A Sea Of Red

Hunter was supposed to move in with Mike for the spring semester, occupying the room left vacant by the departure of Spencer Hodges' (who transfered to Jacksonville University). Apparently Hunter has decided to rekindle his baseball career; he will be attending MCC (Manatee Community College) close to home in Bradenton, FL and obviously not coming to Liberty.

Saw this in another thread and thought it deserved it's own thread. What happened to Spencer? He was pretty highly regarded when he came here, yes?

Who were these two guys?

Spencer was a two-star (Rivals) OL, who if I remember correctly was a huge coup for us. Hunter was a VT transfer who decided to play baseball instead of football and never completed the transfer.

That was the first I had heard of Spencer transferring, though.

Was Spencer from Jax,Fl? Also did he play any last year? Fr,Soph?

Recruiting is an inexact science to say the least. Coming out of HS, Spencer looked like a potential 4 year starter at left tackle. It didn't work out that way. Injuries played somewhat of a role.

According to the website, Hodges redshirted in '07 and played in 3 games in '08.

If you ask me, anybody who shows up to picture day looking like the offspring of Leprechaun and a troll doll is better off staying close to home anyway.

Spencer is from down in your old neck of the woods, fsu. He was indeed a bit of a coup holding offers from some BCS schools but with an interest in the ministry. It really is too bad it didn't work out. But I wish him nothing but the best playing for Coach Bell in Jax.

I hate to see him leave because I was friends with the kid but it's probably best for him. Some things just don't work out.

Jax U is non scholarship still, correct?

Yes, although they are talking of stepping up their program to a scholarship level in the next few years.

Don't kid yourself, they're using scholarships. They may not call them that but they are.

The same could be said for nearly every non-scholarship I-AA.

Indeed.

Shirt does not button down either. I saw him this fall without hair. Make up your mind.

Hodges fell behind (grade wise) during his first semester here. But, he worked through Christmas, Spring and all summer to make sure he was ready by game one. But NCAA paperwork fell through the cracks, and he could not play game one. Coach Wach got angry and told him to look for another school (I guess he did). Hodges and Wach were just on two different pages. Hodges never good enough for Wach and Hodges did not know why. Wach will always be the hard coach. That is just his style. And if he is your boss, do it or leave.

You are not guaranteed any second changes with Coach Wach. That is just the way it is. Coach Rocco was supprised when Hodges asked permission to contact other programs.

He really liked LU and thought about quiting football and just finishing here anyway.

Jacksonville offered him a full "academic" scholarship.... now that is a real twist.

Hodges was recruited by several BCS schools, but was not as big in HS, a 17 year old senior. Knee injury during HS post season playoffs cause other programs to back-off. Coach Bill got him big and ready though.

Before and after knee surgery, he visited two of the "offering" programs, Kansas Univ (the biggest school in a small town) and LU (the smallest school in a small town).

Some players come here because the "settle" with LU or they are kicked off elsewhere. I am glad to see those players get a second chance here. Those of us that know him like I do know his true character. He really liked the non-scholarship athletes because he knew why we/they wanted to be at a Christian School. Very few of the scholarship players get involved with local churches.

Hodges did not settle on LU, it was his first choice.

He left quietly. Wach did ask him to reconsider the day he left. I know he appreciated the opportunity to play for Coach Rocco.

He had minor knee surgery during this Christmas break. He did not report his injury early enough to LU trainers to get help. Played and worked out through it though.

I am looking forward to next year even more and expect the team to go further. We are grateful to coach Rocco.

Hey, good luck big red.

That's an odd story.






We're definitely the biggest school in a small town though. We're the biggest private school in Virginia.

Those are the types of things only parents know. Or people very close to a family/player.

Thanks for filling in the details, Stew.

I was looking forward to seeing him show his stuff next year. I wish him the best.

Have to respect that. Good luck, Spencer!