New Central Holmes football coach Jim Crowder fashions himself as a spread guru, taking his offense from Auburn coach Gus Malzahn.
But when Crowder got to Central Holmes, he figured out pretty quickly he was going to have to find a few tight end formations for senior Wes Hudson, who is the latest selection to The Star-Herald Top 10 Players to watch.
“No. 1, he is a smart football player so he gives us the opportunity to move him around a good bit,” Crowder said. “He retains a good bit and that’s important as we are installing a new offense and defense. The kids like him and he leads by example. He works out hard and is on time and has a contagious attitude. You can tell that he is gifted with good hands and a big body. He looks like a tight end is supposed to look.”
Hudson stands at 6-foot-4 and weighs 210 pounds. Add in a set of good hands and feet and Crowder realized he has a weapon in Hudson.
“Wes will be our sniffer back some, which means he will move around a lot,” Crowder said. “He has good hands so we can throw it to him out of the backfield and he will help us defensively this year at inside linebacker. He played defensive end which tells me he has the body to bang around in this conference. But our need for him is going to be at linebacker. He fits the mold of what we are looking for.”
Crowder is a former assistant at Mississippi Delta Community College and said he has no doubts that Hudson can play on the junior college level.
“It’s possible, he could play junior college,” Crowder said. “He would have to go to a tight end friendly offense. Probably doesn’t have the speed to be a true wide receiver but has the hands and the body type that you are looking for. In the right system, he could fit with a junior college program.
“He would be an asset to anybody’s program, not only for what he is going to bring on the field but for what he brings off the field. He is a good teammate and has leadership qualities. He is going to stick it out. I have coached three years in the junior college ranks and you have to have somebody that you know you are going to have three years for now is hard. He would be there for two years.”
Hudson also plays baseball and basketball at Central Holmes.
“He is a great kid and comes fro a great family,” headmaster and baseball coach Tony Banks said. “Wes can be as good as Wes wants to be. He has a lot of potential. He has a lot of size and really has a chance to be a really good player in baseball. He showed up late for us last year in the infield and will be our shortstop this year. He gave us some really good innings on the mound and has a chance to be a dominant guy this year.”
Hudson hit over .300 last year and a became a force on the mound for the Trojans.
“He throws in the low 80s and he’s an over the top guy with a 12-6 curveball,” Banks said. “It’s what Wes wants to do. If you tell him you have practice at 4 a.m. in the morning, he’s going to be there. To be good, you have to do more than what we are doing here and Wes knows that. We have talked about that.”
Hudson, who lives in Kosciusko, said when he is not playing sports, he like to hunt and fish, especially duck hunting.
“I really like duck hunting,” Hudson said. “I can talk to them a little bit. I like that you don’t have to be quiet like deer hunting. I also like to bass fish. There’s a big lake in Carmack off the Big Black River that we go to a lot.”
Hudson said he would like to play sports in college and be a mechanical engineer. Hudson said he has already made a 20 on the ACT and if he doesn’t get a scholarship offer, he’ll likely attend Northwest Community College.
