilbo was a great story of finding a way to be successful at GT. Came in as a highly touted QB with incredible physical tools, but found a way onto the field as a pretty decent WR. I think he would be dominant in our offense today with his size and strength. Kinda similar to Smelter.

I put him in the same classification as Donnie Davis: Good player with great physical skillset, but was too early for his time. Guys like Donnie Davis and Bilbo came when current spread schemes, and spread option offenses were not around or had not taken off yet. Donnie Davis, unfortunately, committed to the right OC (Friedgen), but his unfortunate timing got him caught up with the coach who shall remain nameless. I think Davis's career would have been similar to Joe Hamilton's had Davis got to play under Friedgen for 4 years like Hamilton did.

I believe Bilbo signed under O'Leary and Friedgen, but also got caught in a coaching change that eventually led to Chan Gailey.
 

gtyj18jr

Jolly Good Fellow
Messages
153
Seriously. Bilbo as a wideout is probably the fifth best receiver we’ve had post O’Leary days behind Calvin, Demaryious, Hill, and Smelter.

In fairness, that is kind of a depressing fact.

Johnathan Smith, the #21 before Calvin, should be added to that list. Those guys were damn good number 1 college wideouts and were starters for 3-4 years. Bilbo, who was more than serviceable, being behind those guys is not really depressing, especially at Tech.
 

SidewalkJacket

Helluva Engineer
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1,656
Johnathan Smith, the #21 before Calvin, should be added to that list. Those guys were damn good number 1 college wideouts and were starters for 3-4 years. Bilbo, who was more than serviceable, being behind those guys is not really depressing, especially at Tech.

Oh man, Johnathan Smith... that guy was so versatile!

Against UNC (maybe) I remember he caught a TD, returned a punt for a TD, and threw a TD on a trick play, I believe.

Side note: I love this thread, and I really like reminiscing about guys from the early 90s on.
 

knoxjacket

Ramblin' Wreck
Messages
855
Johnathan Smith, the #21 before Calvin, should be added to that list. Those guys were damn good number 1 college wideouts and were starters for 3-4 years. Bilbo, who was more than serviceable, being behind those guys is not really depressing, especially at Tech.

O’Leary signed Jonathan Smith. He was a freshman in 2000. That’s why I left him off.

O’Leary was a monster at WR recruiting. Middleton, Campbell, Watkins, White, Smith, Curry, Glover. I’d take that 99 WR corps as the best in Tech history.
 
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