2012 Intro | Blake Hayes By Kevin Ledford | 4/12/10 |
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One of the
top players in the state of South Carolina for the 2012
class is Wade Hampton (Greenville, SC) running back
Blake Hayes. At 5’11” 195, Hayes has every attribute you
look for in an elite RB prospect: size, extraordinary
vision, cutting ability, explosiveness, balance,
physicality, speed and he’s got great receiving skills
out of the backfield.
Last year as a sophomore for the Generals, Blake piled
up some absurd numbers as he rushed for 1389 yards and
16 touchdowns while adding 514 receiving yards and 5
touchdowns and he even threw in a kickoff return
touchdown for good measure. That’s a total of 22
touchdowns and over 2000 all-purpose yards….as a
sophomore. The resemblance to 2010 SC RB Marcus
Lattimore is uncanny.
Hayes is a very gifted, yet humble prospect and
describes his style as “real physical” and is just a
natural at the RB position.
“Well, I like to do my thing, I guess I play the game
real natural…my style of playing and everything, it
comes real natural and I like to keep my team involved
so we can try to win more and hopefully before I
graduate I can bring a championship to Wade Hampton
along with my teammates. I like to stay calm and not run
around like I’m cocky and stuff, be very humble,” Blake
says.
Blake grew up rooting for South Carolina and Florida and
interest in him is already picking up as far as
recruiting is concerned.
“I’ve heard from Vanderbilt, Maryland, Tennessee,
Kentucky, South Carolina, Georgia Tech, North Carolina
and Nebraska.”
That’s quite an impressive list, especially when you
take into account that Blake is just a sophomore. But he
wants to expand his options and hear from as many
schools as possible in order to increase the likelihood
of finding the school that fits him best, so he hopes to
do a lot of camping over the next couple of off-seasons.
“Just to start as early as possible and do what I can
do. I’m going to a whole bunch of camps, try to hit as
many as I can. I’m gonna listen to all of them and see
which one benefits me best, I guess,” Hayes explains.
As is the case with all great competitors, Blake sets
his standards high and wants to win and be the best at
what he does. He states those as his main goals moving
forward, “Win a championship and hopefully get known
nationally.”
Blake is your prototypical every down feature back and
can do it all. It’s very early in the process for him,
but he’s already hearing from programs from all over and
as long as he continues to work hard, expect him to be
one of the top RB prospects in the country and one of
the more highly sought after recruits in the Class of
2012.
Forums
Every recruit and recruitnik alike knows how
crazy college football recruiting can become.
For some it's crazier than others and for some
the 'crazy' is what makes the experience so much
fun. Vernon Hills (Illinois) wide receiver
prospect Davaris Daniels would be one of the
'some' on both counts.
Last season was a
high school quarterback’s dream for Dwyer High (Palm
Beach Gardens, FL) QB Jacoby Brissett. He led the
Panthers to the 4A State Championship while
distributing the ball to playmakers like Matt Elam,
Gerald Christian, Robert Clark and Nick O’Leary.
Hollywood (FL) rising soon to be senior wide
receiver Curt Evans is a young man who is
efficient with his language.That doesn’t mean that he
has little to say.However, when he does have
something to communicate, he tends to get
straight to the heart of it with well chosen and
meaning-filled words.
