Post by Sly Fox on Oct 5, 2005 9:47:18 GMT -5
Here is a story on Brandon that Chris wrote for Wednesday edition of the fishwrap:
www.newsadvance.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=LNA%2FMGArticle%2FLNA_BasicArticle&c=MGArticle&cid=1031785456002&path=!sports
Turner is catching on
By Chris Lang
Lynchburg News & Advance
October 4, 2005
When the final whistle blew at Liberty University's football practice Tuesday, the action was just starting.
Flames cornerback E.L. Estes wanted to remind receiver Brandon Turner that he had gained zero yards on the final drive of the day.
Turner disagreed and the bark session nearly turned into a scrap, with Turner recounting the yards he gained while Estes tried to slap Turner's finger out of his face.
Competitiveness has never been an issue for Turner, who wasn't about to let a defensive back have the last word, even if it was just a practice.
"Sometimes you've got to be like that out here. You don't want to come out to practice and just be dead," Turner, a sophomore, said. "The defense is playing well right now. They're playing with a lot of intensity, so you've got to get on their level."
The exchange didn't surprise LU receivers coach Charlie Skalaski. He knew Turner was a fiercely competitive, businesslike kid from the start. When Turner arrived to Williams Stadium before last year's season opener against West Virginia Tech, he wore a suit.
That sort of formal attire is generally reserved for road games.
"He came dressed like he was going on a business trip," Skalaski said. "You had other guys who thought they were going on a weekend jaunt. But Brandon understands it's business. It doesn't mean you can't have fun, but we're getting paid to do a job."
Last Saturday against VMI, Turner showed some glimpses of the guy who used to be on the receiving end of Vic Hall's bombs at Gretna.
He finished with six catches for 85 yards, both career highs against VMI. He got open over the middle and sought the football, giving quarterback Brock Farrel a target he couldn't resist.
"It was just a matter of when," LU receiver Wynton Jackson said.
Turner had no doubts he could compete at the Division I level. As a senior at Gretna, Hall's favorite receiver caught 90 passes for 1,670 yards and 16 touchdowns. He didn't get many looks from Division I schools, mostly because he took his SAT too late for the scores to be posted before the winter recruiting period began.
William & Mary and Richmond showed interest, but he didn't test well enough to get into either. Those schools require SAT scores in the low 1,000s. Turner's were "somewhere in the 700s."
Plus, as impressive as his stats were at Gretna, a perceived lack of speed turned a lot of colleges off.
"He's a great possession type receiver, but everybody wants that burner," said Gretna coach Chris Thurman, who was an assistant when Turner was in high school. "Brandon could catch everything thrown to him, but he didn't have the 40 (yard dash) time they were looking for."
Liberty liked enough about Turner that his lack of speed became a non-issue. He runs clean routes and shows great effort in downfield blocks.
There's room for improvement, too. He needs to put on more weight and use his athleticism to out-jump defenders for balls.
Liberty had no problem offering Turner a scholarship, and he promptly accepted. With two siblings in college already, he didn't want to burden his single mother, Riverra Turner, with another tuition bill.
He hasn't regretted the decision for a minute.
"It worked out well," Turner said. "I'm not disappointed."
By Chris Lang
Lynchburg News & Advance
October 4, 2005
When the final whistle blew at Liberty University's football practice Tuesday, the action was just starting.
Flames cornerback E.L. Estes wanted to remind receiver Brandon Turner that he had gained zero yards on the final drive of the day.
Turner disagreed and the bark session nearly turned into a scrap, with Turner recounting the yards he gained while Estes tried to slap Turner's finger out of his face.
Competitiveness has never been an issue for Turner, who wasn't about to let a defensive back have the last word, even if it was just a practice.
"Sometimes you've got to be like that out here. You don't want to come out to practice and just be dead," Turner, a sophomore, said. "The defense is playing well right now. They're playing with a lot of intensity, so you've got to get on their level."
The exchange didn't surprise LU receivers coach Charlie Skalaski. He knew Turner was a fiercely competitive, businesslike kid from the start. When Turner arrived to Williams Stadium before last year's season opener against West Virginia Tech, he wore a suit.
That sort of formal attire is generally reserved for road games.
"He came dressed like he was going on a business trip," Skalaski said. "You had other guys who thought they were going on a weekend jaunt. But Brandon understands it's business. It doesn't mean you can't have fun, but we're getting paid to do a job."
Last Saturday against VMI, Turner showed some glimpses of the guy who used to be on the receiving end of Vic Hall's bombs at Gretna.
He finished with six catches for 85 yards, both career highs against VMI. He got open over the middle and sought the football, giving quarterback Brock Farrel a target he couldn't resist.
"It was just a matter of when," LU receiver Wynton Jackson said.
Turner had no doubts he could compete at the Division I level. As a senior at Gretna, Hall's favorite receiver caught 90 passes for 1,670 yards and 16 touchdowns. He didn't get many looks from Division I schools, mostly because he took his SAT too late for the scores to be posted before the winter recruiting period began.
William & Mary and Richmond showed interest, but he didn't test well enough to get into either. Those schools require SAT scores in the low 1,000s. Turner's were "somewhere in the 700s."
Plus, as impressive as his stats were at Gretna, a perceived lack of speed turned a lot of colleges off.
"He's a great possession type receiver, but everybody wants that burner," said Gretna coach Chris Thurman, who was an assistant when Turner was in high school. "Brandon could catch everything thrown to him, but he didn't have the 40 (yard dash) time they were looking for."
Liberty liked enough about Turner that his lack of speed became a non-issue. He runs clean routes and shows great effort in downfield blocks.
There's room for improvement, too. He needs to put on more weight and use his athleticism to out-jump defenders for balls.
Liberty had no problem offering Turner a scholarship, and he promptly accepted. With two siblings in college already, he didn't want to burden his single mother, Riverra Turner, with another tuition bill.
He hasn't regretted the decision for a minute.
"It worked out well," Turner said. "I'm not disappointed."
www.newsadvance.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=LNA%2FMGArticle%2FLNA_BasicArticle&c=MGArticle&cid=1031785456002&path=!sports
