By Tom Waddill

sports@itemonline.com



The Hornets threw another big party on national signing day. Six more seniors from Huntsville High School are heading off to college to play football at the next level.

A few hours after Justin Gilbert, Forbes Baggett and Shaquille Ross signed scholarship offers early Wednesday morning, their parents, close friends, coaches and teachers held a congratulatory party for the all of the college-bound Hornets who play sports.

Gilbert signed Wednesday with Oklahoma State, Baggett accepted a scholarship offer from Sam Houston State and Ross agreed to a deal with Tarleton State. Additionally, Dimitri Collier and Quentin Smith are going to play football at McMurry University in Abilene, and Jimmy Spivey has gotten an invitation to walk on to the Sam Houston State program.

Joining the football players Wednesday afternoon in the foyer in front of the Paul Bohan Hornet Gym were Caitlin Germany, who has signed a volleyball scholarship from Louisiana Tech, and Caleb Smith, who has accepted a scholarship offer to play baseball at Sam Houston State.

“This is a day of celebration, not only for the athletes who are going on to the next level, but it’s a celebration day for the teachers, coaches and parents,” Huntsville athletic director Mitchell Coey said. “Those parents got a big payday today.

“I believe in the old saying, it takes a village to raise a kid. This is a good example of that right here,” Coey added as his college-bound players ate lunch with their families, friends, coaches, teachers and administrators.



Next stop, Stillwater

Justin Gilbert, a speedy two-way star at Huntsville High, became the latest Hornet to sign a football scholarship from an NCAA Division I school. Last year, three of Gilbert’s former teammates — Kirby Ennis (Texas A&M;), Adam Ayala (UTEP) and James Davidson (UTEP) — signed letters of intent with Football Bowl Subdivision schools.

“This takes a lot of pressure off, to know that all that recruiting is done,” said Gilbert, who long ago agreed verbally to an offer from OSU. “I know I’m going to be taken care of up there.”

Gilbert, a two-time Most Valuable Player in District 18-4A, picked Oklahoma State over Baylor, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Miami. He visited Oklahoma, Baylor and Oklahoma State, but after touring the campus in Stillwater and talking to the Cowboys coaches, Gilbert made a commitment and stuck with it.

“I get along with all of the coaches at OSU,” Gilbert said. “It just seems like I fit in perfectly.

“They recruited me as a cornerback, but after coach (Mike) Gundy saw my highlight tape, he said he wanted to find some ways to get the ball in my hands. He’s going to use me at slot receiver on offense, plus I’m going to return kicks.”

Gilbert said the Cowboys want him to play cornerback, too.

“I may play both sides of the ball,” he said.

Gilbert is not worried about being overworked. He’s thrilled to be getting an opportunity to play football in the Big 12 Conference.

“I know it’s going to be a lot faster,” Gilbert said. “In high school, I had a way of making opposing teams look like they were running in slow motion, but it’s not going to be like that anymore. I’ve got to get faster and stronger, and that comes from working out.”

Huntsville’s starting quarterback for most of the past three seasons, Gilbert helped the Hornets win two consecutive district championships. He hopes the winning continues at Oklahoma State starting this fall.

“I’d like to have a championship ring,” Gilbert said of his long-term goals with the Cowboys. “I’d like to win a Big 12 championship, national championship or both.”



Eat ’em up Kats

Between bites of chicken and signing-day cake, Forbes Baggett said he was pumped about the opportunity he was recently given by Bearkats coach Willie Fritz. Sam Houston State’s new head coach offered the hard-working Hornet a scholarship last month, and Baggett jumped at the chance.

“A big part of my decision,” Baggett said, “has to do with my grandparents. I want them to watch me play. Plus, Sam’s criminal justice program is one of the best in the country. I just think Sam is the best school for me.”

Like Gilbert, Baggett’s versatility made him attractive to college coaches. Baggett played offensive and defensive line the last two years for Coey. He is strong and mobile on offense and has the mentality and aggressiveness to make plays on the defensive line.

“They don’t have a lot of offensive or defensive linemen returning, so I may get a chance to play right away,” Baggett said of the Bearkats. “It won’t be an easy task by any means. I’m just going to come in and try to be dominant. I’m going to play the same way I did in high school, with the same kind of aggressiveness.”

Baggett said he was glad to be part of Wednesday’s celebration.

“Besides all the pictures — that gets kind of old — this is really a big deal for us and our parents,” said Baggett. “I don’t think it’s quite set in yet, but I’m ready to put on some orange and get after it. I’m ready to see what the next level will be like.”



‘I want to be a Texan’

Shaquille Ross made his decision last weekend after taking recruiting visits to Tarleton State and Sam Houston.

A hard-hitting linebacker who doubled last fall as the Hornets’ starting tailback, Ross admitted Wednesday that it was not easy choosing one school over the other. But after talking to coaches, consulting his advisers and praying, he decided to sign with the school in Stephenville.

“At one point I said I’m a Texan, and at one point I was like eat ’em up Kats,” Ross said with a chuckle. “At about 4 o’clock Saturday, before I left Sam Houston, everything came clear to me.

“It was like, I want to be a Texan.

“Both schools are great and both schools treated me well on my visits,” Ross added. “The most important thing, though, the classes at Tarleton are a little smaller, and the professor I talked to convinced me that getting my degree here is so reachable. I can do this.

“Mrs. (Jill) Driscoll liked Tarleton and my granny liked Tarleton. They made it feel real homey there.”

Tarleton State’s interim head coach Cary Fowler wants Ross to help the Texans on defense. Undersized at 5-foot-10 and 185 pounds, Ross played huge in 2009. He earned first-team all-district spots as a linebacker and running back, helping the Hornets win a co-championship with Brenham last fall.

Ross is glad that his playing days will continue. A three-sport athlete (football, basketball and baseball) at Huntsville High, Ross can’t wait to suit up in the Tarleton purple.

“This has been my dream since I was little, to play college football,” he said. “In my freshman year I made a decision that that’s what I wanted to do.

“This is a dream come true, but it’s only part of the dream. I want to be successful on the field and get that degree. I guess I’m halfway to my dream. I’m going to finish it by being successful and by getting my degree.”



Long way from home

While Spivey, the Hornets’ starting center for the past two season, stays in Huntsville and tries to impress the coaching staff at SHSU, two of his high school teammates, Quentin Smith and Dimitri Collier, will be packing their bags and heading out to Abilene to play at McMurry University.

“This is great,” said Smith, a hard hitter who has a nose for the football. “Coming off a junior season when I sat on the bench most of the time, my senior season I played a heck of a lot.

“This is a blessing for me to play football after high school.”

Smith and Collier visited Hardin-Simmons last Friday, then went across town to tour McMurry.

“We felt at home at McMurry,” Collier said. “The coaches there seem like pretty good people. At McMurry, I felt more relaxed. They also have a pretty good education program. The teachers really care.

“We’re going up there in July, and the coaches said we have a good chance to play our freshman year.”



Let’s do it again next year

Mitchell Coey and Huntsville’s new head coach Shane Martin both believe that get-togethers like the one Wednesday can become commonplace at HHS.

There have always been athletes in Huntsville capable of playing college ball. More and more of those athletes are doing what’s necessary in the classroom to prepare themselves for life as a student-athlete in college.

“That’s what we preach,” Coey said. “If you work hard and try to outwork everybody else, victories will come, not just in the games but at the end of your high school careers.”

Martin added, “We have kids who can go play. This is a prime example of the quality product we can put out at Huntsville High School.”