August 28, 2009
The Herald - Rock Hill South Carolina by Barry Byers
The booster club at South Pointe is sponsoring a program on Monday night that its president, Dan McQueen, hopes will help athletes in all sports further their educations.
The program is a recruiting seminar — College Recruiting Simplified — put on by the National Collegiate Scouting Association. The speaker will be Levon Kirkland, a former standout linebacker for Clemson and Pittsburgh Steelers. Kirkland will discuss the five things athletes need to know and the five things they must do to get recruited.
It's open to all high school athletes and their parents in the area. The program is free of charge and begins at 7 p.m. in South Pointe's gym.
“Levon is going to explain how to get recruited,'' McQueen said. “Recruiting is a lot different today than it was 10 years ago. With the Internet growing as much as it has, high school athletes have the opportunity to use it to get their name out there and promote themselves.
“They are able to get out information that will attract colleges looking for student-athletes. And this program will help high school kids realize how to do it. Once they get started, they will learn that not every kid is a Division I athlete. And they will learn that there are thousands of opportunities each year for kids at smaller schools.''
Kirkland played football at Lamar, a small Class A school. He accepted a scholarship from Clemson and played 11 seasons in the NFL, nine with the Steelers. Kirkland was a two-time all-pro selection and started on Pittsburgh's Super Bowl XXX team that lost to the Dallas Cowboys, 27-17.
“Levon does an outstanding job and has helped a lot of athletes through the years,'' McQueen said. “I have used the service to help my son, Jacob, and we've heard from a lot of schools. The key, and this program will teach it, is to not sit back and wait for colleges to come to you. As an athlete, you need to be proactive.
“We are offering this program to help all of our kids and anyone is invited no matter where he or she attends school. And this is not just for football. It's for all sports from volleyball to track, boys and girls.''
