Giles Always on Run

Lavarius Giles lives life at warp speed, which is appropriate for the fastest man in the SWAC.

After 8 a.m. classes, Giles speeds from campus for a few hours of work at IMS Engineers in downtown Jackson, before crossing I-55 to partake in grueling 1 p.m. workouts at Velocity Sports Performance in Ridgeland.

He rips back across town for more class in the afternoon before returning home for an 11 p.m. bedtime.

“Sometimes I don’t even have time to have lunch,” Giles said with a shake of his head.

But it’s all part of the plan.

Giles is in a position hundreds of athletes would love to be in.

He can run really, really fast, which is very intriguing to scouts preparing for the 2008 NFL draft that starts Saturday.

That speed also makes the 6-foot-1, 220-pounder one of the best sprinters in the Southwestern Athletic Conference. The 2007 SWAC champion in the 100 and 200 meters defends his titles today despite spending the spring preparing for the draft and not running track.

“He’s just one of those athletes that was born with the gift, the talent,” said Pauline Banks, JSU women’s track coach. “Football is his first love, track is just something he does naturally and comes to him easily.

“He can hang with the big dogs. That’s the scary part about it. He doesn’t realize how fast he is. He knows he’s fast, but he doesn’t know how fast he is.”

“I’m not bashing football, but he could be a world-class runner,” added Ernest Tche, JSU men’s track coach. “I’ve been to the Olympics twice. I know what I’m talking about.

“I hope he makes it in football, but if he doesn’t he can have a very good (career) in track. Not an average one, a very good one. We’re talking Olympics, World Championships.”

Mention the NFL and Giles looks toward the sky, as if he can see a dream that’s nearly within reach.

Giles didn’t have a mind-blowing senior season for JSU. He ran for 555 yards and didn’t become the starter until the final two games, after Erik Haw got hurt. But he rushed for a combined 263 yards, including 54- and 82-yard runs, and scored four of his five touchdowns in those two games.

And on March 24, when some 20 NFL scouts came to campus for Jackson State’s Pro Day, Giles easily received the most attention. Representatives from the New England Patriots, New York Giants and Green Bay Packers put him through individual drills while the others took notes.

Giles caught passes and punts and went though a series of agility tests. He ran a 4.41-second 40-yard dash with the wind at his back, but struggled in the change-of-direction drills.

“In the NFL, it’s all about your feet,” Packers scout Alonzo Highsmith said at the time. “Speed doesn’t matter.”

Highsmith’s statement sums up the situation Giles finds himself in as he awaits draft day.

Giles is at his best going straight ahead. His skill set earned a second workout with the Patriots, a trip to Seattle to visit with the Seahawks and a letter from the Browns showing late-round interest.

But two draft experts, ESPN’s Mel Kiper and Nolan Nawrocki of Pro Football Weekly, don’t expect Giles to be drafted.

Speed is important, said Kiper, in “terms of having a game-breaker.”

But, added Kiper, a good running back needs more than just speed.

“Playing running back in this league is about avoiding and being able to keep your feet and balance and good body lean - all the things 40 times don’t tell you,” Kiper said. “You don’t run in a straight line that often in the NFL.”

Kiper and Nawrocki both said Giles will most likely have to make a team as a free agent and contribute on special teams.

But Giles isn’t letting that kind of talk bother him. He’s been working on his agility and catching a minimum of 100 balls a day.

“I can’t wait, you don’t understand,” said Giles, who hopes to wind up with the Patriots. “I’m going to get in the draft. I want to go for third round and surprise people.”

But Giles is also realistic, and that’s why he has stayed in close contact with Tche, the JSU track coach.

“If it doesn’t work out I can always fall back on the track,” Giles said. “Got to face it sometime, got to try something else. … But football’s going to work out.

“Just give me a chance. I can make the the team if you give me a chance.”

Banks said between sponsorships, appearance fees and other payouts, a track athlete can make more than $100,000 a year.

“If he decided to just focus on track, he could get a good 15 years out of it,” Banks said. “Usually 30 is almost retirement age for most runners. But he would have a longevity because he has not been doing it a whole lot. Most of us that run track have been running from an early age.

“If he would train for track on a day-to-day basis, he could be an Olympic runner. Without a doubt. As far as size and speed and if he would just concentrate on track, (he compares) almost like a Maurice Greene type athlete.”

Said Tche: “One way or another, you’re going to read about him.”

Source: Clarion Ledger