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Liberty is the home for second chances
Liberty stocking up with local transfer talent
Date published: 8/29/2008
BY TAFT COGHILL JR.
LYNCHBURG-- An $8-per-hour job stocking shelves at a wholesale food distribution warehouse in Culpeper County opened Kent Hicks' eyes.
Asa Chapman needed two years at Fork Union Military Academy and a brush with the law to re-emerge with a clearer head, while all Alex Stadler needed was a chance to get over some homesickness.
The three former Free Lance-Star All-Area football players got their second chances at Liberty University, a Baptist liberal arts college founded in 1971 by the late Rev. Jerry Falwell.
Hicks, a former Culpeper High star, transferred to Liberty from Virginia Tech.
Ex-Orange standout Chapman signed with the University of Virginia and West Virginia, but was denied entrance into both schools. He enrolled in Liberty in June.
Stadler went from Liberty High to the University of Alabama before he landed with the Flames this past spring semester.
Liberty head coach Danny Rocco said the school is becoming a safe haven for transfer students because of its belief in redemption.
The Flames went 8-3 and won the Big South Conference last year with the help of Hicks and five transfers from Virginia, among other transients.
"I think the fact that we're a faith-based university makes us very open to second chances," said Rocco, who initially recruited all three players when he was an assistant coach at Virginia. "Everybody in life gets to some point, some time where they would need or welcome a second opportunity."
Third school a charm
The 6-foot-5, 385-pound Chapman was the No. 2-ranked defensive tackle in the state of Virginia's 2006 senior class. He signed with the Cavaliers that year, but didn't qualify academically to be admitted. He enrolled in Fork Union in an effort to qualify for Virginia, but never achieved the standard.
The Cavaliers cut ties with Chapman in January 2007 and the following month he signed with West Virginia.
In June 2007, Chapman was arrested and charged with felony malicious wounding. Chapman said West Virginia wouldn't allow him into school until the matter was resolved, so he headed back to Fork Union.
Once the Mountaineers officially released Chapman from his scholarship, a flood of schools, including Liberty, Toledo, Marshall and North Carolina A&T, began to contact FUMA head coach John Shuman.
This week, The Free Lance-Star profiles area college football teams Here is the schedule:
TUESDAY: Maryland
WEDNESDAY: Virginia
YESTERDAY: Va. Tech
TODAY: State colleges
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Date published: 8/29/2008
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