Small colleges in Kentucky have a really phenomenal recruiting advantage over their sister institutions in other states. So many great players exist “under the radar” around the commonwealth that schools can mine Kentucky waters and come away with 24-carat talent.
No where is this more apparent than Louisville’s Eastern High School. Eastern plays in the 6A classification’s tough 5th-district. Louisville Trinity and Ballard both also play in the district, making seeing the third round under the present playoff structure, difficult no matter how much talent a team can field.
Because Eastern is virtually assured of a poor yearly record and early round exit, colleges don’t recruit the Eagles roster with the same vigor and devotion as some of its Derby City brethren. That doesn’t mean it shouldn’t be recruited at all.
Aiden Jackson showed everyone the folly of overlooking players from Eastern just this past season. Jackson, who played both ways in high school, has settled in at OG on the Centre College Football roster. Aiden was in the rotation as a freshman and may well have earned a varsity letter. We are told Jackson figures to start along the front in the Fall of ’22.
If you don’t believe Aiden Jackson can play, or if what he has done to date at Centre should not be found by you sufficiently compelling, watch his senior year in high school highlights. Remember, he was playing against teams like Ballard and Trinity, just in district.
How good does he look to you? Is he not as good as any college prospect regardless of level on whom you have before watched film in light of where he was positioned? That’s what we thought!
Well, Eastern has some bone fide, college prospects on the roster graduating in ’22 to go along with what Aiden Jackson proved himself to be for the ’21 class. One of those is the subject of this article, Pierce Humpich.
Humpich is built up like a brick crap-house. He is 6-3, 210-pounds of RB/LB fury.
Clocked at 4.59-seconds in the 40-yard dash, Humpich was outstanding at RB this past season working behind outclassed front line talent attempting to block defensive fronts from teams like Ballard and Trinity. Still, Humpich gained 1,480-yards rushing from scrimmage in 189-carries with 10-rushing TDs.
The entire teams didn’t score but 17-rushing TDs on the season. He scored nearly 60% of those.
We love him, next level, as a linebacker. He has the length and heft to play positioned there to go along with the speed.
He is a D-1 level prospect. D-1’s are likely to be “sleeping on” him because of where he played in high school.
This means there is opportunity here, like there was with Jackson the year prior. There is some gold to be mined, if local college coaches are savvy enough to get to work.
If you are a college program recruiting the Bluegrass, we hope you are picking up what we are laying down for you. You dig?
This is Coach HB Lyon, reporting for KPGFootball, and we’re JUST CALLING IT LIKE WE SEE IT!
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