Waiting for the workday to wind down and prepping for some Sweet 16 action later. Just curious, with all the hoopla surrounding football recruiting and with our recruiting threads mentioning the offers to different kids it got me wondering. Any idea who Apps most sought after recruit might have been (in terms of who we might have beaten out)? I see different names mentioned with App offers along with P5's. I believe the day will come when we sign legit multi-star recruits but I was wondering, historically, who might have been the biggest catch we ever got.

Mr.Dexter Coakley from Wando High School in Charleston, SC has to be in the conversation and that was many moons ago .

MDaniels84 wrote:Mr.Dexter Coakley from Wando High School in Charleston, SC has to be in the conversation and that was many moons ago .

John Settle from Reidsville, NC would be high, high on the list.

Would be cool if you guys can explain why.

asu66 wrote:

MDaniels84 wrote:Mr.Dexter Coakley from Wando High School in Charleston, SC has to be in the conversation and that was many moons ago .

John Settle from Reidsville, NC would be high, high on the list.

We beat out NC State and I think a couple of Big 10 schools for John back in the day. And I think Wake wanted him too.

The highest ranked recruit App has ever signed was Anthony Covington, he was one tenth of a point from being a 4 Star Rivals recruit. You see how well that worked out.

The highest ranked recruit ever to wear an App State uniform was Tacoi Sumler. You see how well that worked out.

I might be mistaken but I think that Clemson and Virginia Tech along with others were looking hard at Dexter Coakley back in the day. I know that he was a safety in high school and we converted him into one of the best linebackers that I have ever seen play the game after spending a year at Fork Union (I think).

MDaniels84 wrote:I might be mistaken but I think that Clemson and Virginia Tech along with others were looking hard at Dexter Coakley back in the day. I know that he was a safety in high school and we converted him into one of the best linebackers that I have ever seen play the game after spending a year at Fork Union (I think).

FUMA is correct for Coakley.

Dexter Coakley was also a great running back in high school. He actually was practicing as a kick returner for us. He broke Marshall's heart when he chose App State...he was close to being a Thundering Herd!

John Settle had committed to Duke, but Duke "fired" Red Wilson. John loved our campus and the "dry county"...he was a religious young man! What a wonderful chain of events to land both of these all-time greats!!!

I would be willing to bet that Harold Alexander from Pickens High in SC (even though he was a punter) might have been highly recruited. Man oh man , could he deliver the BOOM to those punts. I can remember a distinct sound when he punted that I have not heard since (although Sam Martin came close).

Dino could Hackett.

Wasn't Tim Washington (from LSU) highly rated too? Like top 100 overall highly rated?

Settle and Coakley sound like reasonable nominations to me. I remember JS tearing it up on many a Sunday and DC was a beast. I never kept up with recruiting and had no idea what the star system even meant until a few years ago. I figured that we just typically didn't make it a habit of beating out the big boys for quality recruits (who actually lived up to their billing). I would love for someone with more historical knowledge than me to come up with an all-time App starting lineup. My uncle had the great fortune of being inducted into the ASU Hall of Fame and was listed on the all 75 year team. Not sure if he would rate on a mythical App All-Star team but it would be fun to debate.

I had the pleasure of not only getting to watch Settle play at App, but I also had Falcons season tickets during the time he played there. Big fan of John Settle!

goapps93 wrote:

asu66 wrote:

MDaniels84 wrote:Mr.Dexter Coakley from Wando High School in Charleston, SC has to be in the conversation and that was many moons ago .

John Settle from Reidsville, NC would be high, high on the list.

We beat out NC State and I think a couple of Big 10 schools for John back in the day. And I think Wake wanted him too.

And UNC-CH

JMappfan5 wrote:Dexter Coakley was also a great running back in high school. He actually was practicing as a kick returner for us. He broke Marshall's heart when he chose App State...he was close to being a Thundering Herd!

John Settle had committed to Duke, but Duke "fired" Red Wilson. John loved our campus and the "dry county"...he was a religious young man! What a wonderful chain of events to land both of these all-time greats!!!

John's father was a minister.

1983: 135 carries for 613 yards with 4 TD
1984: 185 carries for 795 yards with 5 TD
1985: 254 carries for 1,340 yards with 14 TD
1986: 317 carries for 1,661 yards with 20 TD

JS career stats. Kind of turned in on his last two seasons. First non-drafted running back to go over 1,000 yards in a season in the NFL. Not too shabby.

bigdaddyg wrote:1983: 135 carries for 613 yards with 4 TD
1984: 185 carries for 795 yards with 5 TD
1985: 254 carries for 1,340 yards with 14 TD
1986: 317 carries for 1,661 yards with 20 TD

JS career stats. Kind of turned in on his last two seasons. First non-drafted running back to go over 1,000 yards in a season in the NFL. Not too shabby.

Settle injured his knee early in his career with Atlanta , which left him a step slower or he might have continued to perform so well in the NFL. That was the main reason why he was traded from Atlanta.

NewApp wrote:Settle injured his knee early in his career with Atlanta , which left him a step slower or he might have continued to perform so well in the NFL. That was the main reason why he was traded from Atlanta.

Settle joined the Falcons as a non-drafted free agent for 1987 season. He mostly sat bench behind Gerald Riggs in '87. When Riggs went down with an injury early in '88 season, Settle got his shot and excelled under Marion Campbell. When Jerry Glanville got coaching job in '90 you were either one of his guys or not. Settle wasn't a Jerry Glanville man that is why he didn't get any playing time. He went to the Redskins in '91.

I never liked Glanville.

Would Settle be considered as a top 3 back all time for for App? KR definitely number one of course. Number two could still be playing with us now.