Leaps & Bounds: GW’s Wilson focusing on track as football scholarship offers pile up

Published: May 23, 2008

CHARLOTTESVILLE — The left side of the dry erase board is covered with names of 23 major Division I schools — all neatly written with a black marker.

Consider it a who’s who in college football. The board is the easiest way for George Washington football coach Dan Newell to keep track of the interest in star running back David Wilson.

Of the 23 schools listed, 14 have the word “offered” scribbled beside them. Wilson, a junior, has scholarships on the table from eight Atlantic Coast Conference schools, three Southeastern Conference teams, two Big Ten programs and one Big East university. The others, including Southern Cal, Ohio State and Florida, have also showed interest.

It’s a lot to take in.

Yet, on this day, football recruiting is the last thing on Wilson’s mind. He’s struggled all afternoon in his premier event — the triple jump — at the Northwest Region track and field meet. The preliminaries went horribly. Wilson, who usually jumps at least 48 feet, was barely reaching the 46-foot mark.

As the finals begin, Wilson goes through his usual routine. He sizes up the runway, swings his arms and starts to clap. His teammates, by the fence cheering him on, join in — as do a few other competitors nearby.

The clapping became a part of Wilson’s habit after an NCAA track champion told him to get the crowd involved.

“Usually when I get the crowd involved, I bust a big jump,” Wilson said.

Wilson takes off, barreling down the blue lane. Once again, the landing isn’t where he’d like it to be.

With one more jump to go, Wilson waits his turn. When he gets called to step to the mark, he goes through the usual movements. But there’s no clapping this time. Wilson takes off, hits his steps perfectly, rockets into the air and splashes into the sand pit.

“Mark it,” yells the official.

Wilson’s final leap proves to be his best of the day — 49-feet, 4¾ inches. Although it isn’t a personal best, it’s good enough for first-place at the Northwest Region meet. And at this point, he gladly takes it.

“I was real worried,” Wilson admitted. “If one thing would have gone wrong in that last jump, I would be sitting in a different position right now. I just thank God that he gave me the opportunity to correct my mistakes.

“I was messing up a lot of things in my jump, but I think it was just a mental thing. I had to get focused on my jump.”

It was the second victory of the day for Wilson, who also ran the anchor leg of GW’s 4x100-meter relay team that placed first in a time of 42.71 seconds.

The concentration Wilson displayed before his winning triple jump is just one example of the focus he has, whether it’s in track, football or anything else. It’s also a reason why a bluechip football recruit like Wilson can take it all in stride and not get caught up in the hype.

“There’s never any question that when David is focused on tasks or what he’s working on, he’s going to try to do the best he can,” Newell said. “He’s got that talent to do it with.”

Picking up steam

Word of Wilson’s football abilities spread slowly at first, but once game film began to circulate, the interest began to grow exponentially.

“Certainly I didn’t know it was going to get this big, and David had no clue it was coming,” admitted Newell, who has served as Wilson’s informal public relations coordinator. In fact, the influx of phone calls Newell began to receive from college coaches forced Newell to stop giving out his home phone number.

During his coaching career, Newell’s had at least two players receive national recruiting attention — most recently Cam Martin, who is now a whip linebacker at Virginia Tech. But those have paled in comparison to the attention Wilson is receiving.

“The fact that you have schools that were just recently involved in national championships involved in the mix — whether they offer him or not is immaterial, but when Ohio State flies in to see him or talk to me about him and evaluate him or go see him run track or Florida flies up here to go watch him at a track meet — that is a different level of recruiting that I’ve never been through before,” Newell said. “I don’t think it gets any bigger than that.”

“Sometimes it seems unreal,” Wilson acknowledged.

Maybe it’s a good thing Wilson hasn’t had too much extra time to think about the attention. Following football season he ran indoor track, where he won the state meet and the Nike Nationals. Now Wilson finds himself prepping for next week’s Group AAA state meet, where GW track coach Veronica Harris will likely limit him to the triple jump and the 4x100 relay. Wilson, who won five events at the Western Valley District meet last week, competed in five events and placed in three at Friday’s region meet.

“I used to have to put him in a lot of different events because he is a character with endless energy,” Harris said. “Now that energy has waned a little bit this year.”

Keeping his options open

With so many college football scholarships offered, Wilson will soon have to narrow his list. 

“That’s a conversation that comes up at the dinner table a lot,” Wilson said. “They ask me what do I think and I tell them it’s confusing because you hear the same thing. All the schools sound like great places to be. I know wherever I’ll end up, I’ll like it because I won’t know anything other than that.”

Newell feels his star running back has plenty of options — ones that include both football and track.

“He’s in a unique position in this recruiting process because now he’s a bluechip kid on the football field, which means he is carrying some clout in that regard,” Newell said. “He has the opportunity to wait and find out some things. He has the opportunity to not make demands, but make choices between some excellent football programs and use track as a way to do that.”

Wilson began running track as a way to stay in shape for football. Now it’s become a part of him. And he wants to compete in both at the college level. That choice might also help Wilson narrow his list of schools.

“I’ve made it pretty clear to all the people I’ve talked to on David’s behalf that it’s going to be a major factor in his decision,” Newell said. “If you do not have a strong track program or you don’t have a strong interest in him being a part of that, you’re not going to make the kind of impression on a kid who has got those opportunities to want to come to your school for football only.”

A number of pro football players have track backgrounds, including former GW standout Herman Moore, who was an all-pro wide receiver for the Detroit Lions. Moore still holds the Northwest Region track meet record in the high jump.

Wilson would certainly like to add his name to the list. It’s been his dream.

“As a little kid, I told my mom that I wanted to have a name that nobody will ever forget,” said Wilson, who is already one of the top high school triple jumpers in the nation. “I want to be a hero. I guess I’m trying to fit those shoes.”

Newell expects that Wilson might not narrow his list of schools until late June because of the upcoming state and national track meets scheduled.

“There’s a lot more investigation on his end to have to look at,” Newell said. “There are probably some front-runners in his mind, but I purposely told him not to get involved in that with the media or with me. I don’t want to know yet. … It’s not time for that right now.”

Wilson didn’t specifically name any schools that are on his list, but there are certain qualities — such as education programs — he is looking for in a university.

“I also look at the history of the program,” said Wilson, who racked up 1,557 rushing yards and 17 touchdowns on 139 carries last season, in addition to catching five passes for 86 yards and a score. “I want to go to a school that has stable coaches.”

Staying close to home isn’t necessarily a preference either.

“A lot of people think location plays a role in my choice-making, but it doesn’t play a role,” Wilson said.