Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Another sleeper awakening at Byrnes

I'm writing about the crowd of D-I prospects at Duncan (S.C.) Byrnes for tomorrow's paper, but the school has more talent than just the six members of our Observer Top 25 prospects list that we feature.

Remember the name of Danzell Collins.

He's a big defensive tackle who blew out a knee in last year's state title victory over Sumter High. He caught his cleats in the turf and tore his anterior cruciate and medial collateral ligaments and also suffered a miniscus tear. Getting back for the 2009 season appeared in doubt.

Collins, though, has worked his rear end off.

"It was bad, but that kid is so strong, and he worked tremendously hard to come back," said Byrnes coach Chris Miller. "Our trainer said he was doing stuff in the training during his rehab that guys in the weight room probably couldn't do."

The 6-foot-2, 225-pound Collins may not be on many schools' radars right now, but he should be back in time to play at least some of the season. Then the scouts will start noticing again.--Stan Olson

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