Noel Devine

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Noel Devine

Devine warming up before a
2007 game against Mississippi State.
West Virginia Mountaineers — No. 7
Running back Sophomore
Major: General Studies
Date of Birth: January 23, 1988 (1988-01-23) (age 20)
Place of Birth: Fort Myers, Florida
Height: 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) Weight: 170 lb (77 kg)
Career History
High school: North Fort Myers High School,
North Fort Myers, Florida
 College(s):
Career Highlights and Awards
  • No notable achievements
Bowl Games
Stats at ESPN.com

Noel Devine(AKA "The Devine Prospect") (born January 23, 1988) is an American college football running back for the West Virginia Mountaineers. He was a former blue chip prospect and holds many high school rushing records.

Devine completed his freshman season at West Virginia University, finishing with 73 carries that were good for 627 yards and 6 touchdowns. Devine ended the season with 1,316 all-purpose yards, the 21st most in a single-season in school history. His performance in the 2008 Fiesta Bowl included a 65 yard TD run, the longest run by a West Virginia player in the school's NCAA bowl history.

One of the best high school athletes to gain national recognition primarily through Internet sites such as YouTube and Wikipedia, Noel's fan base has steadily risen since his days at North Fort Myers High School. In the past few months, various fan sites and blogs dedicated to Noel's football abilities have begun to appear online. There are also dozens of videos of his runs on YouTube, which have become very popular since his arrival at West Virginia.

His top 10 YouTube videos, when counted together, have been viewed over 2,000,000 times.[1]

Contents

[edit] High school career

Devine attended North Fort Myers High School, the same high school that NFL stars Deion Sanders and Jevon Kearse attended. Devine rushed for 1,092 yards and averaged 9 yards per carry as a freshman In his sophomore year, Noel had 1,667 yards and 23 TDs on 143 carries; an 11.7 average. One of his most impressive games of his 10th grade year was in the 63-7 victory over Estero High. Devine rushed for 365 yards and six touchdowns on only nine carries. Devine also returned the opening kickoff 84 yards for a touchdown and his first six carries were for touchdowns.[2] As a junior, Devine rushed for 1,934 yards and 24 touchdowns on 173 carries, averaging 11.5 yards per carry. In his senior year, Devine totaled 2,735 yards and 47 touchdowns.

On October 20, 2006, Noel became the all-time leader in rushing yards for Lee County, surpassing former Mariner High School student and Tampa Bay running back Earnest Graham. Coincidentally, it was Graham's alma mater against which Noel was playing when the record was broken - he scored on a 65 yard touchdown run late in the 3rd quarter. Devine also holds the Lee County all-time rushing record with a career total of 7,009 yards.

He finished his high school career with 92 touchdowns, another Lee County record.[3]

In the U.S. Army All-American Bowl game, he amazingly took a kickoff back 88 yards before catching his right toe on the turf and falling short of the end zone.

[edit] College prospect status

When video clips of Devine began to surface at the beginning of his sophomore year, he quickly became something of an internet phenomenon. When video clips began to surface on the Internet in Devine's junior season in 2005, mainly from YouTube and Sunshine Preps, he gained instant notoriety within the college football scouting community and college football fans in general.[1]

Devine was the #3 ranked running back (and #5 prospect overall) in the nation by ESPN's 2007 Recruit Tracker. Before signing with West Virginia, he was heavily recruited by coaches from some of the nation's other top collegiate programs, such as the University of Nebraska, University of Alabama and Florida State University.

On February 7, 2007 it was announced that Devine had reached a verbal commitment with West Virginia to play football on an athletic scholarship, which was confirmed on a letter of intent signed on March 30, 2007.[4]

After a freshman season in which Devine was able showcase his impressive skill sets on the field, the number of people who might still consider him undersized for an NFL running back should be dwindling. His impressive speed and agility set him apart from other college athletes around the country. According to ESPN's Scouts Inc, he is "a human blur who possesses rare explosiveness, vision and stop/start ability. His ability to accelerate is elite, and when he gets to the second level, he is a threat to take it the distance each time he touches the ball."[5]

[edit] Collegiate career

[edit] Freshman season

On August 4, 2007, the Mountaineers opened up their first practice of the season at Milan Puskar Stadium. Devine was spotted wearing his high school number, #7. West Virginia quarterback Pat White said of Devine after the practice: "He looks good now. We'll see what happens when the pads are on."[6]

Devine got his first chance to play in the 4th quarter of West Virginia's season opener against Western Michigan. Devine's first touch was a carry off the left side that resulted in a one-yard gain. The play drew a loud ovation from the crowd at Mountaineer Field. Devine later showed his speed as he beat the defense to the corner as he went 23 yards after spinning off of a defender. Devine scored his first collegiate touchdown on an 8-yard run to score WVU's final score, as the #3 ranked Mountaineers beat Western Michigan 62-24. Devine finished the game with 7 carries for 44 yards and a reception for 19 yards.

In the second game of the season, Devine looked brilliant as he helped the WVU seal a 4th quarter victory over in-state rival Marshall. Devine only had 5 carries, but managed to rack up 76 yards and 2 touchdowns to help the third ranked Mountaineers beat the Thundering Herd 48-23. Devine also had two kickoff returns for 40 yards. His longest run of the day was 39 yards.

Noel Devine (right) and Jock Sanders (9) stand on the sideline during the Mississippi State game
Noel Devine (right) and Jock Sanders (9) stand on the sideline during the Mississippi State game

In the third game of the season, against Maryland, Devine had the best game of the season to that point. In the 31-14 win, Devine rushed for 136 yards on just 5 carries; a 27.2 yard average. His biggest run of the day was a 76-yard dash down the sideline to the one-yard line. On his next carry he juked out a number of defenders and spun off a facemask grab to cap off the 18-yard gain. He also had one reception for two yards and two kick returns for 47 yards. Devine's performance made him the fastest player to gain 100 yards rushing in a game in school history, taking only two carries to reach 100 yards against Maryland.

In the next game against ECU, Devine had 7 rushes for 11 yards, a reception for 7 yards and a kick return for 25 yards. In the Mountaineers' first loss of the season against USF, 21-13, Devine had 4 carries for 36 yards. He also had 36 yards on two kick returns. In the 55-14 win over Syracuse, Devine was held to 13 yards on 4 carries, with 33 yards on two kick returns. Devine sat out the Mississippi State game for missing a practice earlier that week. Against #25 ranked Rutgers, Devine had 6 carries for 40 yards.

Against Louisville, Devine had 2 rushes for 11 yards and one reception for 4 yards. He also had 4 kick returns for 97 yards, including a 41-yarder. After the 38-31 Louisville win, rumors appeared that Devine was mad about lack of playing time and had supposedly "torn up his locker" in a fit of anger. In an article with Rivals.com, Devine dismissed the rumors saying, "If I really wanted to play I would have gone to a sorry team...I didn't expect a lot of playing time." Devine also said, "I think I have played fairly. There's people that are not playing and they're on the team and they're happy. You got a great running back ahead of you. Really, I'm not expecting a lot."[7]

In the 28-23 road win against #22 Cincinnati, Devine had only 23 yards on 2 carries, including a 17-yard rush. However, had four kick returns for 86 yards, averaging 21.5 yards per return. In the Big East Championship-clinching 66-21 win over #20 Connecticut, Devine rushed for 118 yards and a score on 11 carries, which ranked second-best on the team, trailing only quarterback Pat White.

The #2 Mountaineers were then upset 13-7 by Pittsburgh in the 100th edition of the Backyard Brawl. In loss, Devine was shut down. he had only 11 yards on 7 carries; a meek 1.6 average. Devine gave the team some hope for a 4th quarter comeback when he returned a kickoff 48 yards. But alas, the Mountaineers were stopped on fourth down to end the game.

Devine would finish his freshman season with a stellar performance in West Virginia's Fiesta Bowl win over Oklahoma. After losing Steve Slaton to a leg injury in the first quarter, Devine filled in for WVU with 105 yards on 12 carries and 2 touchdowns, including a 65 yard run which provided the final score of the game. The run broke a West Virginia bowl record for longest rush and was the second longest play from scrimmage for the Mountaineers in the season. He also returned 4 kickoffs for 88 yards, a 22.0 yard average, and two receptions for 47 yards.

Devine was given honorable mention for the Freshman All-American team by various accounts, including SportingNews,[8] and was awarded the team's Danny Van Etten Rookie of the Year Award by head coach Rich Rodriguez. After Rodriguez left West Virginia to announce his decision to accept the head coaching job at the University of Michigan, Devine began to consider transferring but then decided he would finish his career at West Virginia.[9]

Noel Devine finished his freshman season with 73 carries for 627 yards and 6 touchdowns. He also added 7 receptions for 90 yards and 26 returns for 599 yards. Devine ended the season with 1,316 all-purpose yards, the 21st most in a single-season in school history. Devine also finished the year ranked #10 in the Big East in rushing yards per game and #5 in the conference in kickoff return yards.

[edit] Sophomore season

After former head coach Rich Rodriguez left West Virginia and announce his decision to accept the head coaching job at the University of Michigan, Noel Devine considered transferring, but decided he would finish his career at West Virginia.[10] On January 14, 2008, West Virginia starting running back Steve Slaton announced his desire to enter the NFL Draft instead of returning for his senior season. Slaton's departure means Devine will be the probable starter for the 2008 season.[11]

Devine and quarterback Pat White were named the #1 "scary star" of the 2008 by Rivals.com.[12] Shortly afterwards, the Mountaineers began their first spring practice. West Virginia running backs coach, Chris Beatty, said of Devine, "“He’s as quick as he looked on television...So quick and yet he has great patience and things like that. My goal is to just let him run fast and do the things he does so well.” Devine also commented that he could handle at least 30 carries a game as the feature back, despite his size; which he said he wanted to jump up to 180 lbs.[13] Head coach Bill Stewart also said that Devine maxed out at 405 pounds at the bench press during the spring.[14]

[edit] Career statistics

 WVU   Rushing   Receiving   Kickoff Returns
Season Games Att Yds Avg Lg TD Rec Yds Avg Lg TD No Yds Avg Lg TD
2007 12 73 627 8.6 76 6 7 90 12.9 34 0 26 599 23 48 0
Total 12 73 627 8.6 76 6 7 90 12.9 34 0 26 599 23 48 0

[edit] Internet Phenomenon

One of the first high school athletes to gain national recognition primarily through Internet sites such as YouTube and Wikipedia, Noel's fan base has steadily risen since his days at North Fort Myers High School. In the past few months, various fan sites and blogs dedicated to Noel's football abilities have begun to appear online. There are also dozens of videos of his runs on YouTube, which have become very popular since his arrival at West Virginia.

His top 10 YouTube videos, when counted together, have been viewed over 2,000,000 times, respectively.[15]

[edit] Personal life

Devine was 3 months old when his father died in 1988 of complications from AIDS,[16] and 11 years old when his mother also died of AIDS.[17] Custody passed to his maternal grandmother, but the two did not always see eye to eye. Eventually, Noel moved in with the Liz and Robert Harlow Sr, the parents of one of Noel's friends. [18] Devine himself is the father of two children by two different women. [19] He was also a witness to a shooting late in 2004, in which one of Noel's friends, 15 year old Rashard Patterson, was killed by a shotgun blast to the chest. [20]

Noel has a special relationship with Deion Sanders, who himself is a graduate of North Fort Myers High School. At one point, Sanders planned to become Noel's legal guardian.[19] Devine moved to Prosper, Texas, where he lived with Sanders, but after a few weeks, he took Deion Sanders wife's Escalade to the Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport, where a plane ticket back to Florida awaited him. Devine and Sanders are still in contact with each other, perhaps more so as the 2007 signing day approached, when Sanders assisted Noel in preparing to sign a letter of intent and play football in the college ranks. Deion Sanders revealed his mentor role in Devine's decision in his column for The News-Press, a Fort Myers news outlet.[21] He recommended to Devine that a prep school would help better prepare him for college.

Noel Devine was interviewed by ESPN The Magazine under their NEXT editions, which picks the next big athlete of the year. Devine was a nominee for the 2008 edition, along with Brandon Roy, Joba Chamberlain, Tyson Gay, Patrick Willis, and Novak Đoković. In the interview, Devine stated that his idol is Barry Sanders, and that his best game of his career at that point was against Maryland.[22]

In Mid-February of 2008, Devine and teammate, Jock Sanders, allegedly beat and stomped two students outside of Club Z in Morgantown. Head coach Bill Stewart said of the incident, " To me disrespecting someone downtown of the opposite sex is a whole lot worse than bumping into a guy in a bar, which you shouldn't be in the bar anyhow. But, to me there's intangibles in life. Sometimes there's confrontations, sometimes you don't handle confrontations right, but preplanned, pre arranged instances--you can't overlook that."[23] However, on March 13, Devine, Sanders, Eian Smith, and Brantwon Bowser were all arrested and pled no contest for the fight.[24] However, the four were suspected to begin spring practice.[25]

[edit] References

  1. ^ YouTube. "YouTube Search Results for Noel Devine - sorted by view count". YouTube . Retrieved on 2008-01-31.
  2. ^ Noel Devine: And I Quote
  3. ^ ESPN. "Noel Devine Archive". ESPN . Retrieved on 2007-02-10.
  4. ^ Long, Chris / nbc-2.com. Noel Devine signs letter of intent with West Virginia. NBC2 News. Retrieved on 2007-03-30.
  5. ^ Scouts Inc. "Noel Devine". ESPN. Retrieved on 2007-02-10.
  6. ^ Starkey: Devine drama opens in Morgantown - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
  7. ^ http://westvirginia.rivals.com/barrier_noentry.asp?sid=&script=content.asp&cid=739284&fid=&tid=&mid=&rid=
  8. ^ http://sundaygazettemail.com/section/Sports/2007120738
  9. ^ Scout.com: Devine Decision
  10. ^ Scout.com: Devine Decision
  11. ^ Sporting News - Your expert source for MLB Baseball, NFL Football, NBA Basketball, NHL Hockey, NCAA Football, NCAA Basketball and Fantasy Sports scores, blogs, and articles
  12. ^ Rivals.com College Football - College football has some scary stars
  13. ^ "Devine Pleases Beatty" - The Journal
  14. ^ "Replacing WVU's 'truck,' a possible transfer and gems from Bill Stewart" - Charleston Gazette
  15. ^ YouTube. "YouTube Search Results for Noel Devine - sorted by view count". YouTube . Retrieved on 2008-01-31.
  16. ^ Steward Mandel. "Catch him if you can". SI.com. Retrieved on 2007-09-14.
  17. ^ Steward Mandel. "Catch him if you can". SI.com. Retrieved on 2007-09-14.
  18. ^ Powell, Robert. "And God Created Noel Devine". The New York Times. Retrieved on 2006-08-20.
  19. ^ a b Farrell, Mike. "Peek into inner circle shows Noel Devine's no deviant". The Sporting News. Retrieved on 2007-02-08.
  20. ^ Harry, Chris. "It took being adopted by Deion Sanders before this tailback realized where home really was". Orlando Sentinel. Retrieved on 2005-08-08.
  21. ^ Sanders, Deion. "Decision like this takes time". The News-Press. Retrieved on 2007-02-08.
  22. ^ Next - Home
  23. ^ West Virginia Sports News, Scores and Coverage
  24. ^ Four WVU Football Players Arrested | WDTV CBS 5 - News, Weather and Sports - Bridgeport - Clarksburg, WV Bridgeport/Clarksburg, WV | Local News
  25. ^ WBOY-TV – News for Clarksburg, Fairmont, Morgantown, West Virginia


Preceded by
Steve Slaton		 WVU Starting Running Back
2008		 Succeeded by
Incumbent
v • d • e
West Virginia Mountaineers Starting Running Backs