Obviously at a disadvantage were those who were Aggies, Farmers, Warriors and Gorillas. Arkansas State became the Indians, to honor the Osage Nation that once inhabited the area, in 1931. For those who wondered, the school became Red Wolves in 2008.
Also at a disadvantage, to a degree, are also the present Red Wolves. There are two who made the list, and you can’t argue with that. Junior wide receiver JD McKissic, who will not only rewrite the A-State records but also those for the Sun Belt Conference in his career, and linebacker Qushaun Lee, who is a two-time most valuable player in the GoDaddy Bowl. The opinion here is Lee ranks among the top 10 players to ever wear the scarlet and black. He’s been that good and that good on the big stage.
The rest of the current roster will have to wait until the year 2114 to see if they made it the second 100 year team. There are some who have a chance, but it is way too early
If they have good pro careers its helps their cases.
It might be kind of awkward to be chosen to the school’s all-time team while there is still time left in a Red Wolves uniform, but those on the current roster just had bad timing. And there are some who have a chance. But there is really no argument with Lee and McKissic.
On Saturday at the Appalachian State game, they will introduce the 100-year team, which will be 12 players on offense, 12 on defense and 4 special teams. There has been very little, if any flack, about the 100 released on Thursday. There might be some after Saturday when that list is narrowed to 26.
Some special honorees were also included in the group. Larry Lacewell was named the coach and David Mitchell, Tim Keane, Leslie Speck, Bill Templeton and Bill Davidson were recognized as service as a player and a coach. Long-time trainer Ron Carroll was rightfully honored along with Ike Tomlinson, who never played for A-State but coached about every sport that was offered at his time.
Perhaps the biggest omission is a special Pack of 11 who have been the backbone on the program the past five seasons. So much has been said about the team have five coaches in five seasons but there are 11 members of this team who lived it.
Frankie Jackson, Sterling Young, Andrew Tryon, Brock Barnhill, Ryan Jacobs, Darius Buckley, Lee, Tyler Greve, Alan Wright, William Boyd, Kenneth Rains have only played the last five seasons in Jonesboro but, in spite of the success, it might have seemed like 100.
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Jeff Reed is editor of Astatenation.com
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