Two New Players

[The Jackal]

http://www.furmanpaladins.com/sports/m- ... 0709jwnklk

Carson Maples, 5'11 240 FB
Braedon Domino, 6'1 175 CB

Looks like both are AFA prep transfers with four years of eligibility. The writeup notes Domino has "true freshman" status, so he may be able to be redshirted.

Don't know much about either player, but are two guys with eligibility at (I think) the only two positions Furman will graduate multiple players from in 2018 (CB and FB).

Both seem to fit the mold Furman has been shooting for. Big physical running backs. Tall athletic cornerbacks.

[Jasper]

http://www.furmanpaladins.com/sports/m- ... 0709jwnklk

Carson Maples, 5'11 240 FB
Braedon Domino, 6'1 175 CB

Looks like both are AFA prep transfers with four years of eligibility. The writeup notes Domino has "true freshman" status, so he may be able to be redshirted.

Don't know much about either player, but are two guys with eligibility at (I think) the only two positions Furman will graduate multiple players from in 2018 (CB and FB).

Both seem to fit the mold Furman has been shooting for. Big physical running backs. Tall athletic cornerbacks.

Maples name is very familiar, Jackal. Was he heavily recruited by FU a few years ago? Wonder what side of the ball he will play here?

[Paul C]

An article from Domino’s recruiting process

https://www.cbssports.com/college-footb ... d-athlete/

[The Jackal]

http://www.furmanpaladins.com/sports/m- ... 0709jwnklk

Carson Maples, 5'11 240 FB
Braedon Domino, 6'1 175 CB

Looks like both are AFA prep transfers with four years of eligibility. The writeup notes Domino has "true freshman" status, so he may be able to be redshirted.

Don't know much about either player, but are two guys with eligibility at (I think) the only two positions Furman will graduate multiple players from in 2018 (CB and FB).

Both seem to fit the mold Furman has been shooting for. Big physical running backs. Tall athletic cornerbacks.

Maples name is very familiar, Jackal. Was he heavily recruited by FU a few years ago? Wonder what side of the ball he will play here?

Furman has put him on the roster as a "RB," which is our term for the FB. http://furmanpaladins.com/sports/m-foot ... arson_fm72

[The Jackal]

According to updated roster, Maples is a redshirt freshman and Domino is a true freshman.

I don't know much about Air Force Prep, but it definitely seems like Clay Hendrix likes going that route. You get a quality player with a year experience who does not burn any eligibility.

[apaladin]

http://www.furmanpaladins.com/sports/m- ... 0709jwnklk

Carson Maples, 5'11 240 FB
Braedon Domino, 6'1 175 CB

Looks like both are AFA prep transfers with four years of eligibility. The writeup notes Domino has "true freshman" status, so he may be able to be redshirted.

Don't know much about either player, but are two guys with eligibility at (I think) the only two positions Furman will graduate multiple players from in 2018 (CB and FB).

Both seem to fit the mold Furman has been shooting for. Big physical running backs. Tall athletic cornerbacks.

The article states that Maples was at the AFA last year but did not play, only Domino was at AF prep. For some reason, like Jasper Maples sounds awfully familiar. Looks like Domino was pretty well recruited out of HS with 10 D1 offers.

[Jasper]

We had a TE a few years back named Tyler Maples. What was the name of the kid who transferred from AFA last spring, played in the spring game and then left the program after the semester? He was also a RB/LB as I recall.

[The Jackal]

We had a TE a few years back named Tyler Maples. What was the name of the kid who transferred from AFA last spring, played in the spring game and then left the program after the semester? He was also a RB/LB as I recall.

Tyler Maples was, I believe, a University of Tennessee transfer at WR. He was from Tennessee. This Maples is from North Carolina.

We did announce a transfer earlier this winter of Cooper Hardin, who as a LB/FB recruit from Navy. He, along with Melton Brown, a Georgia Southern transfer, were announced and then disappeared off the roster without comment.

[FUBeAR]

According to updated roster, Maples is a redshirt freshman and Domino is a true freshman.

I don't know much about Air Force Prep, but it definitely seems like Clay Hendrix likes going that route. You get a quality player with a year experience who does not burn any eligibility.

There’s nothing NOT to like about getting Transfers from Air Force prep...or really any of the Service Academy’s Prep Schools...or even the Service Academies themselves (other than, maybe, not having 4 years of eligibility if they played in Varsity OR JV contests while at the Academies).

The Prep School kids MIGHT be ‘borderline’ for FU academically because they couldn’t, most likely, have gone that route if they were STAR students. They would have had to go ‘Direct’ to the respective Academy if they had high test scores AND high GPA’s. But, they’ve added a year of maturity in that realm as well, and the Prep Schools specialize in Teaching Study habits, testing skills, etc. They want their grads to be able to succeed academically at the Academies, which are plenty rigorous in that regard. Typically, the Academy & Academy Prep kids are all ‘good kids’ too. In other words, they are so much less likely to have the ‘baggage’ that other transfers may carry.

They may not all end up being ‘stars’ because the Academies do ‘sign’ around 100 kids in every class - with roughly 1/2 going to the Prep School, but they are almost invariably great ‘program kids’ and some of ‘em turn out being All-SoCon Level Players. For that school down in Macon...Tee Mitchell, Alex Lakes, Kyle Williams, Kyle Trammell, Lendell Arnold, Tripp Patterson, and Wilson Heres are all names you might recognize as earning All SoCon something at some point. All were AF Prep or AFA Transfers. It’s a good pipeline to have flowing!

[Jasper]

According to updated roster, Maples is a redshirt freshman and Domino is a true freshman.

I don't know much about Air Force Prep, but it definitely seems like Clay Hendrix likes going that route. You get a quality player with a year experience who does not burn any eligibility.

There’s nothing NOT to like about getting Transfers from Air Force prep...or really any of the Service Academy’s Prep Schools...or even the Service Academies themselves (other than, maybe, not having 4 years of eligibility if they played in Varsity OR JV contests while at the Academies).

The Prep School kids MIGHT be ‘borderline’ for FU academically because they couldn’t, most likely, have gone that route if they were STAR students. They would have had to go ‘Direct’ to the respective Academy if they had high test scores AND high GPA’s. But, they’ve added a year of maturity in that realm as well, and the Prep Schools specialize in Teaching Study habits, testing skills, etc. They want their grads to be able to succeed academically at the Academies, which are plenty rigorous in that regard. Typically, the Academy & Academy Prep kids are all ‘good kids’ too. In other words, they are so much less likely to have the ‘baggage’ that other transfers may carry.

They may not all end up being ‘stars’ because the Academies do ‘sign’ around 100 kids in every class - with roughly 1/2 going to the Prep School, but they are almost invariably great ‘program kids’ and some of ‘em turn out being All-SoCon Level Players. For that school down in Macon...Tee Mitchell, Alex Lakes, Kyle Williams, Kyle Trammell, Lendell Arnold, Tripp Patterson, and Wilson Heres are all names you might recognize as earning All SoCon something at some point. All were AF Prep or AFA Transfers. It’s a good pipeline to have flowing!

Thank you for your insight into the AFA/Prep source of recruits that Coach Hendrix is apparently tapping into very well. I had not realized that so many of the Mercer top players came from that same situation. I assume Clay was Bobby Lamb's "in" at the academy before becoming FU head coach. I agree that it is a win-win situation for us also. We get a somewhat higher talent level along with what the academy has already determined is a "good kid". My son went the post grad prep school route before playing in college and it was very helpful from an academic standpoint. The academies are not for everyone and many cadets drop out for various legitimate reasons. While likely not stars, these two additions should be solid contributors to the football program and very ready for Furman academics. And I hope they both prove me wrong on the "star" predictions.

[Jasper]

We had a TE a few years back named Tyler Maples. What was the name of the kid who transferred from AFA last spring, played in the spring game and then left the program after the semester? He was also a RB/LB as I recall.

Tyler Maples was, I believe, a University of Tennessee transfer at WR. He was from Tennessee. This Maples is from North Carolina.

We did announce a transfer earlier this winter of Cooper Hardin, who as a LB/FB recruit from Navy. He, along with Melton Brown, a Georgia Southern transfer, were announced and then disappeared off the roster without comment.

Thank you, Jackal. Cooper Hardin is exactly who I was thinking of.

[The Jackal]

According to updated roster, Maples is a redshirt freshman and Domino is a true freshman.

I don't know much about Air Force Prep, but it definitely seems like Clay Hendrix likes going that route. You get a quality player with a year experience who does not burn any eligibility.

There’s nothing NOT to like about getting Transfers from Air Force prep...or really any of the Service Academy’s Prep Schools...or even the Service Academies themselves (other than, maybe, not having 4 years of eligibility if they played in Varsity OR JV contests while at the Academies).

The Prep School kids MIGHT be ‘borderline’ for FU academically because they couldn’t, most likely, have gone that route if they were STAR students. They would have had to go ‘Direct’ to the respective Academy if they had high test scores AND high GPA’s. But, they’ve added a year of maturity in that realm as well, and the Prep Schools specialize in Teaching Study habits, testing skills, etc. They want their grads to be able to succeed academically at the Academies, which are plenty rigorous in that regard. Typically, the Academy & Academy Prep kids are all ‘good kids’ too. In other words, they are so much less likely to have the ‘baggage’ that other transfers may carry.

They may not all end up being ‘stars’ because the Academies do ‘sign’ around 100 kids in every class - with roughly 1/2 going to the Prep School, but they are almost invariably great ‘program kids’ and some of ‘em turn out being All-SoCon Level Players. For that school down in Macon...Tee Mitchell, Alex Lakes, Kyle Williams, Kyle Trammell, Lendell Arnold, Tripp Patterson, and Wilson Heres are all names you might recognize as earning All SoCon something at some point. All were AF Prep or AFA Transfers. It’s a good pipeline to have flowing!

Thank you for your insight into the AFA/Prep source of recruits that Coach Hendrix is apparently tapping into very well. I had not realized that so many of the Mercer top players came from that same situation. I assume Clay was Bobby Lamb's "in" at the academy before becoming FU head coach. I agree that it is a win-win situation for us also. We get a somewhat higher talent level along with what the academy has already determined is a "good kid". My son went the post grad prep school route before playing in college and it was very helpful from an academic standpoint. The academies are not for everyone and many cadets drop out for various legitimate reasons. While likely not stars, these two additions should be solid contributors to the football program and very ready for Furman academics. And I hope they both prove me wrong on the "star" predictions.

I could easily be over looking a number of players, but Furman has not had many Air Force Prep players until recently. I do think they've had fairly good success.

While I'm not 100% sure, I believe Andrej Suttles was a prep transfer. Someone probably can confirm that.

Last season we took Landon Lawrence, who played in all 13 games as a freshman and will likely be a key piece of our DL rotation in 2018.

[FUBeAR]

According to updated roster, Maples is a redshirt freshman and Domino is a true freshman.

I don't know much about Air Force Prep, but it definitely seems like Clay Hendrix likes going that route. You get a quality player with a year experience who does not burn any eligibility.

There’s nothing NOT to like about getting Transfers from Air Force prep...or really any of the Service Academy’s Prep Schools...or even the Service Academies themselves (other than, maybe, not having 4 years of eligibility if they played in Varsity OR JV contests while at the Academies).

The Prep School kids MIGHT be ‘borderline’ for FU academically because they couldn’t, most likely, have gone that route if they were STAR students. They would have had to go ‘Direct’ to the respective Academy if they had high test scores AND high GPA’s. But, they’ve added a year of maturity in that realm as well, and the Prep Schools specialize in Teaching Study habits, testing skills, etc. They want their grads to be able to succeed academically at the Academies, which are plenty rigorous in that regard. Typically, the Academy & Academy Prep kids are all ‘good kids’ too. In other words, they are so much less likely to have the ‘baggage’ that other transfers may carry.

They may not all end up being ‘stars’ because the Academies do ‘sign’ around 100 kids in every class - with roughly 1/2 going to the Prep School, but they are almost invariably great ‘program kids’ and some of ‘em turn out being All-SoCon Level Players. For that school down in Macon...Tee Mitchell, Alex Lakes, Kyle Williams, Kyle Trammell, Lendell Arnold, Tripp Patterson, and Wilson Heres are all names you might recognize as earning All SoCon something at some point. All were AF Prep or AFA Transfers. It’s a good pipeline to have flowing!

Thank you for your insight into the AFA/Prep source of recruits that Coach Hendrix is apparently tapping into very well. I had not realized that so many of the Mercer top players came from that same situation. I assume Clay was Bobby Lamb's "in" at the academy before becoming FU head coach. I agree that it is a win-win situation for us also. We get a somewhat higher talent level along with what the academy has already determined is a "good kid". My son went the post grad prep school route before playing in college and it was very helpful from an academic standpoint. The academies are not for everyone and many cadets drop out for various legitimate reasons. While likely not stars, these two additions should be solid contributors to the football program and very ready for Furman academics. And I hope they both prove me wrong on the "star" predictions.

I could easily be over looking a number of players, but Furman has not had many Air Force Prep players until recently. I do think they've had fairly good success.

While I'm not 100% sure, I believe Andrej Suttles was a prep transfer. Someone probably can confirm that.

Last season we took Landon Lawrence, who played in all 13 games as a freshman and will likely be a key piece of our DL rotation in 2018.

Kinda...I think Mr. Suttles spent a week or 2 at USAFA Prep before realizing it was not his cup of Ovaltine. He was still able to join the Paladins in his 1st year out of HS (2012) because USAFA Preps report for basic in late June or so & I don’t think he actually participated in any USAFAPS practices before shipping out of Colorado Springs.

[The Jackal]

According to updated roster, Maples is a redshirt freshman and Domino is a true freshman.

I don't know much about Air Force Prep, but it definitely seems like Clay Hendrix likes going that route. You get a quality player with a year experience who does not burn any eligibility.

There’s nothing NOT to like about getting Transfers from Air Force prep...or really any of the Service Academy’s Prep Schools...or even the Service Academies themselves (other than, maybe, not having 4 years of eligibility if they played in Varsity OR JV contests while at the Academies).

The Prep School kids MIGHT be ‘borderline’ for FU academically because they couldn’t, most likely, have gone that route if they were STAR students. They would have had to go ‘Direct’ to the respective Academy if they had high test scores AND high GPA’s. But, they’ve added a year of maturity in that realm as well, and the Prep Schools specialize in Teaching Study habits, testing skills, etc. They want their grads to be able to succeed academically at the Academies, which are plenty rigorous in that regard. Typically, the Academy & Academy Prep kids are all ‘good kids’ too. In other words, they are so much less likely to have the ‘baggage’ that other transfers may carry.

They may not all end up being ‘stars’ because the Academies do ‘sign’ around 100 kids in every class - with roughly 1/2 going to the Prep School, but they are almost invariably great ‘program kids’ and some of ‘em turn out being All-SoCon Level Players. For that school down in Macon...Tee Mitchell, Alex Lakes, Kyle Williams, Kyle Trammell, Lendell Arnold, Tripp Patterson, and Wilson Heres are all names you might recognize as earning All SoCon something at some point. All were AF Prep or AFA Transfers. It’s a good pipeline to have flowing!

Thank you for your insight into the AFA/Prep source of recruits that Coach Hendrix is apparently tapping into very well. I had not realized that so many of the Mercer top players came from that same situation. I assume Clay was Bobby Lamb's "in" at the academy before becoming FU head coach. I agree that it is a win-win situation for us also. We get a somewhat higher talent level along with what the academy has already determined is a "good kid". My son went the post grad prep school route before playing in college and it was very helpful from an academic standpoint. The academies are not for everyone and many cadets drop out for various legitimate reasons. While likely not stars, these two additions should be solid contributors to the football program and very ready for Furman academics. And I hope they both prove me wrong on the "star" predictions.

I could easily be over looking a number of players, but Furman has not had many Air Force Prep players until recently. I do think they've had fairly good success.

While I'm not 100% sure, I believe Andrej Suttles was a prep transfer. Someone probably can confirm that.

Last season we took Landon Lawrence, who played in all 13 games as a freshman and will likely be a key piece of our DL rotation in 2018.

Kinda...I think Mr. Suttles spent a week or 2 at USAFA Prep before realizing it was not his cup of Ovaltine. He was still able to join the Paladins in his 1st year out of HS (2012) because USAFA Preps report for basic in late June or so & I don’t think he actually participated in any USAFAPS practices before shipping out of Colorado Springs.

That bridges the gap between the information floating in my head and the information I was able to find on the website.

[JohnW]

Just an FYI. There are a lot of position changes on the roster. Worth a look.