Four-star SoCal DB Larry Turner-Gooden commits to ASU
In ASU’s 2020 recruiting class, there was no shortage of Top-100, let alone Top-50 California prospects. Today, the Sun Devils landed the no. 8 such prospect in that state and a Top-75 overall 2022 recruit in St. Bernard HS safety Larry Turner-Gooden.
“He’s a leader out there and has the abilities to make plays,” said Robert Gill, linebackers’ coach at St. Bernard. “His close down speed, his awareness, and instincts on the field, being able to see plays before they happen…all those things make him a great safety. He’s a well-rounded player because he's a very good cover guy and also a big hitter. Playing wide receiver (at Turner-Gooden’s previous high school Calabasas) has helped him tremendously developing his instincts.”
Head coach Manuel Douglas said that Turner-Gooden’s upbringing and personality traits complement his God-given skills quite nicely.
“He passes the eyeball test as a player,” Douglas commented, “and there are a lot of kids that look that part. But I will tell you this, his work ethic, commitment to detail, and who he is character-wise as a person make him a better player. Arizona State is getting a future All-American kid, and his family's amazing. They're very down-to-earth, and he’s not an arrogant kid. He's very personable, well-spoken. And I really believe that he's one of those kids that when they go away to school, is gonna know how to handle themselves as an adult and contribute to the team and just make everyone else around them better as a person as a player.”
The ASU staff with its vast Southern California recruiting ties hasn’t made it a secret that they plan to make a splash in the 2022 classes (and beyond) landing the top prospects from this region. Just yesterday they launched the PACC hashtag on social media communicating that approach.
Both Gill and Douglas have been impressed with this quartet of coaches and how they pursued Turner-Gooden, and truly believe that Arizona State can continue and add high caliber players from this region.
“I think they (Turner-Gooden and his family) liked the entire recruiting process of Arizona state,” Gill remarked, “the NFL experience of that staff, the quality of coaches they got, young coaches…I know that they do a good job with him, and he's fired up to go there. For him personally, that's someplace that feels like home.”
“Arizona State's program is on the rise,” Douglas stated. “There has to be an appeal to the fact that there are several former NFL coaches there. And they also have a young staff with them there really is in tune with the players that are coming out of high school these days; it's just a different day. Additionally, with the facility improvements there, the direction of the program, good weather, and a great year location closer to home make it a good situation. He's had opportunities to go to Alabama and many other schools, but it would be hard for his parents to get out there. So I think those are all factors that are strong considerations for him.”
Much like all the high school in the state of California, St. Bernard has yet to play its 2020 football season, and the plan, for now, is to begin practices next week and play a four-game schedule beginning in mid-March. ASU’s newest 2022 class addition is a first-year player for the Vikings. Therefore, his coaches haven’t had a chance to personally coach him on the field, but the long hiatus hasn’t adversely affected Turner-Gooden preparedness level for the upcoming season.
“He’s the type of kid that goes out there and does things on his own,” Gill explained. “I've known him and his family for a while. I know that he's got to put in all the work that's needed to be the best football player that he can be. So I have no doubt that he's going to be ready even though he hasn’t had the ability to come in and practice. You can look at a player and tell that he's been taking care of himself and do what he's supposed to do. I know that that's Larry.”
And once the abbreviated and delayed junior season for Turner-Gooden takes place, his head coach said that it remains to be seen if he does play at wide receiver as well, as his primary position will be safety – the position that he was recruited for at ASU.
“I haven’t had many two-way players in all my years of coaching,” Douglas said. “It’s not because I didn't have All-American players, but because I run a no-huddle offense. It's just been about the conditioning because we go as fast as possible. We feel that we get diminishing returns from the middle of the third quarter on from a two-way player. That was just a philosophical approach that the program took, and it served as well. So we are probably not going to have two-way starters, and if we do, it'll be very few.
“But I know Larry is certainly capable. Larry's a guy who's gonna be all over the field for us. We've always been okay with a guy playing on both sides of the ball. but you start on one side. So maybe Larry could play on both sides.”
Turner-Gooden, who is a December graduate, joins fellow defensive back Jaylin Marshall and kicker Carter Brown as the known commits in ASU’s 2022 recruiting class.
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