BG Recruit Honored in Saturday's All-Star Game

[Rollo83]

This from the Ohio-Michigan Border Classic All-Star football game Saturday at Donnell Stadium in Findlay...

"Ohio players of the game were wide receiver Marshon Lattimore (Glenville HS/Ohio State) and defensive back Nilijah Ballew (Cincinnati Walnut Hills HS/Bowling Green State)."

http://www.limaohio.com/news/sports/143 ... -star-game

[MarkL]

BooBoo started as a freshman and quickly became one of the most important players on the team. Ballew looks like a similar type of player. I have high hopes for him.

[mscarn]

Ballew is a stud. Nick Johnson, the early enrollee from Canton Timken, also had 7 solo tackles in the spring game and should be an immediate contributor.

[Class of 61]

Hard to believe that a LIMA< OHIO paper referred to us as "Bowling Green State"..... also, Cody Calloway, a BG recruit at QB, was a no show for the game... Cleve. PD just mentioned he wasn't there, alluded to possibility that he'd been drafted by the Indians as a possible reason. Did NOT indicate whether he'd been to practices and then didn't show, or wasn't there at all, because he had been named to the team originally.

[DetroitFalcon]

Looks like Ohio got it handed to them in the way they deserved. Fortunately, at least one of the BG signees actually showed up and played like a champion. Congrats to Austin Labus, a 6’6” 270lb center out of Portage, MICHIGAN, for bringing the championship to the Great Lakes state. The Free Press article linked below tells most of the story, except for the part about our fine QB commit who thought it would be a good idea to go to the Indians game instead of playing football. Weak move Cody.


http://www.freep.com/article/20140614/H ... r-football" target="_blank

[falconfan1]

I'm a little careful when criticizing young people from afar without having the whole story. Glad to see Labus and Ballew have great games in that recent all star game. They are good young men and very good potential players.

Callaway is likewise a very good young man and a very good potential player. Showed quite a bit of leadership on his trip to and time on BG's campus today. Better give him a little leeway.

Super BG family. Yes he's a two sport guy. Sometimes things don't work as expected. And when the issue is a June football all star game, I would not be overly concerned about the strength or "weak" ness of his moves.

Go Falcons!

[Class of 61]

Ff1,

Good pt. I 'd mentioned the no show because I saw it in the PD. They didn't say much other than he'd been drafted by the tribe, not that he'd gone to a game. Since the tribe was in Boston, I doubt he'd passed up the game to go toBoston.

[DetroitFalcon]

When a player signs a NLI with BG, he becomes a public figure, and then it is certainly fair to question his decision-making process with regard to playing in this game. My comments were based on reporting that indicates that the player committed to play in the game and did not follow through, without a reported injury. I didn't see him at BG, and it is nice to hear that he is a leader, but I did read the following on Cleveland.com:

Cody Callaway did not participate in Saturday's game. Ohio coach Mike Fell said his being drafted in the 34th round by the Cleveland Indians had something to do with the decision but he did not elaborate.

http://highschoolsports.cleveland.com/n ... me-videos/" target="_blank

[MarkL]

So he said he would play in the game. Playing in an all star game does not add up to much. He's already committed to play college football, so the game realistically is a scrimmage, an honor event, and a meet and greet opportunity. Even if he impressed a different school, it won't matter since he signed a LOI.

Meanwhile, he has been drafted by a professional team. He has an opportunity to meet and impress a potential future employer and make those strong impressions.

I find it unwise to criticize his decision.

[Globetrotter]

Was this the only baseball game the Indians were playing this year?

[Flipper]

Yes...

[FalconTurf]

Was this the only baseball game the Indians were playing this year?

When a future employer schedules an interview you don't generally ask for a different time for a rec league game (that's how I view all star games). This is a professional team calling, not Taco Bell for the late night shift.

[Globetrotter]

Yes you do. Especially if you have already made a commitment. He was already drafted. This wasn't a workout. He wasn't auditioning.

[falconfan1]

Cody handled this correctly given the circumstances. All the reporting and information does not include the entire story. That is completely understandable; it is normally the case in something like this matter.

Don't think our signee just blew off a commitment or treated people/organizers poorly.

He did not.

Go Falcons!

[brewer]

Yes you do. Especially if you have already made a commitment. He was already drafted. This wasn't a workout. He wasn't auditioning.

Already drafted? Yes. But signed to a contract? No. Pretty big difference there.

Assuming the expectation is still for him to play baseball in addition to football at BG, then clearly he isn't likely to sign at all this year and will be eligible for the MLB draft again in 3 years. But if the drafting team were to offer a contract well above slot (which does happen), then perhaps things could potentially change. And these aren't necessarily easy decisions for a teenager to make.

I'm not saying that was the reasoning here. But the fact that he was "already drafted" most definitely does not eliminate the possibility that he might have had some reasons to meet with the professional team that just drafted him.