AJC > Sports > Football Recruiting > Blog > Archives > 2009 > January > 22 > Entry
DEL.ICIO.USWestlake LB not so interested in SEC, ACC offers
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Categories
Westlake linebacker Dearco Nolan wants to become a commercial airline pilot. He says Middle Tennessee, where he took an official visit last weekend, has a highly rated professional pilot program.
“If I’m going to go to school for free [with a scholarship] I should study what I’m interested in,” he said. “Educationally, everything’s there for me at Middle Tennessee State.”
Nolan’s final decision may hinge on an upcoming official visit to Marshall on Jan. 30.
Nolan, who decommitted on an offer from North Carolina earlier this month, isn’t so sure about offers from Ole Miss and Iowa State. Mississippi already has four offers to pass rushers, and his interest to go there has dwindled. Iowa State, which had been among the leaders, hasn’t called recently after recruiting him hard for the past year.
Nolan said he hasn’t talked to anyone from Iowa State since speaking with defensive line coach Terry Price, who since has left that program to take the same job at Mississippi. Price coached under Tommy Tuberville at Auburn, then left for Iowa State after Tuberville was forced out.
“Iowa State is a question mark right now,” Nolan said.
But Nolan has a good feeling about Middle Tennessee State and says he doesn’t care about the size of the program he joins.
“I’ve got big offers. That’s not a problem,” he said. “It’s not all about football. If you’re good enough [for the pros] they’re going to find you. It’s about getting an education. You can’t play football forever. You’ve got to look past football and look down the road. Like my uncle said, ‘Don’t let the college use you. You use it.’”
A 6-foot-3, 225-pounder, Nolan had 11 sacks last season for Westlake.
Got a recruiting item? Please send an email to mcarvell@ajc.com
Here are briefs on the day’s top recruiting stories. Click on the headline of each story to read more.
Do you want to talk about UGA and Georgia Tech recruiting? Or have questions about the state’s top prospects? Then go to the AJC’s “Inside Georgia Recruiting” forum with Michael Carvell
You just want to read about UGA? Click here to go directly to all the UGA recruiting stories
You just want to read about Georgia Tech? Click on this link to go directly to all the Georgia Tech recruiting stories
Are you a senior prospect overlooked by colleges? Here’s what to do about it and it’s never too late.
Note: Any inappropriate comments will not be tolerated, along with offensive “screen names.” Your posts are identified by the AJC with logging your IP address, not your screen name or email address. We encourage your comments and opinions, and only request that you use good judgment.
Permalink | Comments (12) | Post your comment | Categories: Other schools
Comments
By UGA'91
January 22, 2009 9:08 AM | Link to this
This young man has the right perspective about it all. Good luck young man.
By 4yrs@the IVY
January 22, 2009 9:31 AM | Link to this
This young man is looking at life after football which is great. He is so right that if you are good enough for the NFL they will find you. Also note that when making such a decision most young men forget to look at oportunity to play. My son choose to play at Harvard next year and he had a number of major college offers but when looking at the world today and the opportunities after football he choose “Education” first. Look at the kid from Florida St. he will study abroad instead of waiting to be drafted. It takes a strong and focus young man to play the game of football but it also takes a strong and focus young man to put education first. God bless and good luck Mr. Noland.
By Pi$$onaDawg
January 22, 2009 10:07 AM | Link to this
It is great to HEAR from a STUDENT-Athlete. MOM & DAD you did great rasing a young MAN. Books and Class before Cash and A*. Best of love and life to you.
By UNC2000
January 22, 2009 10:17 AM | Link to this
It’s hard to decommit when you never had an offer to begin with, but kudos to the kid for actually looking at the educational aspect of a football scholarship. He may be a great prospect, but he has never been listed as a commit, and according to sources close to UNC, while he tried to commit to Carolina several times, he was never offered a scholarship. I hope he follows his dream and becomes a pilot—the pay is not bad.
By RaiderFan05
January 22, 2009 1:39 PM | Link to this
MTSU has one of the best commercial pilot programs in the country.
And an up and coming football program under Coach Stockstill.
Middle has the best of both worlds here.
By Kyndyll
January 22, 2009 2:56 PM | Link to this
Nolan never had an offer from UNC. He tried to commit to UNC but the coaches did not have room for him.
Please take a little bit of time to research the story before publication because this is just shameful.
By who cares
January 22, 2009 4:19 PM | Link to this
Who cares about him not having an offer the kid does not want to go to UNC period. Have they gotten a commercial pilot program since this article?
By joey
January 22, 2009 4:21 PM | Link to this
I follow UNC recruiting very heavily in football and basketball, obviously. I have NEVER heard of this kid before today until there was a link posted on www.InsideCarolina.com, a Scout.com affiliate. I, along with everyone else on the board, were surprised to hear that this young man “decommitted” from UNC. The funny thing is that he never had a chance to decommit because he never had a committable offer on the table from the coaches at North Carolina! He camped at UNC and the coaches did like what they saw in the young man but never offered, this according to moderators on the website. He attempted to commit to UNC on SEVERAL occassions but the coaches had to tell him that there was no room for him at UNC. Please, do the public and yourself a favor by doing research about what a recruit says before publishing the story. The only story here is that the young man lied about UNC. He may have lied about the situation but I still hope the young man is very successful in life and all of his dreams come true.
Sounds like sour grapes to me.
By Scout.com
January 22, 2009 5:13 PM | Link to this
Let’s see how many of these scout.com 150 players will qualify and get into their college of choice. All this commit and decomit means nothing because they still must be admitted by the university. Scout.com is a business so they are going to throw out everything and then see what sticks. Alot of these sources are the real problems along with the kids that believes if they get a questionaire from say a UNC they have interest. 1000 upon 1000 are mailed out each year to prospective high school athletes would not be wonderful it we could get these kids interested in college itself and not just football? Time for a Change quit paying for a service to put you name on a website, start putting your name on a college application.
By Big MIKE
January 22, 2009 6:25 PM | Link to this
UNC2000, I know you guys had a good season, but it,s not like UNC is a top tier football program,with the exception of LT,and J.Pepper you guys haven’t been lighting it up in the NFL.In fact it’s safe to say NCSU send more kids to the next level, so if it comes down to MTSU or UNC he is gonna be at then let him pick one with what he wants to do with his life.
By Northernlyte
January 22, 2009 9:23 PM | Link to this
Kudos to this kid’s uncle. Don’t let the school use you, you use the school. About time we start teaching our kids what’s going on. Good luck dude and may one day you fly the friendly skies.
By TruthSpeaker
January 25, 2009 3:12 PM | Link to this
I am also aware of the fact that he didn’t have a UNC offer to begin with. I also know that some of those stats from the season are false. But, what about test scores? Anybody can take a “visit” off of a PSAT score, but with signing day next week we need to see who will qualify. This sounds like the same type of foolishness that was put on by that kid that committed on TV to Cal with no offer.