St. Thomas Aquinas RB James Charles Talks 2015 Season and Florida Atlantic
Written by Ryan Wright
If recent history means anything, St. Thomas Aquinas is in for another championship run kind of season. In 2014 the Raiders finished 15-1 with their lone loss coming to Don Bosco Prep (New Jersey) early in the season before the team found their footing streaking to a Florida High School State Championship.
Off the 2014 team, 15 players signed with Division-I programs including running backs Jordan Scarlett (Florida) and Deltron Sands (Oregon State). Again, another 15 players could sign as part of the 2016 recruiting class out of St. Thomas Aquinas. The similar thread from last season to the upcoming season is both tailbacks are already committed to D-I teams. Devontae Henry-Cole committed to Utah on July 11, and James Charles committed to Florida Atlantic on Tuesday.
Charles is a 5’9.5”, 195 pound, speed demon running in the 4.45 range, if not lower. His potential is so great 10 Division-I football programs have already offered him. The teams lining up to land him before he gets to shine during his senior season include Pitt, Florida A&M, Florida International, Jacksonville State, Fordham, Middle Tennessee State, Samford, Southeast Missouri State, and Western Kentucky.
Florida Atlantic has won recruiting bragging rights on Charles but keeping him away from other potential suitors might not be easy. Kentucky, Arkansas, Ole Miss, Tennessee, and South Florida are just a few of the teams who could extend offers depending how the season plays out on St. Thomas Aquinas’ field of play and out on the recruiting trail for the various teams.
In a Recruiting News Guru exclusive interview I caught up with Charles after his pledge to FAU to get the inside scoop on his recruitment and a quick sneak peek to the Raiders 2015 season.
Interview
James, first, congratulations on your commitment to FAU.
“Thank you.”
You already have 10 scholarship offers and have the potential to be one of the bigger breakout stars in the country playing running back for St. Thomas Aquinas this season. What motivated you to commit to FAU this early in your recruiting process?
“FAU has been recruiting me since my 11th grade year, just no offer yet. Me and the coaches have a great relationship. Coach (Charlie) Partridge (head coach), Coach (Jared) Allen (running backs coach), and Coach (Dan) Shula (wide receivers coach), I love talking to them pretty much throughout the whole year. I feel comfortable with them. I talk to them about everything, not even about football. We talk about life, how things are going, and places to go eat.
“That was one thing that stood out about FAU. The other thing was about Coach Brian (Wright), he’s a real nice guy and a family man. I love that. That’s one of the main reasons I choose FAU. Throughout the recruiting process that is what really stood out to me.”
How did the commitment take place?
“I did it in person. Tuesday morning I went with my mother, two of my brothers, my head coach, and my running back coach, and we sat down and talked. We were talking to Coach Partridge, Coach Allen, and Coach Shula in their office, talking about me attending FAU and really just talking about everything. Before I left I told them I wanted to commit here. I told them this is home for me and this is where I want to go.”
What was the reaction of the coaches when you committed?
“They were excited. They were jumping up and cheering. They were really excited. As soon as I did it Coach Partridge had a big smile on his face. That was the best thing. I know I made their day and that’s what I want.”
You were talking to the coaches for some time, your family and coaches were there, how did you feel with all of that lead up and everyone around to that moment when you verbally committed to FAU?
“Actually it was a big relief off my shoulders. Now I can focus on the season, winning games, and helping my teammates. That took a lot of pressure off of me. That was my main thing. A lot of kids during the season are trying to figure out which schools they are going to commit to. This way I don’t have to go through all of that. I’m happy that I got to make my decision before season started.”
At this moment do you have any plans to take official visits to other schools during your senior season?
“Probably, I can’t really say right now. If others schools come, because I have five official visits maybe. But who knows right now.”
What have you been doing in the offseason to prepare for your senior season?
“The full team has been in the weight room week after week getting stronger. On my own I’ve been working on my speed, form, and technique. I’ve been working on my speed a lot throughout each week. As a running back you have to be able to run. I’ve been working hard tossing some weight around the gym. I’ve been working on my squat, bench press, and dead lift.”
You’ve been putting in all of this work in the weight room, what is your max weight in bench press and squat?
“We haven’t maxed out recently but I’m guessing I’m somewhere around 275 pounds on bench and around 405 pounds in squat, maybe a little bit more.”
I know you went to a lot of camps over the summer, what all college camps did you attend?
“I went to a Tennessee camp, Ole Miss, a Kentucky camp, Miami, USF, Michigan, they had their whole staff down here for a satellite camp, and I took a couple other visits. I took a visit to Arkansas and a week later came back to camp.”
How did the Arkansas camp go for you?
“It actually went pretty good. I talked to the running back coach, Coach (Jemal) Singleton. He talked to me for a little bit. He said he liked me and thought I did a lot of good things. He’s going to follow up with me during the season and see how I am doing. I also talked to Coach (Vernon) Hargreaves, the linebackers coach, he recruits down here. He was actually at my school during the spring. I think he’s coming back down during the fall. Hopefully when he comes I’ll be having a great season and who knows, maybe they will be a potential offer? Who knows?”
How did the Kentucky camp go for you?
“The Tennessee and Kentucky camps both went really good. At Kentucky I actually got to workout with Coach Chad Scott, their running backs coach. He seemed to like me a lot. We had a really long conversation about football and about the running back position. The drills we do that is what they do. I was tearing it up and he was like “wow you’re really advanced.” We’re going to keep in contact. He’s going to watch me throughout the season.
“I also spoke with Coach (D.J.) Eliot, he’s their defensive coordinator. He was down here in the spring also. I think he’s coming back in the fall. If I keep on doing well during the season I might have a bright future with Kentucky and maybe they’ll offer.”
Are there schools out there that are showing heavy interest in you but have not offered yet?
“Tennessee and after I camped at Ole Miss. I think Ole Miss is going to keep up with me during the season. The running back coach at Marshall has been keeping in touch too.”
A couple of quick questions about the upcoming 2015 season, how will splitting time with Devontae (Henry-Cole) go this year?
“Devontae and I will split the ball. There’s nothing wrong with that. We actually have no problems doing it. When one or the other gets the ball we both want to see the other do well.”
How does St. Thomas Aquinas look overall heading into the 2015 season? Do you think you guys will be able to make another run to the state championship game?
“We’re looking really good and we’re looking really strong. We’ve made a lot of improvement during the offseason in the weight room, speed training, and on the field. I think everybody has the same mission here and the same goals and that is to go undefeated and win another state championship. Each day we all grow more and more to that mission. We all want that ring on our finger. Each day we work hard-hard. We’ve put in a lot of work over the summer and it’s going to show on that field on Friday nights.”
Photo credit: James Charles; James Charles with his family and FAU coaches.
Photo credit: Alexy Jean-Baptiste; James Charles at Arkansas during a visit.