Derrione Leeper has seen the maturation process of Dawayne Galloway firsthand.
Leeper, who serves as the strength and conditioning coach at Marian-Franklin High School, has spent all four years with the new West Virginia cornerback commit and has seen him make great strides in his game.
The growth process really kicked into a high gear the summer after his sophomore season as he started to gain a strong understanding of the work that goes into being a high level player.
There were flashes before, but Galloway quickly became an integral piece on the defensive side of the ball after flipping from safety to cornerback ahead of his junior campaign. The results quickly followed.
During that season finished with five interceptions, including one returned for a touchdown, and used his blazing speed to establish himself at the position but there was much more than that.
“The things that stand out is of course his speed but also his IQ of the game and realizing and knowing receivers’ routes, quarterbacks’ drops and when he is breaking what route is coming up,” Leeper said. “I think his on the field IQ and being able to know in the secondary.”
And there’s no bigger compliment for a cornerback than not being targeted which happened in eight of 11 games as a senior. Galloway still recorded a pair of interceptions and did not allow a passing touchdown. In fact, most of the times he was even targeted came during the playoffs and most of those were jump ball type situations. That speaks to the maturation that he made at the position.
“West Virginia is going to get a humble beast. A cool, calm and collected guy that knows how to come on between the lines. Dawayne is a guy that when you see him in public, you may never know and then when he gets between those lines the lights come on and he’s a performer,” Leeper said.
But even with those accolades, Galloway still has plenty of upside as he gets into a college program that is going to further refine his skill set and what he can bring to the table.
“Even with him dominating in high school he is still raw. He’s going to surpass his ceiling and it’s easier to be raw if you have his type of speed,” Leeper said.
Much like Galloway blossomed on the field, off it he also became much more assertive. Leeper has known him all four years of his high school career and has seen him go from more of an introverted type of personality to somebody that that not only has played well on the field but become more involved with the student body and figuring out ways to help inside the school and public environment.
Leeper points to the work that he did around Thanksgiving to help deliver meals to 250 families in the area.
“It’s been amazing to see himself come out of a personality shell and really let himself be him so that he can become the leader that he is today,” he said.
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