the recruit: alex owah

First in a series in which my impressions of the recruiting class of 2009 are laid out for all the world to see.

Our first verbal commit for the 2009 class came over a month before the 2008 class was allowed to put pen to paper. Alex Owah committed just after Christmas. The vitals:

Name: Alex Owah
Position: RB
Hometown: Harrisonburg
Height: 5'11"
Weight: about 170
40: 4.5 - Rivals credits him with a 4.44 in one article.

ESPN grade: 77
Rivals grade: 5.7, three stars, #57 RB in the country
Scout grade: three stars, #77 RB in the country

Huh. We got some crazy numerology going on here.

Excerpt from the ESPN analysis:

Owan is well-rounded back with the skills to hurt you in-line, on the perimeter and with his receiving skills. He is a leaner, wiry kid on film with a body that could easily pack on another 15 pounds without diminishing his speed or quickness. ... Bottom line, Owan is a productive runner who competes for extra yards on every carry. Will need to bulk up to develop into a high-carry back but is very versatile and should fit into almost every offense.

Yeah, Owan. Oh well. Anyhoo.

Owah didn't have a whole bunch of offers in hand before he committed to the Cavs - Tech and JMU (whose offer list probably consists of the entire H'burg starting lineup anyway and also a few of the scrubs) were the only ones. (So says the article.) That tends to be the case when you commit early. Owah listed Tennessee, Wake, and WVU as his other favorites. So not a bad lineup. And any time Tech offers someone and we get him: nyaaaah.

Owah strikes me as a little bit of an Alvin Pearman type. Fastish, toughish. Same height, similar size as a recruit. The videos tend to show him running through the lines and out the other side rather than around them, which you can't do at the college level at 170 pounds, hence the repeated mentions by ESPN about bulking up.

Now, of course, the big HOWEVER, COMMA. There's that whole legal technicality that Owah ran afoul of that we call "armed robbery." Oh, and the painkillers, which he served a 30-day suspension for that happened during the exact opposite time of year from football season. So unless he's in jail for this, he'll be back on the football team come fall. Question is, will his scholarship still be there? Groh is probably waiting for the gavel to fall before he follows with the axe. Planning a felony tends to cost you things like free admittance to school. Then again, it didn't hurt Pat Lazear any. And in the Silver Lining Department, schools tend to cut off contact with suspected felons, therefore the risk of a decommit has got to be as low as it gets, right?