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TE, 6'4, 275, 4.9, 260 BP
Pascagoula, MS
Nickname: Leroy
Birthday: 12-7-79
High School: Pascagoula
HS Mascot: Panthers
HS Coach: Jamie Kelly
HS Position: TE/DE
HS Number: 76
AL Number: 17
Official Visits: AL, LSU, Miss State
Second Choice: LSU
Host During Alabama Visit: Griff Redmill
Committed: 1-27-99
Roommate To Be: Matt Lomax
Academic Status: Qualified
Stats
HS Junior Season
Receptions
- 12 receptions
- 250 yards
- 4 TDs
Tackles
Pass Breakups
HS Senior Season
Receptions
- 12 receptions
- 253 yards
- 3 TDs
Tackles
SBR Scouting Report
Very active player on defense. Would have to move inside to tackle to play defense on the collegiate level. Good blocker at tight end. Displayed good hands on the film we reviewed. Wants to play tight end and
could stay there in the right offense. Professional future would probably be on the offensive line. Projects as an offensive lineman.
[Observation: junior game film.]
Honors
- Two-time All-State
- Two-time All-Region
- Dandy Dozen Prospect in Mississippi
- Team Captain
- Pigskin Preps Super South 75
- Forrest Davis All South
- SuperPrep All American
- Prep Star All American
- AL MS HS All Star Game
Stories
Bama Blew'em Away!
Prior to the Alabama-Mississippi State game last year, Casey Gilbert was on the Mississippi State sidelines when he noticed Ronnie Cottrell looking at him.
"I was a little nervous because I was wearing a Mississippi State cap," recalls Gilbert. "I was hoping that he wasn't mad."
Cottrell wasn't mad, but he was curious.
"The next day he called me and asked if that meant I was going to Mississippi State," Gilbert says. "I told him no, it didn't mean that."
Most people felt that all along Gilbert was a lock for Alabama, but he says it was a tight battle until the end.
"I was very open to LSU," he says. "My mom is from Bossier, Louisiana and we have family there. She wanted me to go there. But they have nine tight ends."
Gilbert made official visits to LSU, Alabama, and Mississippi State.
"I went to LSU first," he says. "Then I went to Alabama and Mississippi State. There was no comparison. Alabama blew them away!"
Gilbert and Myles: Good Friends
When Reggie Myles was being recruited, he loved his visit to Tuscaloosa so much that he started recruiting for Alabama.
"He told me that he'd bet that's where I end up," recalls Casey Gilbert. "He said that it was the greatest place he'd ever been."
Myles and Gilbert were teammates at Pascagoula High School. The two have played football and baseball together since childhood.
Gilbert |
"We're good friends, but he really had nothing to do with my decision," Gilbert says.
But it wasn't because Myles didn't try.
"I saw him at the Mississippi State game," Gilbert says. "During pre-game warm-ups he was pulling on his jersey and telling me, 'This is what you need to be wearing next season.' I just laughed and nodded my head yes."
[Flashback: see story in 1998 Recap profile for Reggie Myles: Another Pascagoula Blue-Chipper.]
He's A Tight End
Casey Gilbert was confused. All along Ronnie Cottrell had recruited him as a tight end, but now he was hearing that Alabama wanted him as an offensive lineman.
"A Mississippi State coach brought me something off an Alabama website," Gilbert says. "Somebody on there was saying that the Alabama coaches planned to move me to the offensive line. I called Coach Cottrell and he said that wasn't true."
Cottrell assured Gilbert that he'd be a tight end.
"He asked me if I'd ever seen an offensive lineman that wore number 17," Gilbert says. "He said I could have a real low number to prove to everyone I'm going to be a skill player, not an offensive lineman."
It Takes More Than Two To Stop Him
Casey Gilbert says that he's always been tough to tackle.
"I was mainly a blocking tight end in high school," he says. "But I've always been hard to bring down. It usually takes two or three guys to get me down."
But against Jackson Provine during Gilbert's sophomore year, not even two could bring him down.
"We were getting shutout 40 something to nothing in the fourth quarter," he says. "It was really bad."
That's when Gilbert made the most memorable play of his career.
"We were at about their 35," he says. "I ran a short route and nobody was covering me. When I caught it I was stumbling forward. I saw two defenders coming at me at about the 15. I lowered my shoulder and ran over both of them and went on into the end zone. It was pure adrenaline."
Q&A
TI: There's been some talk that you might end up on the offensive line. Are you totally against that idea?
CG: Pretty much, yes sir. I played on the offensive line the last half of this past season and hated it. I want to be at a position where I can make something happen. If it's not tight end, then I'd rather play on the defensive line. Coach Cottrell told me that if something happens that tight end doesn't work out, he'd move me to defense before he would switch me to the offensive line.
TI: What are your strengths as a tight end?
CG: Coach Cottrell says that I'm a dominating blocker, but I think I need to get better. I have soft hands and once I get the ball I'm pretty mobile. My main problem is that I need to get much stronger and I need to improve my starting speed. I'm a slow starter and that's why I don't run a great 40 time. But once I get going I've got good speed.
TI: Do you expect to play next season or be redshirted?
CG: Coach Cottrell is telling me that I have a good chance to play. It all depends on what kind of physical condition I'm in when I get there. If I'm in shape, which I will be, it's almost definite I'll play in the first game.
TI: Why did you choose Alabama?
CG: Alabama is on the rise. They've recruited really well the past few seasons and they have a lot of young talent. LSU is losing a lot of people and I don't know where they're headed. I see us going for a national championship in two or three years.
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