Ledger: Persistent Dunkley to Start at Corner for South Florida Bulls

[Brad]

Persistent Dunkley to Start at Corner for South Florida Bulls

 

By MIKE COBB

LEDGER CORRESPONDENT

Published: Tuesday, August 26, 2014 at 10:08 p.m. Last Modified: Tuesday, August 26, 2014 at 10:08 p.m.

 

TAMPA | That Chris Dunkley was one of two South Florida players selected to speak at USF's first game-week news conference Tuesday could be a lesson in persistence.

 

That he's even still playing college football is an exercise in perseverance.

 

Saturday night, when USF plays Western Carolina at Raymond James Stadium in its season opener, Dunkley will start at cornerback after switching positions from wide receiver during fall practice.

 

It'll be his senior year, and he'll graduate in December. That's noteworthy considering two years ago, he was a player without a team, having been suspended after four games of the 2012 season at USF because of a misdemeanor domestic violence charge.

 

And head coach Willie Taggart, who was hired after the 2-12 season, said that at the time, he didn't really have any plans to bring him back.

 

"Chris really wasn't on the football team according to the information I got when I got the job," Taggart said. "But Chris was persistent."

 

His suspension in 2012 was the latest in a series of issues he'd had during his brief college football career.

 

He originally signed with Florida in 2010 after being rated the No. 8 overall receiver in the nation by Rivals.com after a stellar career at Pahokee High School. He redshirted in 2010, then was suspended for parts of spring practice in 2011 for academic reasons before transferring to USF.

 

He sat out 2011 because of transfer rules, so when USF coach Willie Taggart arrived at USF after the 2012 season, Dunkley wasn't a part of the team.....

 

Rest of Story

 

[Sellular1]

Cool story. Persistence pays off for those willing to start over.

[Reliable Source]

Think this story speaks volumes about Willie and Dunkley. I am predicting rt now. DEunk move before round 4 in NFL in draft

 

CHRIS O'MEARA | THE ASSOCIATED PRESS (2013)

By MIKE COBB
LEDGER CORRESPONDENT

Published: Tuesday, August 26, 2014 at 10:08 p.m. Last Modified: Tuesday, August 26, 2014 at 10:08 p.m.

TAMPA | That Chris Dunkley was one of two South Florida players selected to speak at USF's first game-week news conference Tuesday could be a lesson in persistence.

That he's even still playing college football is an exercise in perseverance.

Saturday night, when USF plays Western Carolina at Raymond James Stadium in its season opener, Dunkley will start at cornerback after switching positions from wide receiver during fall practice.

It'll be his senior year, and he'll graduate in December. That's noteworthy considering two years ago, he was a player without a team, having been suspended after four games of the 2012 season at USF because of a misdemeanor domestic violence charge.

And head coach Willie Taggart, who was hired after the 2-12 season, said that at the time, he didn't really have any plans to bring him back.

"Chris really wasn't on the football team according to the information I got when I got the job," Taggart said. "But Chris was persistent."

His suspension in 2012 was the latest in a series of issues he'd had during his brief college football career.

He originally signed with Florida in 2010 after being rated the No. 8 overall receiver in the nation by Rivals.com after a stellar career at Pahokee High School. He redshirted in 2010, then was suspended for parts of spring practice in 2011 for academic reasons before transferring to USF.

He sat out 2011 because of transfer rules, so when USF coach Willie Taggart arrived at USF after the 2012 season, Dunkley wasn't a part of the team and wasn't in Taggart's thoughts — until Dunkley

In the spring of 2013, he was literally on the outside looking in. He didn't know Taggart, but he wanted to let Taggart know he still wanted to be part of the program.

"I'd come and watch practice, I'd literally be outside the fence, but I'd take pictures of the guys at practice and sent them to Coach T (Taggart) to let him know that I'm still out here watching," Dunkley said.

Taggart said that's something that never happened to him before.

"He used to send me pictures of practice, and I was like, ‘This guy's a stalker,'?" Taggart said. "To be honest with you, I was trying to ignore him, but he was persistent."

So the two sat down and talked. Taggart laid out what Dunkley had to do, on and off the field, to get back on the team. Among them were getting his academics in order and being willing to play in 2013 as a walk-on. And he'd have to give up his number — No. 1. If he wanted it, he'd have to earn it back over the long haul.

Dunkley did that as well as all of the other things Taggart asked. In 2013, wearing No. 88, he started seven games at receiverhttp://www.theledger.com/article/20140826/SPORTS19/140829398/1002/SPORTS?p=3&tc=pg, catching seven passes for 87 yards.

He also earned his scholarship — and his original number No. 1 — back.

With heavy graduation on the defensive side, Dunkley was moved this year to cornerback. He'll also return kickoffs and punts, an area where he was effective last year.

"He's a football player," Taggart said. "He's one of those guys who can play a lot of different positions.

"But I've been more impressed with how he's grown up as a person," Taggart said. "That's why we're starting to see some of the good things he can do as a football player."

Dunkley, who said he loves football and wants to be involved in the game in some aspect after college, said he's just excited to still be playing.

 

 

http://www.theledger.com/article/20140826/SPORTS19/140829398/1002/SPORTS?p=2&tc%C2'> And he wants to be involved in the game in some aspect after college, said he's just excited to still be playing.

"I'm just excited in general to help this team win in any role I can," he said.

Two years ago, there were no guarantees of that happening.

 

 

 

[Hem]

Hoping to see a breakout year from Dunk, it's time to prove that 5 star rating.

[bulls phanatic]

That's pretty neat to see him come around like that. Many would have just given up. Hope this works out.

 

He has the potential to be out best return man since Lamar.

[DELdaBull]

Go get em kid

[GaUSFBull]

Hoping he found his niche and that the hard work pays off this year.  He has some exciting skills. 

[raptorcj]

Those kind of things destroy a lot of kids that are unwilling to humble themselves. He got it. I like his determination, hope he's ready to light it up.

 

[edit] good article, Bullwinkle

Edited August 27, 2014 by raptorcj

[jchem1995]

That was a very nice piece about him.  I had no idea that he was shunned by Coach.  Yeah show me that 5 star too. What I would like to see out of him on returns is 1.) good judgement  to catch and run or let it go, 2.) catch the ball.  We killed ourselves on special teams last year especially on punt returns.