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June 30, 2009

Back to football for ex-Bruin

Hopes to play at WGU in '10

By Adam Krohn

When Blake Gash graduated from Northwest Whitfield in 2008, he left for Chattanooga State with high hopes after signing an athletic scholarship with the National Junior and Community College Athletic Association’s Division I school.

But the experience of playing basketball for the Tigers didn’t exactly play out how Gash envisioned it would.

He played limited minutes and the school didn’t offer much in the way of extracurricular activities either. Gash not only felt out of place, he was losing his passion for playing college basketball.

“It was frustrating,” said Gash, The Daily Citizen’s 2008 All-Area Player of the Year. “I was looking forward to playing and I felt like I should have been starting or playing more. I worked my butt off all summer long and I felt like it was a waste. But I didn’t give up or complain. I kept working and did what I had to do.”

Gash’s best performance with the Tigers was scoring 13 points against a conference opponent coming off the bench. And that wasn’t enough to keep Gash hanging around for another year.

When the school year ended, Gash withdrew from Chattanooga State and decided he had some unfinished business with another passion of his — football.

Gash was a running back and defensive back for the Bruins, but reluctantly gave the sport up to play basketball for Chattanooga State. When he spoke with close friend Kareem Hawkins, who played football and basketball for rival Dalton High, he learned of a possible opportunity to revive his gridiron career at the college level.

Hawkins currently attends West Georgia University in Carrollton, and Gash said Hawkins has been in contact with the school’s football coach, Daryl Dickey, inquiring about a possible tryout with the football team for the 2010 season.

With the potential opportunity to play football, Gash applied to the school, but was told he needed more credit hours before being eligible to transfer. He will spend a semester at Dalton State and then try to enroll at West Georgia.

“I’ve been watching a lot of football and have been wanting to get back into it,” Gash said. “When I found out Kareem was at West Georgia, we talked about playing football, and we both decided we’ll see if we can try out next year.”

Gash said he plans to travel to Carrollton sometime next week to visit the campus and speak with Dickey, the former quarterback at Tennessee and son of ex-Volunteer athletic director Doug Dickey.

While Gash still has a ways to go before he can even think about putting on a football uniform, he’ll spend his time between now and then working hard in the weight room to get in top shape. When he’s not working as a lifeguard at the Dalton Golf and Country Club, he’s working out at the Bradley Wellness Center. And he still plays basketball to stay in shape, but says he’d rather be on the gridiron.

“It just clicked one day that I wanted to go back to football,” Gash said. “People told me I was better at football, and I just missed playing a lot.”

Gash’s former basketball coach at Northwest, Ryan Richards, still keeps in touch with him, and is glad to hear he’s trying to move on to a situation that will make him happy.

“It could be a great opportunity for him to go to a bigger school,” Richards said. “He’s a great kid with a great work ethic and that’s why he has been so successful.”

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