Quincy Wilson: A Homegrown Star
By John Antonik
Quincy Wilson's path to a college football career probably began in Walter Payton's Winnebago. Quincy spent summers with his father Otis at the Chicago Bears training camp complex in Lake Forest, Illinois, and struck up a friendship with Walter's son Jarrett Payton, now a senior running back at the University of Miami.
"We
were the two oldest kids running around back then," said
Quincy. "The Winnebago was the only place with air conditioning."
Otis, a first round draft pick from Louisville in 1980, played nine years as a standout linebacker helping the Bears to a Super Bowl victory over New England in 1986. Wilson says his young son paid attention everywhere he took him.
"Growing up he's been around the best," said his father. "He watched Walter Payton, Mike Singletary, and Richard Dent work out. We always went to the gym and did our thing together so he knows what to do on every level."
By the time he was old enough to attend Weirton High School, Quincy had already acquired a healthy reputation as a football player. He was a starter his freshman season and also got to run the football some as a backup.
Quincy got more carries as a sophomore, but it wasn't until his junior and senior seasons that he carved a niche for himself as the state's premiere high school athlete.
In the remaining two years of high school, Quincy gained the majority of his state-record 6,161 career yards. During his senior season, Quincy rushed for a West Virginia-record 3,262 yards in 14 games. That figure ranked him third nationally.
Quincy Wilson had a tough choice to make after his senior season at Weir High in 1998: do I go out to the Midwest and play at a school near my father, or do I stay home and play at West Virginia University?
Quincy took four of his five official visits to Indiana, Purdue, Illinois, and Northwestern. His fifth trip was to Morgantown. Quincy's decision came down to Indiana and West Virginia. In the end, he figured being a homegrown star probably had more advantages so he picked WVU.
"I always felt you should want to go to your state university," he said at the time of his signing. "I thought it was important to stay home." Quincy was also remaining close to his mother Kyle and his grandmother, who were just a short hour and a half drive across the tip of the Northern Panhandle.
Quincy finished his freshman season with just 146 yards—a majority of which came in one game against Rutgers in a 62-16 blowout victory. But he was showing signs that he could become a capable backup to Avon Cobourne. He was also proving he could do some damage when he was in the game, too. That was until the 2000 spring game.
It was a simple cut he'd made a thousand times before. This time while avoiding a tackler, his body went in one direction and his right knee went in another. He felt a searing pain shoot through his entire leg.
"I just remember cutting and then all of the sudden I went down," said Quincy. "I'm thinking something doesn't feel right."
Things
weren't right. He had completely torn the ligament in his right
knee. Not only was he done for the rest of the game, his 2000
season was through, too. "I thought I had a good spring,
and the spring game is supposed to be the showcase going into
the fall, and I was hopeful of getting a chance to compete for
a starting job," said Quincy. "And then to have that
setback."
Today, because of all of his hard work, Quincy's right knee is probably stronger than his left knee. Still, the injury set Quincy back big time when spring practice rolled around in 2001. Nehlen retired and Rich Rodriguez came on board.
It took Quincy a while to catch Rodriguez's attention, "Coming in it was a new system and I was coming off a full year of not even practicing," he said. "Going into spring I felt a little behind."
Once again, Quincy produced modest results in 2001. He carried the ball just 25 times for 181 yards and a touchdown. And once again, most of those yards came against Rutgers in a blowout victory. He finished the game rushing for 129 yards on just six carries; one of those runs went 60 yards for a touchdown.
Coach Rich Rodriguez pulled Quincy aside one day after his sophomore season and told him to keep working hard, that he was expecting him to have a bigger role in the offense. Rodriguez knew he needed more than one quality back to pull off what he was planning to do in 2002.
Rodriguez was going to add a little twist to his no-huddle, spread offense.
Quincy says his most memorable performance to date came at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg.
"That was my best game," he says bluntly. "It was national television, you could feel the excitement in the air, and the whole week everyone was like, 'This is a big game.' The year before they put it on us so it was more of a revenge game. The way we played you just knew something special was going to happen."
Something special sure did happen, and Quincy played a big part in it. With the Mountaineers clinging to a 14-10 lead late in the third quarter, Quincy took a harmless third-down handoff, broke free of the line and raced 42 yards for a huge touchdown. The run put West Virginia up by 11 points and gave the Mountaineers just enough distance to hold off a late Hokie comeback.
Quincy finished his junior season rushing for 901 yards and six touchdowns. Those numbers are okay until you consider the fact that he did it complementing Cobourne, who finished the year with a Big East-record 1,710 yards.
Quincy averaged 6.4 yards per carry—the most in the Big East last year among backs with at least 140 carries. He also topped 100 yards three times last season despite not carrying the football more than 18 times in a single game. Quincy just missed going over the century mark against Syracuse (99) and had 88 against Cincinnati.
This year one early NFL draft list by Mel Kiper Jr. has Quincy rated among the nation's top senior backs. ESPN The Magazine profiled Quincy and newcomer Kay-Jay Harris in its college football section in early July.
Collegefootballnews.com lists Quincy as the 28th-best player in the Big East and both Lindy's and Street & Smith's Magazine have Quincy among their preseason All-America checklists.
Summer has been hectic for Quincy, now a senior. Sandwiched between trips back to Weirton and having to endure the daily doses of misery concocted by new strength and conditioning coach Mike Barwis, Quincy found some time in June to visit his dad in Chicago.
In addition to the Otis Wilson Foundation, which supports the development of inner-city youth, his father conducts football camps throughout the Midwest, including his biggest one—a contact camp at Benedictine University.
For his part, Quincy is gratified he is finally getting an opportunity to become West Virginia's featured back.
"It feels like all of the hard work is finally paying off," he said. "This is what I've wanted—to be the man. I've been waiting for a chance to get in there and be a starter and not having to worry about waiting to get into a game. [Being a starter] is one of the goals I've set for myself, and now it's time to go out there and perform."
Otis has been clearing his fall schedule to make sure he can get to as many of Quincy's games in person that he can. "'I'll be right there with my West Virginia colors on watching," he smiled.
His dad won't be the only one watching Quincy, that's for sure.
Mountain Honorary
Celebrates Anniversary
Next spring, Mountain Honorary will celebrate its 100th anniversary
at WVU. During April 16-24, 2004, Mountain Honorary is inviting
its membership back to campus for a celebration. For more information,
contact Brandon Flower via e-mail at Brandon.Flower@verizon.net.
Calling all
Rowers
The WVU women's crew team is making waves. Coach Nancy LaRocque
says alumni across the country are excited to see the sport growing
into an established part of WVU athletics. "We were at a
regatta in San Diego last year and literally stumbled into a
man wearing an old WVU Rowing jacket. He was excited to see us
competing there, and we were glad to see the pride he had in
his school," she explained.
The races are the centerpieces for regattas across the country.
Barbecues and street fairs usually bring out hundreds and even
thousands of fans. "Having our alums in the crowd to cheer
on the team means a lot to the athletes," she continued.
For more on the women's rowing program and race schedule, go
to www.wvu.edu/~sports and follow the links to the team's site.
Sports Hall
of Fame Inductees
The WVU Sports Hall of fame has inducted six new members. They
are: Tommy Allman, Kittie Blakemore, Tony Constantine, John Doyle,
Sam Littlepage, and Don Nehlen. To see profiles and photos of
the new members, go on-line to: www.wvu.edu/~sports/departments/hall.html.