Jabari Scott and Nick Gooden play different positions for different coaches.  Scott is a Senior, while Gooden is a Junior.  Scott is a Communications Major while Gooden claims he can sell me a toothpick for twenty dollars using tricks he learned in his marketing classes.  The thing these two guys have in common is that they went to the same high school.  Taft High School is in the San Antonio area where both of these guys were standouts, and heavily recruited.  Now Penguins, and adapting to Winter as best they can, they also share the goal of making a statement on the field this season.

Jabari Scott

Jabari Scott was a standout running back while at Taft.  In his Senior season, Scott scored 33 TD’s and had 2493 total yards.  Last season as a YSU Penguin, he carried the ball 55 times and gained 403 yards, that is a 7.3 yards per carry average.  He missed the final four games last year with a leg injury.  “I had a quad injury that kept me out of the last four games last season.  It was very hard for me to move around.  I feel 100% now, I’m ready to go and get some action,” remarked Scott.

Scott was optimistic about the 2009 season saying, “Anything is possible.  I feel like we have a good, strong squad.  As Seniors, we are trying to lead, and I think we are gonna be real good this year”.

I asked Scott how involved he was in the recruiting of his high school teammate Gooden to which he stated, “I talked with the coaches and let them now that he was a pretty good player and that they should go after him”.

” I won’t lie to you, I still get homesick.  It gets too cold up here, I’m not used to all of this snow.  Back home it will go down to the thirties or forties, that’s the coldest it ever gets.  Here [Youngstown] was the first time I ever saw snow and I thought it was crazy”.

Scott said he really doesn’t have a favorite place to eat in this area, he would rather hit different spots.  He is a Communications Major and enjoys the classes that deal with his area of concentration. 

Jabari was recruited by some bigger Texas schools but opted to play at YSU.  “I was recruited bu SMU, Tulsa, a few other Division 1-AA schools as well.  I chose YSU because i had some falls in high school with grades, and YSU was my best choice [academically].  It’s tough to practice and go to classes during the season, you have to get the girls out of your mind and just focus on school and playing football”.

Scott referred to his position coach (Sam Eddy) as a nice guy and a good coach who has helped him progress into a better student-athlete.  He also praised the Dallas Cowboys as his favorite NFL team, but cited Warrick Dunn as his favorite player.  

Scott has all of the seasoning to be special this season.  He is healthy and happy and really thinks that this team can perform beyond expectations and surprise the doubters.  He was very serious with most of his answers, unlike his colleague, Nick Gooden, the other Texan in Youngstown.

 

Nick Gooden

Nick Gooden said Jabari Scott played a big role in his recruitment from Taft High School.  “He [Scott] came back home on a Thanksgiving or Christmas break and we were in the process of distributing tapes to different teams and I was like, Jabari, take this tape back to Coach Heacock and see what he says.  So he played a big role, he was kind of the middle man”.

Gooden, a Marketing Major, said his favorite class was English with Dr. Cook.

In 2008, Gooden did not see the field much.  2009 shows more opportunity and Gooden is doing all he can to prepare himself.  “I’m working hard and staying in the playbook.  I’m really trying to get a hold of everyone’s positions because that was my struggle last year”.

Gooden compared Youngstown to San Antonio.  “Back in San Antonio, we have a big Mexican population. so we would always eat alot of Mexican food at any occasion.  Up here [Youngstown], it’s like we eat spaghetti and Italian food for every occasion”.  Gooden also remarked that authentic Mexican food and Taco Bell are very different and that he does not frequent the fast food chain.  He also said he would choose David Robinson over LeBron James if he had to pick, staying loyal to his Southwestern upbringing.

When asked about the cold Winter months and snow, Gooden chuckled and said, “I got used to it a little last year.  My first year. I was down, no sun for five months.  It was kind of weird for me”.

When I was doing my Gooden research, I stumbled across his Facebook page, which said he absolutely loved Freeze Pops.  When I asked Gooden, he laughed hard and said he thinks he has some in his freezer right now and referred to himself as a ‘fiend’ of the frozen treats.

Gooden’s position coach is Mike Kolakowski, who he referred to as simply ‘Coach K’.  “He gets on me, but I need a coach like that.  He’s crazy though”.  ‘Coach K’ is prepping Gooden for the opener against Pitt, which Gooden is anxiously awaiting.  “I’m ready to play at Heinz Field.  I never played against Pitt before, only Ohio State, so I think this will be a good game and think we stand a good chance”.

In his spare time, Gooden said he is keen on studying the game Black Jack.  “I got the strategies, so when I can play legally someday, I think those strategies will work”.  He also spends spare time watching the History Channel.  If he could go to a zoo and bring home a pet, Gooden said, “I would bring home a lion.  I have got a lion tattooed on my arm and I feel like I am a lion sometimes, see the mane?”

Jabari Scott and Nick Gooden can really step up to make a difference for the YSU Football Penguins this season.  With the September 5 opener fast-approaching, the hard work they are putting in will hopefully pay off for both guys.  It doesn’t matter whether YSU has the ball, or is on defense, there is gonna be a guy from Texas making an impact either way.