David Sills (American football)

David Sills
El Camino College
Position Wide receiver, quarterback
Class Sophomore
Career history
College
High school Elkton (MD) Eastern Christian Academy
Personal information
Date of birth (1996-05-29) May 29, 1996
Height 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)
Weight 198 lb (90 kg)

David Sills V (May 5, 1996) is an American football player. He played college football for the West Virginia Mountaineers in 2015 as a wide receiver and in June 2016 announced his intention to transfer to El Camino College.[1]

At age 13, he garnered national attention when he verbally committed to play football at the University of Southern California. He later decommitted from USC and signed a national letter of intent to play at West Virginia University.[2][3] He was a pupil of trainer Steve Clarkson.[4]

Early life

Sills was born in 1996. His parents are Denise and David Sills IV. He has two older sisters, Emma and Abby. His father is a commercial developer and contractor.[5] He began playing youth football at age six and began training at age nine with quarterback trainer Steve Clarkson.[4][6]

Lane Kiffin offered Sills a scholarship to play college football at USC in 2010.[7] Sills gave USC a non-binding verbal commitment in 2010.[5][8][9] Sills was among the youngest football players to receive a scholarship offer from a major football program.[10][11][12]

High school career

As a high school freshman, Sills was the starting quarterback for Red Lion Christian Academy, a private Delaware school for grades K-12.[5] Sports Illustrated hailed him as one of the greatest prospects ever,[13] and Bloomberg News described him as the "best arm money can buy".[14] At Red Lion in 2010, he accumulated 1,355 passing yards and nine touchdowns against five interceptions in eight games.[15] In 2011, he totalled 2,340 yards and 28 touchdowns in what was his second year as a varsity quarterback. He was named a MaxPreps.com U.S. Air Force second-team freshman All-American.[16][17]

As a sophomore, Sills became the quarterback for Eastern Christian Academy (ECA) of Elkton, Maryland. The move was controversial because the school was a newly-formed online school. All enrolled boys were on the 46-man football team established by David Sills IV to showcase their talents to college scouts.[18][19] Eastern Christian Academy was only able to play in three games in 2012 due to the school's failure to gain accreditation from the state.[20][21]

Lane Kiffin, who had originally offered Sills a scholarship back in 2010, was fired by USC in 2013. He was replaced by Ed Orgeron on an interim basis. Eventually, USC would hire Steve Sarkisian to become the new head coach. According to Sills' father, Sarkisian told his son that USC would honor their scholarship offer. While receiving reassurance from Sarkisian, the Sills got the feeling that David wasn't USC's first option. USC had offered and eventually signed two highly ranked quarterbacks in the same class, Sam Darnold and Ricky Town. Sills decommitted from USC in June 2014.[2]

Name Hometown High school / college Height Weight 40‡ Commit date
David Sills
QB		 Elkton, MD Red Lion (DE) (FR.)
Eastern Christian Academy (MD)		 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 210 lb (95 kg) NA  
Scout:3/5 stars   Rivals:3/5 stars   247Sports: N/A    ESPN grade: 79
Overall recruiting rankings: Scout: 29 (QB)   Rivals: 14 (QB, prostyle), 8, (MD)  ESPN: 17 (QB, pocket passer), 8, (MD)
  • ‡ Refers to 40 yard dash
  • Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height, weight and 40 time.
  • In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale.

Sources:

College career

West Virginia

On July 16, 2014, Sills announced his commitment to West Virginia University via Twitter.[22][23] Sills was one of West Virginia's early enrollees from the 2015 recruiting class. As a result, he was able to participate in spring practice. He battled fellow quarterbacks Skyler Howard, William Crest Jr. and Chris Chugunov for the starting quarterback spot.[3][24][25] Howard was eventually named the starting quarterback.[26][27] Sills earned playing time as a wide receiver after impressing coaches with his performance on the scout team. On October 17, 2015, Sills made his collegiate debut against the Baylor Bears. He finished the game with two receptions for 64 yards. His second collegiate reception was a 35-yard touchdown.[28][29] He made the game winning touchdown reception in the 2016 Cactus Bowl against Arizona State and ended the season with seven receptions for 131 yards.[30]

After West Virginia's 2016 spring game, West Virginia head coach Dana Holgorsen stated that Howard solidified his position as the starting quarterback and that Crest and Chugunov would continue to battle for the backup quarterback spot. With several quarterbacks ahead of him on the depth chart and former Florida starting quarterback Will Grier scheduled to become eligible to play for the Mountaineers in 2017, it appeared unlikely Sills would ever get an opportunity to play quarterback at West Virginia.[31][32]

El Camino College

Sills announced on June 23, 2016 that he would transfer to El Camino College to play quarterback in junior college.[33]

Notes

  1. ↑ Stephens, Mitch (June 23, 2016). "Quarterback prodigy David Sills transferring from West Virginia to California JC". MaxPreps.com. Retrieved June 24, 2016.
  2. 1 2 Johnson, Chris (July 22, 2015). "Five years after committing to USC, David Sills finally becomes college QB". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved June 24, 2016.
  3. 1 2 White, Dustin (February 4, 2015). "QB David Sills Is Officially A West Virginia Mountaineer". The Smoking Musket. Retrieved June 24, 2016.
  4. 1 2 Dodd, Dennis (February 13, 2009). "Twelve-year-old QB's ascent toward NCAA already under way". CBS Sports. Archived from the original on October 11, 2012. Retrieved February 7, 2010.
  5. 1 2 3 Markazi, Arash (February 6, 2010). "Sills: USC is 'dream school'". ESPN. Retrieved February 7, 2010.
  6. ↑ Venezia, Todd (February 6, 2010). "QB commits to USC . . . and he's only 13". New York Post. Retrieved February 7, 2010.
  7. ↑ Staples, Andy (February 5, 2010). "USC stands to gain much more than one QB from offering 13-year-old". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved February 7, 2010.
  8. ↑ Helin, Kurt (February 5, 2010). "13-Year-Old Quarterback Commits to USC: By the time David Sills arrives on campus, everyone from Wednesday's recruiting class will have left USC.". NBC. Retrieved February 7, 2010.
  9. ↑ Klein, Gary (February 5, 2010). "Trojans get their first commitment ... for 2015". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved February 7, 2010.
  10. ↑ "Report: 13-year-old QB commits to USC". United Press International. February 6, 2010. Retrieved February 7, 2010.
  11. ↑ Saxon, Mark (February 5, 2010). "I want to laugh, then take a shower". ESPN. Retrieved February 7, 2010.
  12. ↑ Sondheimer, Eric (February 4, 2010). "Football: 13-year-old QB commits to USC". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved February 7, 2010.
  13. ↑ Markazi, Arash (September 29, 2007). "The future is now: Pre-teen prodigy at quarterback growing up fast". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved February 7, 2010.
  14. ↑ Levinson, Mason (June 22, 2007). "Quarterback Camp Lures Kids With $1,400 Lessons, Joe Montana". Bloomberg News. Retrieved February 7, 2010.
  15. ↑ Sondheimer, Eric (March 21, 2011). "USC football: 14-year-old quarterback David Sills looking forward to spring practice". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved June 3, 2011.
  16. ↑ Buzby, Jon (January 7, 2012). "David Sills named to All-American team". Newark Post. Retrieved July 23, 2012.
  17. ↑ Spiewak, Stephen (January 6, 2012). "MaxPreps 2011 U.S. Air Force Freshman All-American Football Teams". MaxPreps.com. Retrieved July 23, 2012.
  18. ↑ Jenkins, Lee (August 23, 2012). "Eastern Christian Academy is H.S. football's first virtual powerhouse". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved September 28, 2012.
  19. ↑ Cook, Bob (September 25, 2012). "Long Island Vengeance Denied: How Not To Spend Money On Your Child's Sports Career". Forbes. Retrieved September 28, 2012.
  20. ↑ "Eastern Christian Game Cancelled By West Catholic Due to Sanctioning Worries". Retrieved March 29, 2013.
  21. ↑ "Eastern Christian Football Schedule". Retrieved March 29, 2013.
  22. ↑ Dohn, Brian (July 16, 2013). "With WVU Commitment, Sills Trying To Shed Title Of 7th-Grade USC Commit". FOX Sports. Retrieved July 17, 2014.
  23. ↑ "Twitter/DS5_:Committed...". Twitter. July 16, 2013. Retrieved July 16, 2014.
  24. ↑ Bromberg, Nick (February 4, 2015). "One-time middle school USC commit David Sills signs with West Virginia". Yahoo Sports. Retrieved June 25, 2016.
  25. ↑ Trotter, Jake (April 19, 2015). "Dana Holgorsen: Skyler Howard is West Virginia's 'clear-cut' No. 1 QB". ESPN.com. Retrieved June 25, 2016.
  26. ↑ Barnhouse, Wendell (May 18, 2015). "2015 Spring Football Review: West Virginia". Big12Sports.com. Retrieved June 25, 2016.
  27. ↑ Chatmon, Brandon (November 25, 2015). "Q&A: West Virginia QB Skyler Howard rebounds from winless October". ESPN.com. Retrieved June 25, 2016.
  28. ↑ Olson, Max (October 20, 2015). "West Virginia QB David Sills showing skills at WR". ESPN.com. Retrieved June 27, 2016.
  29. ↑ Vanderwijst, Kelsie (October 17, 2015). "QB David Sills Makes Huge Plays at Wide Receiver". Blue Gold Sports. Retrieved June 27, 2016.
  30. ↑ Chatmon, Brandon (June 23, 2016). "David Sills transfers from West Virginia to chase QB dream". ESPN.com. Retrieved June 29, 2016.
  31. ↑ Miller, Michael (April 23, 2016). "West Virginia's Offense Fights Back To Win Annual Gold-Blue Spring Game". The Smoking Musket. Retrieved June 29, 2016.
  32. ↑ Casazza, Mike (June 23, 2016). "David Sills leaves WVU football program". West Virginia Gazette-Mail. Retrieved June 29, 2016.
  33. ↑ Feldman, Bruce (June 23, 2016). "Former phenom David Sills heads to JC from West Virginia". FOX Sports. Retrieved June 29, 2016.

External links

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