Gwinnett Daily Post

This could be a conversation that actually takes place over the next few months at Collins Hill High School.

A college recruiter walks into head coach Larry Sherrill's office and sits down.

"We'd like to see some game tape on T.J.," he says.

"Which one?" Sherrill replies.

"The big kid, the one that's a lineman," the scout says.

"OK, Which one?" Sherrill asks.

"The one that's going to play D-I football," the scout replies, getting a little exasperated.

"Yeah, which one?" Sherrill replies.

"Umm, the real smart one with good grades," the scout says, obviously getting frustrated.

"Yep, which one?" Sherrill asks again.

Finally, Sherrill might add last names to the initials to clear up the confusion: "We have two T.J.s that are going to play college football - Greenstone is the defensive end and Hurless is the offensive tackle."

For the record, Greenstone's T.J. stands for Thomas Julius and Hurless' stands for Thomas Jay, but to friends and family they are both simply known as T.J. - which can be a bit confusing when a coach or teammate is trying to get their attention.

"We both turn around," Greenstone said. "Usually we go by last names, but sometimes a coach or a guy on the team will say 'T.J.' and we both turn around."

Said Hurless: "Our offensive line coach (David Stephens) uses 'T.J.' a lot and we have to turn around and figure out who he's talking to."

These kinds of scenes have been playing out since both Hurless and Greenstone played on the varsity together as sophomores in 2004.

"It's kind of like being in a room full of coaches and you say, 'Coach,' and everybody looks at you," Sherrill said. "You say 'T.J.' and a couple of guys turn around. A lot of people notice that."

A lot of people have noticed their play on the field, too.

Greenstone is a 6-foot-3, 260-pound defensive end who has already committed to Vanderbilt. He recorded 105 tackles and seven sacks for the Eagles as a junior - terrific numbers for a defensive end - and despite being a senior he is still just 16 years old.

"He's got excellent hands," Hurless said of the "other" T.J. "He comes off blocks pretty well and makes tackles. He just uses his hands really well."

Hurless is a massive offensive tackle (6-foot-4, 300 pounds) who has already been offered by East Carolina and has several other Division I schools interested, including Vanderbilt. Not only does he have the size to play at the next level, but he has the brains as well.

"He's a heck of a run blocker," Greenstone said of the "other" T.J. "He always keeps his feet moving. I think he's a good player, he's definitely D-I ... and he's real smart on and off the field. He knows the offense, he's got it down pat. He's the mastermind of the Collins Hill offense."

Since Greenstone's future school is interested there's a chance - if Hurless impresses the Commodores enough that they extend an offer - the Vanderbilt coaching staff might have two T.J.s from Collins Hill High School on its roster for the next four or five years.

"It's kind of odd," Greenstone said. "We both have the same name, we're both two of the bigger kids on the team. We're both linemen. We went to a lot of camps together in the offseason, we roomed together at the North Carolina camp. That was a lot of fun."

Though they have a number of similarities on and off the field, don't get the wrong impression. They aren't like twins. They have plenty of differences as well.

"(Greenstone) is not as mature, as sedate as Hurless," Sherrill said. "Hurless is a big, strong, silent-type kid. Both are very strong ... and Greenstone is picked on by everybody. Everybody in his class is about a year older, so he's the butt of a lot of jokes. Hurless is a patient guy - real quiet, I don't think anybody messes with him."

Well, Greenstone has been known to mess with Hurless on a few occasions on the practice field.

"In spring training we went up against each other a lot," Greenstone said. "I would play against him. And we did this little Oklahoma drill, we went up against each other, and I put him in his place a few times and he put me in my place a few times."

Said Hurless: "Normally in the spring the ones go up against each other, so we went at it a few times - it gets the team fired up. It's good competition and it's good for both of us."

Greenstone actually thinks being on the same team as Hurless helped spark interest from college recruiters.

"A lot of my exposure came from him," the Vandy commit said. "A lot of colleges came to look at him and I saw it as an opportunity to step up. He really helped me out a lot."

Though he admits he did run into a familiar problem when he first began talking to scouts.

"Lots of coaches came by and said they wanted to talk to T.J. from Collins Hill," Greenstone said, "so I had to make sure to clarify that I was not the bigger one. I had to sit down and take a second to explain that to them."

Just like Sherrill will most likely will have to do in the coming months.