April 24, 2009
The Chicago Sun Times by Taylor Bell
The May evaluation period for college football coaches is just around the corner. But the timetable for the recruiting process has been squeezed, and coaches, faced with new NCAA restrictions, are looking for more efficient ways to see as many prospects as they can in a shorter period of time.
Chris Krause, the founder and director of the Chicago-based National Collegiate Scouting Association, and his co-workers, former college recruiting coordinators Randy Taylor and Bob Chmiel, have established a state-of-the-art film library to feed the appetite of every college coach.
For the first time since the 1980s, coaches from coast to coast will be able to view highlight tapes of all the leading prospects in an area at one time and in one place, then have an opportunity to visit the schools and personally eyeball the players who fit their needs.
''A lot of kids are flying under the radar right now,'' recruiting analyst Tom Lemming said. ''Coaches are looking for diamonds in the rough. We're going to see schools coming into Chicago that haven't been here in a long time or are coming for the first time: Clemson, West Virginia, Syracuse, BYU, Nebraska, Colorado, California, UCLA and Washington.''
Describing the May evaluation period as ''a new dawning in Chicago,'' Lemming predicted the Class of 2010 could receive more full scholarships than any class in recent years because of the increased exposure.
''The bulk of recruiters are looking at seniors-to-be,'' Lemming said. ''A lot of offers come in May and June. By July 1, if you don't have an offer from a Division I school, you'd better run for help to a Division II or III program.''
Recruiting is all about levels. The elite Super 16 schools, such as USC, Texas, Ohio State, Penn State, Oklahoma, Notre Dame and Florida, have a higher pecking order. They don't have to evaluate as much as other schools. They take acknowledged five-star athletes and don't have to take a chance with ''potential'' players.
Most agree the top five prospects in the area are (in order) Johnsburg tight end C.J. Fiedorowicz, Fremd offensive lineman Christian Lombard, Proviso West wide receiver Kyle Prater, Loyola defensive end Chance Carter and Proviso East defensive back Corey Cooper.
Lombard committed to Notre Dame in January and shows no signs of changing his mind. Cooper, whose father played at Purdue, committed to Illinois as a sophomore but has made unofficial visits to several other schools. He attended Notre Dame's spring game last week with Prater, his close friend. They have indicated they want to attend college together.
''Cooper is playing it smart,'' Lemming said. ''Kids should wait until they are absolutely sure they know what they want before they commit. Otherwise, it isn't a commitment. Why did Cooper commit to Illinois so early without seeing other schools? After he committed, other schools came after him, so he wanted to check them out. Kids should always check out at least 10 schools before making a decision so they won't look back and have any regrets.''
Who will be the sleepers in the Class of 2010? In the past, area players such as Kaneland's Don Beebe, Joliet Catholic's Mike Alstott, North Chicago's Michael Turner, Holy Cross' Garrett Wolfe and Niles West's Jim Hart were overlooked by most recruiters but went on to reach the NFL.
