Educate Me on Lark

I know nothing about this kid.



Was he a "big snatch" when we got him? Were people excited? Was he just some walk-on? Can he run? Is he accurate? Is he cute?



(Scratch that last one... I promised a certain "schmoe" that I would ask it...)

Italics wrote:
I know nothing about this kid.



Was he a "big snatch" when we got him? Were people excited? Was he just some walk-on? Can he run? Is he accurate? Is he cute?



(Scratch that last one... I promised a certain "schmoe" that I would ask it...)

He came out at the same time as Nelson. We went after Lark.

Came out of Pine View, a small but competitive high school near St. George. Set some records his senior year, though I think they lost in the state finals to Riley and Logan...

He was very highly thought of following his JR year. I even think Chow at USC had some interest. His senior year was less than expected and made to look even less so because of how good Nelson was that year. The word I heard is BYU wanted to go after Riley, but because Lark had already committed they held to their word and stuck with Lark.



He's a good athlete, with a good arm. I don't think he excels at any one thing at the QB position. If he were to start I think he would be an average QB.



He wasn't a Jake Heaps type of recruit, but he wasn't a Jackson Brown type recruit either.

kitic77 wrote:
He was very highly thought of following his JR year. I even think Chow at USC had some interest. His senior year was less than expected and made to look even less so because of how good Nelson was that year. The word I heard is BYU wanted to go after Riley, but because Lark had already committed they held to their word and stuck with Lark.



He's a good athlete, with a good arm. I don't think he excels at any one thing at the QB position. If he were to start I think he would be an average QB.



He wasn't a Jake Heaps type of recruit, but he wasn't a Jackson Brown type recruit either.

His only loss his senior year was to Logan and Nelson. He looked pretty good, but I was wondering all season why they weren't going after Nelson. He was a one man wrecking crew.

But then, neither was Hall, Sarkisian, McMahon, Young or Detmer a Ben Olsen type recruit...and look at those comparative careers. You can't tell just from high school, how good (or bad) a kid is going to be...or how injuries will play into their career. BYU has had many great players over the year, who were not big national recruits.

bball wrote:
But then, neither was Hall, Sarkisian, McMahon, Young or Detmer a Ben Olsen type recruit...and look at those comparative careers. You can't tell just from high school, how good (or bad) a kid is going to be...or how injuries will play into their career. BYU has had many great players over the year, who were not big national recruits.

Excellent point. more has to do with the player's attitude and what he puts into the job. Coach mentioned that Lark came back, from his mission, a very different person, and I don't think he means for the worse. Lark was no slouch in HS, in fact, he was very good, but I am gathering that he had started THINKING that he was good (translation: good athlete, bad attitude). If he comes in and works very hard, who knows?

I will give you some quotes from articles on him, than tell you what I think personally.



JAMES LARK



Fr., 6-3, 205



St. George



Notes: Was named Deseret News 3A MVP as a senior in 2005, when he threw for 3,248 yards and 36 touchdowns and guided team to 12-2 record . . . Finished his career with 6,739 yards passing, third most in state history, and tied the state mark with 79 career touchdown passes . . . Was recruited by Arizona, Arizona State, Oregon, Kansas State, California, Washington State, Oklahoma, North Carolina, Michigan, Utah State, Stanford, UCLA, Utah and USC.

(Deseretnews)



Leading the skill positions is quarterback James Lark, who set the state record for touchdowns in a season his junior year with 41. At 6-2, 200 pounds, he has good size and arm strength and can make all the throws. Lark chose the Cougs over several Pac-10 schools, including Oregon and Arizona State

(des news)





ST. GEORGE — When James Lark was in the third grade in McAllen, Texas, he went to his brother's field day carnival at DeLeon Middle School and when he saw the football toss through the hanging tire contest, he just had to do it.



A little tyke, they moved James up close to the tire where he took the football and nailed it through the hole. They backed him up, and he did it again. So, they backed him up again, and he did it again. And again and again.



Today, Lark's love for the pigskin hasn't subsided. He set the Utah high school record — in all classifications — for touchdown passes in a season (41) this past year at Pine View. That act is getting him attention from college recruiters throughout the country, the latest, an offer from the University of North Carolina.



Lark, 6-foot-3,200 pounds, has already secured written scholarship offers from BYU, Utah, Oregon and Arizona State. And that's just the past few months. He still has his senior season ahead of him.



"I'll wait and take some official trips before I decide where to go," Lark said.



He's taking a heady approach to his next step, asking all the questions he can think of, weighing all the factors.



This weekend, he and his 2005 targets Carter Mees, Kevin Clements, David Foote and Tanner Holt will be at a team passing camp at BYU.





Story continues below

This squad already attended a similar passing camp at the University of Utah earlier this month. And that's just the start.



You throw 41 touchdowns and it opens eyes. Lark's calendar has been a blur the past two months as he's attended football camps and accepted invitations to show his wares. "I've learned to I've learned to manage my time a lot more wisely, get things done when I can, and not procrastinate," he said.



Consider this log: In May, a trip to Michigan for the Elite 11 Quarterback Camp and Nike Combine Camp; a stop at the Ute Shoot Seven on Seven team camp June 4; a trip to the Arizona State football camp June 5; attendance at the University of California football camp June 11; trip to Utah State team camp June 12.



Today he'll welcome home his older brother Jeff from an LDS mission to Brazil before going to BYU for camp. On Sunday he'll be back in St. George to hear his brother's mission report, and then he'll return to Provo for BYU summer football camp for high school players.



And that's just June.



At ASU, head coach Dirk Koetter took Lark and other recruits aside and personally worked him out separate from other camp participants.



Lark had a similar experience at Cal where Jeff Telford, who coaches quarterbacks, accompanied Lark to the Golden Bear Stadium and put him through the paces with his throws.



For months now, he's been bombarded with mail, e-mail and messages sent through his high school coach, Ray Hasener.



"It's fun," Lark said. "But sometimes it gets too much and I want to get away from it sometimes. It takes a lot of your time, answering e-mail and phone calls. It won't last forever, so might as well have fun with it."



James' mother, Betsy, describes her son as a child completely engrossed in sports of every kind and he's been that way his whole life. "In elementary school, he used to get up and get ready and have breakfast and devour the sports section. Nobody else in the family's done that."



Betsy's eyes have been open to complicated NCAA guidelines for recruiting . "When we're going to a camp, we can't call the coach and leave a message and expect them to call us back. They can't. If we get them, we can talk, but we have to do it and they can't call us back, even for something as simple as logistics of where to go and park, or directions."



Lark hopes to build on his junior success this year when he complete 201 of 357 passes for 3497 yards and 41 touchdowns while he rushed for 420 yards and seven TDs.



"I'm hoping we get to 50 touchdown passes, to be the first one there."



Well, he's already first to 41.



(Aslo the des news... just from the archives, im to lazy to search anywhere else...)



PROVO — Pine View High all-state quarterback James Lark pledged to sign a letter-of-intent to play football at BYU on Wednesday during a Cougar football youth camp on campus.



Lark set a state record — in all high school divisions — for touchdowns (41) in a single season last year.



"I've just been at camp and decided to let Bronco Mendenhall know that this is where I want to play college football," Lark said minutes after meeting with the Cougar head coach in his office. Lark initiated the meeting, telling Mendenhall he had to meet with him and discuss something.



"It's a place I feel I belong for every reason," Lark said.



The 6-foot-3, 205-pound quarterback had offers from the Cougars, Utah, Arizona and Oregon and has attended camps at Cal and Michigan this summer.



Lark joined two other Cougar recruits who have given verbal commitments to BYU in LaVell Edwards Stadium on Tuesday, listening to stories from quarterback coach Brandon Doman.



"It was a special moment," Lark said.



The other recruits were Salt Lake City defensive back Mike Hague and Texas receiver McKay Jacobson, who announced their commitments to the Deseret Morning News this past spring.



"Coach Doman is an amazing person and a coach I can relate to and understands me," Lark said.





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Neither Jacobson nor Hague put any pressure on Lark this week. "I came to this decision on my own and decided now was the time to make it and get it over with," he said.



In addition to Hague (Brighton High) and Jacobson (Carroll High ), the Cougars have commitments from two other high school recruits to date, including Alta offensive lineman Braden Hansen and Orem offensive lineman Keke Wiley.



BYU also has commitments from returning missionaries Manese Tonga, a running back from Aragon High in San Mateo, Calif.; and quarterback Sam Doman of Canby, Ore.



BYU received two other commitments Wednesday. Bountiful linebacker Nate Moncur (6-0, 195) and receiver/defensive back Rhen Brown, younger brother of current Cougar offensive lineman Terrance Brown, who has transferred to Lone Peak High, joined Lark with declarations.



"This is a great opportunity for Nate. He believes BYU coaches will succeed with future plans and is excited for the opportunity," according to Bob Moncur, father of Nate.



(final of the des news articles)



http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/football/recruiting/player-James-Lark-36537

(Link to rivals page on him)



I've followed Lark from high school, bascially because I am from st.george as well and got to see him play quite a few times. I remember when he committed to BYU the daily herald had a big old picture of him on the front page. Anywho I wont claim to be a pro on evaluating talent but I Lark has a huge arm. Probably the biggest arm on a high school quaterback that I have seen. (Which is generally just from utah in the smaller divisions so who knows?) He is very smart (gpa wise anyways). He is very athletic, he led his schools basketball team to the semifinals his senior year, ran on the track team and played safety his sophomore year. He was also an incredible leader on the high school level.



I did attend the state championship game where Lark's Pine View got smacked around by Nelson's Logan. It really wasn't even a competition. I don't think Lark ever had a second to throw the ball the entire game he was getting sacked so fast. Logan's defensive front was making it impossible for him to get a pass off they were running over the undersized Pine View line. This was the second time that lark got destroyed from a crazy pass rush in the state championship game in 2 years, but I dont think its fair to blame it on him. I can also point to the fact that Logan had an incredible coaching staff that blew the pine view game plan to pieces. Nelson, ran and threw the ball over the place and made the pv defense look silly. Logan obviously had the better team all around and they showed it. Lark however did have alot of skill position talent on his side as well IE David Foote (byu rostered) Carter Mees (BYU rostered) Jesses Ence (1000 yard rusher that plays for dixie) and of course a bomb punter in stephenson. So im not sure what you can take away from that, whither nelson is just a winner and a better overall player? thats what most people assume.



Im excited to watch the spring game this year so I can get a 4 years later look on the Lark vs. Nelson saga. Somet things that I think that have gone unaddressed so far in these debates are: Talent and Coaching (system) that the QB's played in with high school? Also the talent level that they played agaisnt in high school? It's hard to compare apples to oranges but if people have more info about those things I would love to hear it.



I think that might be some education for ya.

Thanks' 5th. I remember reading these things, but it was hazy. I was really excited when he committed, but thought that they should have gone hard after Nelson as well. Both are very talented, and I think, great competitors. I think Nelson has a huge upside as an athlete, who could contribute (maybe even more), playing at another position where he could handle the ball a lot, with options to act as a second QB on the field. I have heard that BYU won't alter their playbook that much, but I think it's a shame if they won't consider it, if they aren't naming Nelson as the starter. Too much talent to leave on the bench.

BYU had Lark in camp for 2 years, and still went after Nelson. That spoke volumes to me. I hope he can play, but something tells me that the BYU coaches had some serious questions about him.

bball wrote:
But then, neither was Hall, Sarkisian, McMahon, Young or Detmer a Ben Olsen type recruit...and look at those comparative careers. You can't tell just from high school, how good (or bad) a kid is going to be...or how injuries will play into their career. BYU has had many great players over the year, who were not big national recruits.

To compare any recruit from the 70s or 80s to today is very difficult to do. Recruiting has changed so dramatically that the way it is currently done barely reflects the way it was done 20 or 30 years ago. There were no real reruiting services, no real national rankings. You are correct that BYU has had success without big national recruits, but to suggest that recruiting is the same today is simply not correct.

Lawboy wrote:
BYU had Lark in camp for 2 years, and still went after Nelson. That spoke volumes to me. I hope he can play, but something tells me that the BYU coaches had some serious questions about him.

it sounds to me though those problems were more about attitude than ability given the coaches comments and commentary that has been swirling since his return.

Lawboy wrote:
BYU had Lark in camp for 2 years, and still went after Nelson. That spoke volumes to me. I hope he can play, but something tells me that the BYU coaches had some serious questions about him.

Did BYU "go after Nelson" or did he just fall into their laps? It makes a difference if you are trying to read anything into the situation.

BYU will always get QB's. Lark was a good get. Like Paul Shoemaker was, and Clemons was, and so on.



Just glad that the QBs BYU has are now being surrounded with elite talents at skill positions, as well.