Aug. 3, 2006
NORMAL, Ill. -
When the Illinois State football team took the field Thursday night for its first practice of fall camp there were some new faces. In addition to the expected freshmen, former Mississippi running back Alan Abrams and junior college wide receiver Andrew Paschal joined the Redbird squad today.
Abrams, a 6-foot, 205-pound tailback, will have two seasons of eligibility at Illinois State. The Orlando, Fla., native played in 18 games for the Rebels with three starts. Last season, Abrams finished with 28 yards rushing on 14 carries. In 2004, Abrams logged 275 yards on 46 attempts, including a career-best 59 yards versus Auburn.
"Alan was a kid we looked at out of high school in the Orlando area," said head coach Denver Johnson. "He wound up at Ole Miss and things didn't work out down there like he wanted. We were really excited about him in high school, thought he had great potential as a college back and we're pleased about him joining our team now.
"His high school film really reminded me of a lot of Sha-Ron Edwards, who used to run for us. He is a tall, slender guy with good speed, agility and change of direction. He also has enough size to get behind his pads and do some things."
At Apopka High School, Abrams was a two-time Florida Class 6A All-State selection and was named the MVP of the 2001 Florida Class 6A championship game. During his career, he rushed for 3,841 yards on 438 carries with 42 touchdowns. As a senior, he rushed for 1,649 yards on 184 carries and set the school single-season mark with 20 touchdowns. In addition, he was also named the Orlando Sentinel Orange County Offensive Player of the Year, the 2002 Central Florida Player of the Year, the Florida Class 6A Player of the Year and the All-Area Player of the Year.
Paschal joins the Redbirds after a one-year stint at Fort Scott College in Fort Scott, Kan. The 6-foot-3, 205-pound wideout has three years of eligibility remaining. Last season he finished with 38 catches for 486 yards and three touchdowns. He also earned All-Jayhawk Conference honorable mention accolades.
"Andrew is a big, physical receiver," said Johnson. "When Micha Gordon failed to qualify out of high school it left a void at the receiving corps, and we felt like we needed to supplement that. He's a guy that got out late, but was still available. His brother (Marcus) is a two-year starter at free safety at Iowa, so he's got a good bloodline. We brought him up, liked him and convinced him to join our squad."
At Largo High School, Paschal played both wide receiver and safety. He was selected for the all-star team as a receiver after finishing with 42 catches for 692 yards and seven touchdowns his senior year.
