Vfastv Locust?

[ArkanSooner]

Where is he going? I'm a student at the University of Central Arkansas (where Londell Taylor was committed before becoming a Sooner!) until transferring to OU next fall, so I don't get to follow Oklahoma H.S. recruiting much. I just know that guy put up some sick numbers and is decent size and speed. What's his story? I know he had some off-field issues but I figured he would be given a chance somewhere.

[OSUAggie]

Probably JUCO or lower-division school. Nobody D-1 picked him up.

[AllAboutThe'O']

He'll likely sign with NEO up in Miami.

[LoyalFan]

PLEASE! For the love of God! Tell me that Vfastv Locust is NOT his real name!!!
If 'tis, his parents ought to be deported back to wherever from whence they (or their ancestors) came. (My money's on Afrikky.)

Linky? Anyone?

LF

[soonerndn]

The v is a vowel in the Muscogee Creek language. Perhaps he's Native?

[Seamus]

Strike one for cultural tolerance ... :rolleyes:

[Ground_Attack]

it is Creek. Its pronounced similar to "ah-fast-ah". He's a stud, but he's had his share of issues off the field.

[Rook65]

it is Creek. Its pronounced similar to "ah-fast-ah". He's a stud, but he's had his share of issues off the field.

Correct, and it means "shepherd". His off the field issues are serious stuff, believe me.

[arklahoman36]

He'll likely sign with NEO up in Miami.

He'll be lucky to make it at a JC unfortunately.
His situation reminds of a kid named Glen Bell who was a stud RB for Muskogee in the mid 80s.
He was an amazing talent, but had no direction, no discipline made bad choices in friends and it prevented him from ever realizing his potential.

[Egeo]

Correct, and it means "shepherd". His off the field issues are serious stuff, believe me.
ive heard terrible things also

[LoyalFan]

Strike one for cultural tolerance ... :rolleyes:


OK, I am truly contrite, but perhaps you can understand my assumption given some of the downright wacko names given to our darker-hued brethren (and sistern.) Like, uh...Craphonso?
Believe me, I hate no one ('cept, lemme see...Whorns, Islamic Fundamentalists, Skinheads, Hillary Clinton, Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid, Dickhead Turban, Ted "Hic!" Kennedy, both Barneys...Frank AND the purple one, Rosie O'Hippodonnell, USC, PACman 10 officials, and...hmmm...and a host of others.) and want to make that clear.
Well, Seamus, I WOULD like to mention that I DO wear Orange, but only on Saint Patricks Day, in honor of the Battle O' The Boyne.

With malice toward some, actually,

LF

PS: And that danged Nancy Grace is starting to wear on me too.
She one of them thar wimmins that oughta be obscene and not heard.

[RUSH LIMBAUGH is my clone!]

OK, I am truly contrite, but perhaps you can understand my assumption given some of the downright wacko names given to our darker-hued brethren (and sistern.) Like, uh...Craphonso?
Believe me, I hate no one ('cept, lemme see...Whorns, Islamic Fundamentalists, Skinheads, Hillary Clinton, Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid, Dickhead Turban, Ted "Hic!" Kennedy, both Barneys...Frank AND the purple one, Rosie O'Hippodonnell, USC, PACman 10 officials, and...hmmm...and a host of others.) and want to make that clear.
Well, Seamus, I WOULD like to mention that I DO wear Orange, but only on Saint Patricks Day, in honor of the Battle O' The Boyne.

With malice toward some, actually,

LF

PS: And that danged Nancy Grace is starting to wear on me too.
She one of them thar wimmins that oughta be obscene and not heard.Have you tried stand-up comedy, yet?

[LoyalFan]

Have you tried stand-up comedy, yet?

Only from a sitting position. Gotta take these things slowly, y'know?

Oh, almost forgot, I did try "Stand Up" once, but I'm 6'2" and she was 5' even. THAT was definitely comedic, sad to say.

LF

[Rook65]

He'll be lucky to make it at a JC unfortunately.


Any school he went to would have to assign him one or more of those "institutional girlfriends" to handle his classwork, attendance, and other needs.

[LoyalFan]

All attempts at humor (however brilliant) aside, Vfastv Locust seems to be a troubled young man. Can anyone here give me a thumbnail sketch as to what his off-the-field problems have been; Type, severity, legal outcomes?
Could it be that at least some of his difficulties are linked to parents, coaches, school administrators, etc., cutting him too much slack 'cause of his athletic abilities? That seems to be a common thread in a high percentage of cases.
Even Marcus Dupree's failure at OU could be traced, 'tis said, to everyone in Philadelphia, Mississippi telling him his excretia was redolent of roses. On the bright side, he did not arrive at OU with a reputation reeking of thuggery.

Any info, not rumored stuff, would be appreciated.

Thanks,

LoyalFan
In drizzly San Antonio (The New Third World)

[stoopified]

He'll be lucky to make it at a JC unfortunately.
His situation reminds of a kid named Glen Bell who was a stud RB for Muskogee in the mid 80s.
He was an amazing talent, but had no direction, no discipline made bad choices in friends and it prevented him from ever realizing his potential.Another example that comes to mind is Michael Gresham of Clinton.If that name doesn't ring a bell.it should he was a highly touted TB for the RED TORNADOES who was on many recruiting watch lists after his soph. season.He had recruiting intrest from Nebraska,OU.UT.Miami and MANY others.He was kicked off his team early in his junior season,got in trouble with the law(drugs,I think)and disappeared.Last I heard (about 3 years ago) he was in jail.Its a shame because he was very talented.

[boomersooner28]

Another example that comes to mind is Michael Gresham of Clinton.If that name doesn't ring a bell.it should he was a highly touted TB for the RED TORNADOES who was on many recruiting watch lists after his soph. season.He had recruiting intrest from Nebraska,OU.UT.Miami and MANY others.He was kicked off his team early in his junior season,got in trouble with the law(drugs,I think)and disappeared.Last I heard (about 3 years ago) he was in jail.Its a shame because he was very talented.


Daaayyyuuum, yes he was....kid could run with the deer, not like them. Forgot about him.

[Seamus]

Well, Seamus, I WOULD like to mention that I DO wear Orange, but only on Saint Patricks Day, in honor of the Battle O' The Boyne.


Outstanding, boyo! If you ever come across the show "Battlefield" or Battlefield Britain," check out the episodes on The Boyne or Culloden. Awesome show, with little British revisionism.

Long live Scotland! Long live Ireland!

Sorry, got carried away. Carry on :O

[zeke]

I saw this guy play when he was a junior and I would say he was the best high school running back I have ever seen. But I never saw anyone get a real good lick on him. I was told that in the play-offs his Jr. year, the game Vian lost, a linebacker lit him up & he wasn't the same for the rest of the game.
When I saw him play he was VERY FAST with great a great eye for an opening and cut & slashed without losing speed. Had a gear that nobody else on the field had...not even close.
What a shame for this kind of talent to go to waste.

[SoonerMX]

Another example that comes to mind is Michael Gresham of Clinton.If that name doesn't ring a bell.it should he was a highly touted TB for the RED TORNADOES who was on many recruiting watch lists after his soph. season.He had recruiting intrest from Nebraska,OU.UT.Miami and MANY others.He was kicked off his team early in his junior season,got in trouble with the law(drugs,I think)and disappeared.Last I heard (about 3 years ago) he was in jail.Its a shame because he was very talented.

If my memory serves me correctly, this was the RB for Clinton. He lit us up (Sallisaw), 2 years in a row at state a few years ago. He was incredibly quick.

[stoopified]

If my memory serves me correctly, this was the RB for Clinton. He lit us up (Sallisaw), 2 years in a row at state a few years ago. He was incredibly quick.
Very talented but very troubled.This brought to mind another guy who screwed up,Mandrell Dean.He and Greasham are the only sophmores to EVER be named to the D.O. Sper Eleven.Dean was a wr/returner who signed with OU.He failed to qualify and vanished off the football radar.

The next time I heard of him was when they announced his funeral about a month ago.He was killed by a homeowner during an alleged home invasion.I don't recall what year he signed with OU,I am thinking '92(I know he signed with Gibbs).

[Seamus]

By THAYER EVANS
Published: February 7, 2007

OKLAHOMA CITY, Feb. 6 — At a funeral visitation Saturday at Fairview Baptist Church here, nearly 1,000 mourners gathered to pay final respects to Mandrell Dean.

Keno Traylor, a childhood friend, viewing Mandrell Dean’s body.

On one side of Dean’s coffin was a framed photograph of him in his high school football uniform, and on the other was his letter jacket, covered with award patches on both arms. A floral spray with a football in the middle was placed on the coffin alongside his football jersey.

Dean, who was 33, lay in his coffin wearing a bright red suit, a color that, the police said, was representative of his gang affiliation.

Among the mourners at Fairview Baptist and at the burial at Trice Hill Cemetery were members of the Northside Island 456 Piru Bloods, who wore red hooded sweatshirts and T-shirts and shouted their gang chant as Dean’s coffin was lowered into a grave cut from the fresh red clay.

The junction of Dean’s gang life and athletic accomplishments captured how entrenched he had become in this city’s gang scene, and how far he had gone since his days as a jaw-dropping football star at Millwood High School in northeast Oklahoma City.

With national signing day on Wednesday putting an even bigger spotlight on the country’s top high school football stars, Dean’s story is a reminder of how perilous the transition to college can be.

Richard Allen Dean, known as Mandrell, was killed Jan. 27 when a 17-year-old boy shot him, the police said, after Dean broke into an apartment, assaulted a woman and demanded money and jewelry.

“It’s a kid that could have made millions of dollars and been a success that is in a grave right now,” Florida State Coach Bobby Bowden, whose staff recruited Dean, said in a telephone interview. “It’s a sad story.”

Dean’s story ended Saturday, but the lore of his football prowess has not faded. In a high school career that included 28 touchdowns on kickoff returns, Dean forged a reputation on the field on par with Oklahoma legends like Bobby Murcer, Lee Roy Selmon and Troy Aikman.

“He was a man-child when he was a 10th grader,” said Pat Jones, the former Oklahoma State football coach.

In his four years at Millwood, from 1989 to 1993, Dean averaged 25.2 yards a catch and 18 yards a rush. In January 1993, he was hailed by SuperPrep Magazine, a national publication dedicated to football recruiting, as the “best receiving prospect to ever come out of Oklahoma.”

Highlights on local newscasts frequently showed Dean dominating games, making one-handed catches and improbable touchdown returns.

“How Reggie Bush was in college, that’s how he was in high school,” said Cornelius Davis, a high school teammate of Dean’s who later played at Oklahoma.

Leodies Robinson, Dean’s coach at Millwood, said: “He had tremendous speed. He’d run 170 yards to get, say, 65.”

College recruiters flocked to Millwood. Miami and Florida State were his prime suitors, along with Oklahoma. Dean gave an oral commitment to the Sooners, but his academic struggles undermined his athletic pursuits. He was not academically qualified for Division I football upon graduating from high school in 1993.

Dean then toiled in football’s minor leagues, fathered six children and, according to Oklahoma City Police Sgt. Paco Balderrama, was arrested 13 times since 1990 and had contact with the police on 51 occasions.

“Our officers knew Mandrell Dean not only because of his athletic endeavors, but because of the stuff that happened afterwards,” Balderrama said in a telephone interview.

Instead of starring somewhere like the University of Miami, Dean started out in Miami, Okla., at Northeastern Oklahoma A&M, a junior college. Mike Loyd, the coach there at the time, said Dean left because he could not adjust to living in such a small town.

Dean moved on to play semipro football for the Oklahoma City Strike Force, the first of many stops in a vagabond career. He played for teams in Madison, Wis.; Peoria, Ill.; and Tulsa, Okla. He played in the Arena Football League for teams in New England and Florida, and he played for the Saskatchewan Roughriders in the Canadian Football League.

Dean signed with the A.F.L.’s Oklahoma Wranglers in March 2000 and was cut a month later. He then suited up for the Green Bay Bombers of the Indoor Football League for 10 games.

Although Dean was 26 years old and out of shape by that point, his game-breaking speed remained. He returned three kickoffs for touchdowns, said the Bombers’ coach, Bud Keyes, who added that Dean often abandoned his pass routes to try to make the big play.

“He loved to go deep,” Keyes said in a telephone interview.

Perhaps it was Dean’s ability to return kicks that caught the attention of the Green Bay Packers, who signed him in July 2000. But a week later, he was cut. His last attempt to continue his athletic career came in February 2004, when he signed with the Oklahoma City Yard Dawgz, another indoor football team, but he was released before the season.

Dean’s mother, Loyce Dean, getting a hug from Mandrell’s son Quintaz Struble at the service.
Division I-A


Dean’s friend Kevin Newton said Dean called him during his tryout with Green Bay and told him it was “boring out here.”

Shortly after Dean was cut by the Packers, Keyes said he received a telephone call from U.P.S. Dean had listed Keyes as a reference for a job in Oklahoma City. Keyes said that was the last time he heard about Dean until his death.

“It doesn’t surprise me,” Keyes said. “It really doesn’t.”

Some mourners at Dean’s visitation service Saturday wore shirts that read “R.I.P Drell” and “It’z Nothin Blood.” One shirt hailed Dean as an O.G., for original gangster.

“The same way Mandrell felt about being a football player is the same way that he felt about being a Blood,” said Nicole Babineaux, 29, a member of the Northside Island 456 Piru Bloods. “Regardless of how society may look at it, it’s a part of society. We’re here.”

Newton said Dean was a rising leader in the Northside Island 456 Piru Bloods.

“He would have become the head guy; he would have been the general,” said Newton, 32, who said he was an inactive member of a gang based in Midwest City, Okla., that is affiliated with the Bloods.

While a man sang a gospel hymn at the service, an off-duty law enforcement official with a holstered handgun stood outside the church with a police officer who would lead the processional to the cemetery.

Beyond a chain-link fence some 30 yards away, five Oklahoma City police cars idled, and later those who attended the funeral huddled outside as Dean’s coffin was loaded into a white hearse.

At Trice Hill Cemetery, when Dean’s coffin was placed in the grave, several members of the Northside Island 456 Piru Bloods shouted “Soo Woo,” an identifying cry for Bloods, and chanted “Northside.” With his video camera rolling, Newton led the vocal tribute to Dean, yelling, “God made dirt, it don’t hurt,” and “Mandrell is free, don’t cry. We’re blessed.”

Nearby was a man dressed in a khaki shirt and pants who had a blue teardrop tattoo under one eye. He choked back tears and shouted: “Let him rest. Let him rest.”

After the burial, several hundred people assembled at North Highlands Park in northern Oklahoma City for a party in Dean’s memory, Newton said. The barbecue, the pickup basketball games and the singing and dancing were interrupted by the Oklahoma City police, who arrested eight people after receiving a complaint about marijuana smoking and drinking at the park.

According to a police report, they were booked on complaints that included resisting arrest, inciting a riot and unlawful carrying of a weapon.

The arrests ended a day meant to celebrate Dean’s life.

“At least he’s not struggling like us anymore,” said Newton, who attended the party. “He’s gone home. He ain’t suffering no more.”

[Seamus]

Three things stood out to me:

1.
In a high school career that included 28 touchdowns on kickoff returns, Dean forged a reputation on the field on par with Oklahoma legends like Bobby Murcer, Lee Roy Selmon and Troy Aikman.

That's just crazy.

2.
Dean then toiled in football’s minor leagues, fathered six children and, according to Oklahoma City Police Sgt. Paco Balderrama, was arrested 13 times since 1990 and had contact with the police on 51 occasions.

Don't mean to be harsh, but that's a serious dirtbag they're describing.

3.
The barbecue, the pickup basketball games and the singing and dancing were interrupted by the Oklahoma City police, who arrested eight people after receiving a complaint about marijuana smoking and drinking at the park. According to a police report, they were booked on complaints that included resisting arrest, inciting a riot and unlawful carrying of a weapon.

Gee, what a shock. Fitting tribute ...

[stoopified]

I can only hope Locust can find a place to develop and use his talents to get an education and a good life for himself rather than follow the sad pathof Greasham,Dean and many others.

[Collier11]

We had a guy at my hs named TJ Randle who was a state champion sprinter, all-conf bball, and all-state football who decided to shoot a guy his junior yr over a fight they had and he got about 10 yrs in prison. He should be getting out soon as far as I know but it was really a shame cus he was a good guy at school, pretty smart, and really fun to hang out with on the team bus and such. Every town has them unfortunately

[insuranceman_22]

He'll be lucky to make it at a JC unfortunately.
His situation reminds of a kid named Glen Bell who was a stud RB for Muskogee in the mid 80s.
He was an amazing talent, but had no direction, no discipline made bad choices in friends and it prevented him from ever realizing his potential.

Glenn Bell wound up at Southeastern in Durant. I played basketball with him in the Rec. pretty much everyday. He never did much there either in NAIA football.

[Mjcpr]

Glenn Bell wound up at Southeastern in Durant. I played basketball with him in the Rec. pretty much everyday. He never did much there either in NAIA football.

I think I remember reading a "Whre are they now" type article a while back that mentioned Glenn Bell. Seems like he had straigtened out and was coaching somewhere if I remember correctly.

I went to HS with him.