Super Soph!

Article from September/October 2009 Issue

Dorial Green admits to being  just a bit skittish when he made the transition from junior high legend to Hillcrest High School varsity football standout as a freshman last season.

“I thought it was going to be a lot harder…in middle school, I was always just bigger than everybody else,” Green says.

Of course, it didn’t take Green long to figure out that, even at the high school level, he was still bigger than most everybody else.
And, in fact, still better than most everybody else.

The 6-foot-5, 210-pound Green caught 37 passes for 801 yards and scored 13 touchdowns as a freshman wide receiver for the Hornets last season. As a result, Green has quickly transformed from simply being big to becoming a big-time talent.

It’s a catch-phrase used by the media, by his teammates and opposing coaches…and mostly by NCAA Division I football coaches, who can’t wait til September  of 2010, when Green is officially a high school junior and they can truly begin what should be a very spirited and entertaining pursuit of his services.

Some have already fired their early shots  – Missouri’s coaching staff already has offered Green a scholarship after seeing him in their summer camp, says Hillcrest coach John Beckham, who is also Green’s legal guardian as the latter has become one of several foster children the Beckham  family has so graciously taken in over the past 20 years.

“I’ve been to Mizzou’s camp every year since they’ve come down here, so they pretty much know who I am,” Green says with a smile. “I’m just keeping all of my options open now.”

Oklahoma’s coaching staff has also contacted Beckham with inquiries about Green, causing Beckham to chuckle because “I’ve got two assistants who are big-time OU fans and two who are big Mizzou fans on my staff, so it’s a constant battle between the two of them.”

In fact, interest is beginning to flow in from most of the Big 12 Conference and other schools in the Midwest region. And all this fuss over a “kid” who just turned 16 years old.

Did we say kid? OK, try a soft-spoken, humble man-child with a warm smile who not only is already bigger and stronger than most receivers at the prep level, but has been timed in the 4.45 range in the 40-yard dash (and was a track standout in the 100, 200 and long jump for the Hornets last spring), would rather run over a defensive back than away from him, and has hands that defy his ripe age as well.

“He’s a big-time talent,” says Bolivar coach Lance Roweton, whose Liberators got their first look at Green last season in district play, when BHS broke away in the final period to shake the Hornets 47-28.

“I went to the (Missouri) Spring Game, and he looked just like the Missouri receivers do right now and he’s just (15) years old. Not only is he faster than everyone, but he’s 6-5, 210 pounds and can out-jump everybody.

“He’s just extremely scary because he can score a touchdown at just about any point in the game.”

Green is the centerpiece of a Hillcrest team that’s trying to reverse a string of three straight 2-8 finishes, including last season’s rookie head coaching effort by Beckham. Hillcrest returns veteran senior quarterback Mitch Jenkins to play catch with Green, but lost some key weapons when (current Missouri State tailback) Mikael Cooper-Falls and receiver Derek Chaney graduated, and Green’s older brother (Sam Smith) ran into some off-field problems and is not eligible this fall with the Hornets.

That means in addition to the rapidly increasing attention Green is drawing off the field – including his inclusion in MaxPreps’ list of the Top 100 players for the class of 2012 – he’s going to get an equal amount from opposing defenses on it.

“I couldn’t be any more thankful than to have a situation with a guy like Dorial to look to,” said Jenkins, who hopes to play college ball himself and to feed off the added exposure he might draw from Green’s presence. “I’ve never seen anybody like him, talent-wise…he’s such a big target to throw to, and his speed…he knows how to use it to get open, too. And I can’t imagine him not being able to go to a large Division I school and make it.

“He’s a great kid, too. A lot of guys that have all that talent might be a little hot-headed or stuck up. But he’s not that way. He’s just a regular guy and a lot of fun to be around.”

Green, who will play cornerback this season for the Hornets as well, says for now he’s simply enjoying the attention he gets in the form of camp brochures and word from Beckham on who’s called about him just about every day, with the likes of UCLA and Iowa also among those now trying to get a foot in the door. Of course, both parties realize the heat will truly intensify when Green officially becomes eligible to be recruited early next season.

Throw in that Green is one of the top basketball talents in the Ozarks and it should make for a lot of phone calls to the Beckham household in the very near future.

Green says football and basketball are “about equal” in regards to his love for both sports, but hints that even he realizes his skill-set is more conducive to big-time offers from the football powers. The MaxPreps article on Green states “He’s already on the radar of many BCS schools. Green is in the mold of Randy Moss—big, fast, athletic and physical. He will undoubtedly be playing on Saturdays.”

Beckham’s job is not only to coach his budding star, but to make sure Green doesn’t become overwhelmed with his new status.

“We’ve had several discussions about it already,” Beckham says.“It’s the hardest thing for people to understand that he’s just a kid. Even though he looks like he’s 25, he’s just a kid. I’m not really sure if he understands yet what it all means.

“Honestly, he’s still learning to be a football player. He’s still learning when the play’s not called to him, he still has a responsibility to get downfield and block, do things like that. He’s got a ways to go…but he’s getting better all the time.”

In the meantime, Green’s goals include working hard to get bigger, stronger and faster his next three seasons at HHS, where he should finish his career playing alongside younger brother Darnell Green – a 6-1, 195-pound quarterback/wide receiver for the eighth grade team at Pleasant View Middle School.

But mainly, Green wants to get the Hornets back on the right side of .500.

“Hopefully this will be a big year and we can break that string of (sub-.500 seasons),” he says.