West Virginia RB Jason Gwaltney (official thread)

[Buckskin86]

Gwaltney makes his return - at CW Post!GREGG SARRA | gregg.sarra@newsday.com
September 7, 2008

You could picture him wearing the red and silver of the Ohio State Buckeyes. You could picture him wearing the maroon helmet with the Trojan logo at USC. And, of course, you saw him in the blue and gold uniform he wore as a West Virginia freshman.

But nobody, not a single person on Long Island or anywhere else, could have pictured him wearing the green and gold of C.W. Post. Yet there was Jason Gwaltney, four years removed from a fabulous high school career at North Babylon, where he scored a Long Island record 135 touchdowns, wearing No. 18 for the Pioneers yesterday.

How did it happen? Why is Gwaltney, Long Island's all-time leading rusher , playing at a Division II school, his last chance to prove himself as a college player?

It's all about blown opportunities. Call it the high school superstar syndrome, in which a player isn't held responsible for his actions and goes to the next level to fail. Gwaltney was so good, so dominating while at North Babylon, he was enabled by the very people who should have made him attend classes and ultimately set him up to self-destruct in college.

But make no mistake, Gwaltney bears most of the responsibility. He was told countless times in high school and college to go to class and chose not to. "I didn't go to class," he said. "I never had the discipline in school that I had on the field. I never valued school."

Gwaltney makes his return - at CW Post! -- Newsday.com

[bearonu]

19 carries for 83 yards in a 41-0 loss against 16th ranked Indiana (PA).

[gracelhink]

You could picture him wearing the red and silver of the Ohio State Buckeyes.

Nope! I really couldn't picture that!

[RoscoeParrish]

He's the recruit who just won't die a slow, merciful death...

[BuckeyeNation27]

I was checking on my Bloomsburg Huskies and guess whose name pops up? Jason ran for 131 on 29 carries and scored, but CWP lost 13-6

[jwinslow]

CFL has strong interest in LI's Gwaltney -- Newsday.com

CFL has strong interest in LI's Gwaltney

BY STEVEN MARCUS |steven.marcus@newsday.com7:33 PM EDT, June 18, 2009
Five seasons removed from his glory years of high school football, Jason Gwaltney still finds himself with options. Failure, he promises, is not one of those.
Long Island's best running back since Jim Brown finds himself something of a hot commodity again. He has enrolled at Division III Kean University (N.J.), where the former North Babylon High School star could spend the next two years. Kean beat out Mount Union (Ohio) for Gwaltney's services. But the pros may intercede. The Canadian Football League has a strong interest in him.

"Jason has ideal skills,'' said John Murphy, director of player personnel for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers of the CFL. Murphy grew up in Merrick and attended Holy Trinity High School.

"He can run, he can catch, a big guy like that would be able to block in the system we have up here," Murphy added. "He can have a very successful career.''

Murphy, who suggests Gwaltney can be a bigger version of CFL standout Ian Smart, also from North Babylon, expects Gwaltney to remain in school at least one more year. That is also Gwaltney's inclination. "I want to leave some kind of footprint on NCAA football,'' he said. "I can't really look at the past. I can only look at the future and worry about what I can become.''

Gwaltney, 22, has played in just 12 college games. He rushed for 186 yards in six games in 2005 as a true freshman at West Virginia. He surfaced at C.W. Post last season and led the team in rushing with 709 yards in six games. He later asked for his release.

"I didn't want to transfer schools again,'' said Gwaltney, mindful of the perception that he never seems to finish what he starts. "But I didn't go to school and fail out. That shows growth, that shows a difference. I don't feel like a letdown. I just feel a lot of times my reputation precedes me. I will be a success in life.''

[NJ-Buckeye]

Pretty sad,, when you think that years ago, Gwaltney was the cat's meow... and now he's a maybe in the CFL... shame