Hits and Misses

33jacket

Helluva Engineer
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4,635
Location
Georgia
Hit-- Godhigh-maybe the best walk-on in 50 yrs
Miss-Hobie Holliday- a 4-5 star that did little
Pj Daniels>godhigh

Pj all acc and smashed NCAA bowl rushing record.

Hit - joe ham. No one wanted him at qb but us and Nebraska. Was considered undersized and only 3 star.
Miss - dj donley
 

Ben Jones

Georgia Tech Fan
Messages
82
DJ Donley was not a miss folks. He was a player that didn't want to play in this crappy offense we have now.

Ibeeballin, please elaborate on Laurence Marius. I heard he had a ton of talent but didn't like being yelled at.
 

Eric

Retired Co-Founder
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12,734
DJ Donley was not a miss folks. He was a player that didn't want to play in this crappy offense we have now.

Ibeeballin, please elaborate on Laurence Marius. I heard he had a ton of talent but didn't like being yelled at.

No. DJ failed out...there is a reason he never showed up anywhere else.

And please refrain from comments like "crappy offense we have now"...because that is just going to spark a debate in this thread.
 

Techster

Helluva Engineer
Messages
17,716
Hits:
2 star Vance Walker (All ACC, still in NFL, considered a better DT during his time here than even 4star Darryl Richards)
2 star Andrew Gardner (multi year ACC, still in NFL)
3 star Jemea Thomas (lightly recruited due to size, our best overall defender his last 2 years)
3 star Demaryius Thomas (recruited to play TE by other schools, All ACC WR in run heavy option offense, now considered a top 5 WR in NFL)

Misses:
Hobie Holiday (would be considered 5 star today, didn't live up to the potential of his prep school credentials)
DJ Donley (washed out due to grades, but probably more naturally gifted than Demaryius Thomas. Probably would have starred like DT in this offense had he not listened to the wrong people. Never lived up to his 4 star rating...anywhere)
Jordan Luallen (4 Star QB who never played a snap for us. Transferred to Cincy and ended up playing other positions)
Demarius Bilbo (Considered on of the top dual threat QBs in that class, and probably a high 4 star recruit. Recruited under O'Leary, but never caught on to Gailey's offense and was moved to WR. Did see a lot of time, but never had the impact of a 4 star QB)
 

croberts

Ramblin' Wreck
Messages
864
Just a little fun topic of discussion. Regardless of who they signed with, who are some recruits you all hit and/or missed on? Who are some guys you thought would be all world and did nothing and vice versa? Who were some less heralded guys that you all believed would be good and went on to carve out a nice career and vice versa?
Hit and miss all in one Charles Dudish.
 
Messages
2,077
Hits:
2 star Vance Walker (All ACC, still in NFL, considered a better DT during his time here than even 4star Darryl Richards)
2 star Andrew Gardner (multi year ACC, still in NFL)
3 star Jemea Thomas (lightly recruited due to size, our best overall defender his last 2 years)
3 star Demaryius Thomas (recruited to play TE by other schools, All ACC WR in run heavy option offense, now considered a top 5 WR in NFL)

Misses:
Hobie Holiday (would be considered 5 star today, didn't live up to the potential of his prep school credentials)
DJ Donley (washed out due to grades, but probably more naturally gifted than Demaryius Thomas. Probably would have starred like DT in this offense had he not listened to the wrong people. Never lived up to his 4 star rating...anywhere)
Jordan Luallen (4 Star QB who never played a snap for us. Transferred to Cincy and ended up playing other positions)
Demarius Bilbo (Considered on of the top dual threat QBs in that class, and probably a high 4 star recruit. Recruited under O'Leary, but never caught on to Gailey's offense and was moved to WR. Did see a lot of time, but never had the impact of a 4 star QB)

Speaking of Jordan Luallen---this is pretty weird. I thought he ended up playing linebacker in Cincinnati.

http://mocknfldraft.com/Jordan Luallen.cfm
 

croberts

Ramblin' Wreck
Messages
864
The Pride of Avondale and Coach Calvin Ramsey and dad Andy Dudish. His persona was pretty tarnished, but he was/is a pretty good guy.
I did not know him but was familiar with high expectation and issues with father. Probably would have done better if he had gone to school away from home. Calvin Ramsey on the other hand was a family friend and coached my Father-in-law at Trussville H.S. outside of Bham before coming to Dekalb. I know Avondale was a great pipeline to Tech at one time. I think maybe Bo Bruce was the last of Ramsey players to come to Tech?
 
Messages
2,077
I did not know him but was familiar with high expectation and issues with father. Probably would have done better if he had gone to school away from home. Calvin Ramsey on the other hand was a family friend and coached my Father-in-law at Trussville H.S. outside of Bham before coming to Dekalb. I know Avondale was a great pipeline to Tech at one time. I think maybe Bo Bruce was the last of Ramsey players to come to Tech?
Milton Bruce went to Athens. Is Bo a different Bruce. The Blue Devils were never known to be a cerebral bunch.
 

takethepoints

Helluva Engineer
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5,880
I've said it before and I'll say it again: if we had switched over to a veer when Dudish came on campus, we would have won a national title in his sophomore year. We had the personnel to run it perfectly and if ever there was a born TO QB, it was the Dude. Watching him out there dropping back to throw (and he could chunk it with the best of them), then start to run was always a high point. The only veer QB I ever saw who could have competed with him was Warren Moon.

But no. Instead, Bud stuck with a conventional I and we wasted a truly great talent. If he had been given a scheme he could succeed in, I don't think we would have ever seen the behavioral issues arise. His shortened career and the refusal of Tech to hire Doug Dickey to replace Dodd (Dodd already had him waiting in the wings) rate as the two biggest blunders in the history of Tech football.
 

iopjacket

Ramblin' Wreck
Messages
723
Donnie Davis was recruited by Ross and O'Leary to run the system that Shawn Jones ran. He was perfect for that system. It was a similar system that Joe Hamilton ran.

Ross left for the NFL and "he who shall remain nameless" came in and totally screwed up Davis's development...which culminated in the Nameless Coach's decision to bring in Luginbill (who's now a big talking head for ESPN). That decision divided the locker room.

O'Leary came in and slowly built up Davis's confidence. Davis was a big part in O'Leary's and GT's turnaround in the aftermath of the Nameless Coach's tenure. If Davis had played under Friedgen's tutelage, who knows what may have happened to Davis's career. If anything, Davis was just unlucky with the timing and coaching changes. Had Davis been a QB in this zone read/option era he would have been a star.

Donnie Davis eventually led the Arizona Rattlers to an Arena Bowl championship if that means anything.

Davis is far from being the "biggest miss of all".

BTW...Davis is a great example of how much Ma Tech cares about its SAs even far after their playing days. Read this if you haven't already:

http://gtalumnimag.com/2010/02/i-was-robbed-of-a-true-college-experience/


Great Article about Donnie Davis. He sounds like a high character individual.
 
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