[Sly Fox]

Roane Babington
Defensive End
Staunton (VA) Robert E. Lee HS
6' 3" 254 lbs 4.9 in 40

Scout Profile

Lee senior named first team twice
Staff Report

Robert E. Lee's Roane Babington caught the attention of Region II coaches on both sides of the football, earning first-team positions on offense and defense.

The 6-3, 255-pound senior picked up first-team berths at tight end and defensive end.

As a tight end, Babington caught 12 passes for 148 yards and three touchdowns. He also had a pair of two-point conversions.

From the defensive end position, he had 67 tackles, 42 solo tackles, 13 assists, 18 for loss, 10 sacks, four caused fumbles, two fumble recoveries and two pass deflections.

http://www.newsleader.com/apps/pbcs.dll ... /612110320

[Sly Fox]

There's no need to crush this guy for changing his mind. But let's just say there were some issues with Roane that had some of us a little concerned when he committed to us. I wish him nothing but the bets at JMU except when we crush the Dukes the next few years on the field. And don't you love the alleged dig at Shay's academics in the JMU hometown fishwrap?

Lee’s Babington Switches To Madison
Posted 2007-01-24
By Mike Barber


HARRISONBURG – A month ago, Roane Babington committed to Liberty University. Then he visited James Madison.

Babington, the 6-foot-2, 260-pound defensive end from Staunton’s R.E. Lee High School said Tuesday he is now committed to playing for the Dukes next season.

"It was nothing against Liberty," Babington said. "They’re a fabulous school. I just see JMU as my best fit."

Babington, had 109 total tackles, 10 sacks, forced four fumbles and had two fumble recoveries. He took an official visit to JMU this past weekend and phoned JMU coach Mickey Matthews Tuesday evening to orally commit, he said.

In December, Babington and R.E. Lee teammate Shay Nicholson both committed to Liberty. The Flames were 6-5 last season, their first under coach Danny Rocco, the former associate head coach to Al Groh at Virginia.

JMU offered Nicholson as well, but the 6-foot, 210-pound tailback did not have the grades to be admitted, a source said.

The Dukes went 9-3 last season, losing in the first round of the NCAA Division I-AA playoffs at Youngstown State.

Babington acknowledged Tuesday that by playing his college ball so close to where he starred in high school, he’d face extra scrutiny.

"I believe so," Babington said. "If I do anything good it’ll still be put in the same newspapers as before. And if I don’t, everybody will know."

http://www.dnronline.com/sports_details ... 385&CHID=3

[PAmedic]

good luck to him.

we're running out of schollies as it is

[Libertine]

I promise that I'll change my sig after Signing Day.

[bigsmooth]

i guess i would be upset if he was the best recruit in our class, but i do not htink he is. good luck to him at JMU.

[PAmedic]

considering the fact that we overwhelmed the other FCS schools in VA this signing season (at least as far as FBS transfers go) I'm not too upset to lose one either.

[Stevev]

I will go with what Smoothie said. Definately not one of our better recruits and perhaps a little on the low end of our verbal commmitments in general if you look at who he played for and his stats. No reason to get too disappointed. These things do happen from time to time. And yes I hope that he does well at JMU.

[bigsmooth]

whoa steve...i did not say he was not a good recruit..i just said he was not the cream of the crop. i would have loved to have roane, but it just did not work out.

[Sly Fox]

I was conflicted about his verbal from the beginning for non-football reasons. But I will admit this kid could've been one of our better signees after all was said and done.

[Libertine]

I will again point out my sig here but for the opposite reason. He told us 'yes' once and then changed his mind, which tells me that someone got in his ear (I'm guessing the old "you could play right away" bullcrap but that's just conjecture). Odds are, if he can be swayed one way and then another way, he can be swayed back again -- of course, that assumes we still want him after he burned us.
The only commitment that counts is the NLI and, until then, he's still fair game.

[jmdickens]

It doesn't matter...his first game is against UNC

[LUconn]

areed with Lib's sig. I have no problem with another team continuing to recruit after a verbal. Some say it's an unspoken no-no for a coach to do but I say that's loser talk. If a kid verbals to us we really shouldnt recruit him any less at that point. Not saying that we did that in this case, but if we were on him just as hard as before the verbal there's nothing else you could have done.

[Libertine]

I'm going to backtrack on my prior post quite a bit. The odds of us getting this kid back are rather slim.

Somebody w/ a little more info told me that Bab's #1 choice all along had been JMU but that, at first, the Dukes were only offering a partial schollie. We were willing to give him the full and he wanted to stay close to home so he verballed with us. When JMU finally came back with the full, he switched.

I can't blame the kid for getting what he really wanted all along.