Post by smiteedawgwv on Aug 19, 2010 21:26:20 GMT -5
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. - Former five star recruit Justin Turner has packed his bags and is headed for Morgantown. The gifted cornerback is just over a week removed from getting his release from a scholarship at Michigan.
Ray Jeske, of ESPN 990 in Massillon, Ohio, is the voice of the Massillon Tigers football team and Thursday morning he hosted Tigers head coach Jason Hall on his radio show. Hall said after some deliberation, Turner had finally come to him with good news on Wednesday - he would be joining Bill Stewart and the WVU Mountaineers.
“What you’re going to get in West Virginia is a good kid who’s a monster talent,” says Jeske. “He’s a good kid. This waiving one school is not a reflection that he’s not. He’s an outstanding young man who wants to please the right people doing thing the right way. [He has] a great family. You’re going to be very happy with Justin Turner.”
Jeske has known Turner “since he was in his mother’s womb,’ and has kept in touch throughout his young life. They last spoke in June and if you ask Jeske, there was not the slightest indication that Turner was at all unhappy where he was.
“I talked to Justin on June the 19th and he was thrilled with everything going on at Michigan,” says Jeske. “He was so happy and said he’s playing with the ones coming out of spring practice and expects to start this year at corner, which was a shock because he’s huge.”
Listed at 6-foot-2, 198 pounds, Turner is pushing the limits of the prototypical cornerback size. Jeske is certain that Turner will eventually be a safety. Some publications have even suggested that his size is what lost his the starting position, and eventually made him feel that it was not a situation he felt happy with.
Jeske admits he doesn’t know the exact reason Turner left Michigan, but in speaking with a Massillon booster who is also close to the Wolverines program, he believes he has pieced it together.
“He was just disappointed, felt he should have been starting. I think, perhaps, maybe he felt like he had been told so, because he was so clear on June 19th that it was his understanding that it was his job,” he says. “I think he thought, ‘I’m not going to burn a year of eligibility some place where I’m not happy and I don’t trust the direction of the team in terms of my role in it.’”
In coming to West Virginia, Turner would sit out for the 2010 season and begin practicing the following spring. He would then have three years of eligibility remaining.
Turner was rated a five star talent out of Massillon, and Jeske’s assessment of the defender’s talents do nothing to downplay his rating. As far as Jeske is concerned, when Turner gets on the field in the BIG EAST, the conference won’t know what hit it.
“Justin is going to be a player. He’s going to be one of the best – as good as you’ve ever had in that secondary. I’ll go on record guessing that, expecting that. He’s going to play on Sundays. He’s just too gifted.”
At the start of his prep career, Turner had a reputation as more of a finesse corner, light on his feet and capable of making plays all across the field. Then something changed in his game, and Turner was suddenly known as much for his thunderous hits as his agility.
“Some switch got thrown late in his senior year, an opening first play of the game hit on a rival Canton McKinley player, they’re still sweeping that kid up.”
Jeske is tickled by the thought of Turner sharing a sideline with WVU freshman Jewone Snow, who attended rival high school McKinley.
“The thought of those two kids carpooling together is a scream to me. I can’t wait to see that happen,” he laughs.
Ray Jeske, of ESPN 990 in Massillon, Ohio, is the voice of the Massillon Tigers football team and Thursday morning he hosted Tigers head coach Jason Hall on his radio show. Hall said after some deliberation, Turner had finally come to him with good news on Wednesday - he would be joining Bill Stewart and the WVU Mountaineers.
“What you’re going to get in West Virginia is a good kid who’s a monster talent,” says Jeske. “He’s a good kid. This waiving one school is not a reflection that he’s not. He’s an outstanding young man who wants to please the right people doing thing the right way. [He has] a great family. You’re going to be very happy with Justin Turner.”
Jeske has known Turner “since he was in his mother’s womb,’ and has kept in touch throughout his young life. They last spoke in June and if you ask Jeske, there was not the slightest indication that Turner was at all unhappy where he was.
“I talked to Justin on June the 19th and he was thrilled with everything going on at Michigan,” says Jeske. “He was so happy and said he’s playing with the ones coming out of spring practice and expects to start this year at corner, which was a shock because he’s huge.”
Listed at 6-foot-2, 198 pounds, Turner is pushing the limits of the prototypical cornerback size. Jeske is certain that Turner will eventually be a safety. Some publications have even suggested that his size is what lost his the starting position, and eventually made him feel that it was not a situation he felt happy with.
Jeske admits he doesn’t know the exact reason Turner left Michigan, but in speaking with a Massillon booster who is also close to the Wolverines program, he believes he has pieced it together.
“He was just disappointed, felt he should have been starting. I think, perhaps, maybe he felt like he had been told so, because he was so clear on June 19th that it was his understanding that it was his job,” he says. “I think he thought, ‘I’m not going to burn a year of eligibility some place where I’m not happy and I don’t trust the direction of the team in terms of my role in it.’”
In coming to West Virginia, Turner would sit out for the 2010 season and begin practicing the following spring. He would then have three years of eligibility remaining.
Turner was rated a five star talent out of Massillon, and Jeske’s assessment of the defender’s talents do nothing to downplay his rating. As far as Jeske is concerned, when Turner gets on the field in the BIG EAST, the conference won’t know what hit it.
“Justin is going to be a player. He’s going to be one of the best – as good as you’ve ever had in that secondary. I’ll go on record guessing that, expecting that. He’s going to play on Sundays. He’s just too gifted.”
At the start of his prep career, Turner had a reputation as more of a finesse corner, light on his feet and capable of making plays all across the field. Then something changed in his game, and Turner was suddenly known as much for his thunderous hits as his agility.
“Some switch got thrown late in his senior year, an opening first play of the game hit on a rival Canton McKinley player, they’re still sweeping that kid up.”
Jeske is tickled by the thought of Turner sharing a sideline with WVU freshman Jewone Snow, who attended rival high school McKinley.
“The thought of those two kids carpooling together is a scream to me. I can’t wait to see that happen,” he laughs.
