Bel Air Head Coach Eric Siegel has seen a lot of players cycle through his program in the 20-years he has been there, but not many compared to West Virginia athlete commitment Julien Horton.
Horton, 6-foot-0, 175-pounds, didn’t start his career at Bel Air but transferred over from Calvert Hall, a private school in Baltimore, after his first two seasons.
At the time, Siegel already had an idea of the type of player that he was getting in Horton, and it didn’t take long for him to become a captain on the team as a junior.
“He starts coming to some of our off-season workouts and we were like wow this guy is pretty talented. As freaky athletic as anybody I’ve ever coached and this is my 20th year at Bel Air,” he said. “Insanely athletic, but it’s more than that he’s also one of the smartest football players.”
Horton demonstrated upon arriving the ability to digest film and then accomplish the task at a high level on the field which was unprecedented for Siegel in his coaching experience. He also has the range to play the safety spot and runs the alley as well as anybody he’s ever had.
It doesn’t hurt matters that he also isn’t bashful when it comes to being physical and making tackles. Still, he also is very gifted with the ball in his hands, so he filled a critical role on the offensive side as well.
“He’s certainly special and he has even more room to grow and expand. His dad is very tall, he’s 6-foot-5, so he might have an extra couple inches of height in him potentially,” Siegel said.
But it was away from the game that impressed Siegel even more than what he could do on it. He remained a captain for his senior season, on top of being a part of the leadership council on the team, and the other players on the team quickly gravitated toward him. He quickly became known for his ability to connect with people and also has competed in both basketball and track at the school.
“He’s a good kid. He’s a leader and he’s very intelligent. I taught him in U.S. History as a junior as well. He’s an awesome kid and I was very pleased I got to coach him these two years and I just know he’ll have success in the future,” he said.
The arrow is pointing up for Horton as he starts the next chapter of his career, but Siegel believes that he is a talent both on and off the field after spending the last two years with him.
“Whatever he ends up doing in this world I know he will be successful at it. On the football field, he’s special. As the program at West Virginia gets ahold of him and he fully embraces everything they do he’s going to be somebody you guys will love the way I absolutely love him,” Siegel said.
----------
• Talk about it with West Virginia fans on The Blue Lot.
• SUBSCRIBE today to stay up on the latest on Mountaineer sports and recruiting.
• Get all of our WVU videos on YouTube by subscribing to the WVSports.com Channel
• Follow us on Twitter: @WVSportsDotCom, @rivalskeenan, @wesleyshoe
