My #1 football prospect of the 2010 recruiting class is Ronald Powell. A 6’4″ 225 pound Defensive End from Rancho Verde HS in California. You can follow Randy on Twitter by clicking the picture below!
This year’s winner of the Lowe’s Senior CLASS Award winner defines the ideals of the premier student athlete.
University of Florida infielder Brandon McArthur, a student-athlete who helped his team to the NCAA Super Regional after overcoming a serious injury his freshman year, has been selected as the winner of the 2009 Lowe’s Senior CLASS Award in the baseball division.
The award, chosen by a nationwide vote of coaches, media and fans, is presented annually to college baseball’s outstanding NCAA Division I senior student-athlete. The announcement and trophy presentation were made today by Lowe’s, an Official Corporate Partner of the NCAA, during the 2009 NCAA Men’s College World Series in Omaha, Neb. 
An acronym for Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School, the Lowe’s Senior CLASS Award has grown into the nation’s premier tribute to college seniors. The award identifies personal qualities that define a complete student-athlete, with criteria including excellence in the classroom, character and community, as well as competition on the field.
McArthur ended his senior year with a .338 batting average, 41 runs batted in, 25 runs scored and three home runs. He led the team with 14 doubles. Florida finished the season ranked ninth in the nation with a 42-22 overall record. The Gators were eliminated from the 2009 NCAA Division I Baseball Championship by Southern Mississippi in the Super Regional.
McArthur received his bachelor’s degree in criminology and is working towards a master’s degree in anthropology. He carries a 3.21 GPA and is a four-time selection to the SEC Academic Honor Roll. He is one of only four Gator student-athletes to have been named to the conference honor roll at least four times.
In the community, McArthur regularly donates his time to various local causes, including Special Olympics, the Fellowship of Christian Athletes and the March of Dimes. He recently received a President’s Volunteer Service Award, recognizing his contributions to the Gainesville community. In addition, he is a two-time selection to the SEC Baseball Community Service Team, highlighting one baseball player from each conference school for his superior service efforts.
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Brandon displays the character that college coaches dream of. While his on-field accolades are impressive alone, when considered in conjunction with the work he has done in the community, his example is one that all student athletes should want to mimic.
Senior year might be the most important year in a young athlete’s life, if they are trying to get recruited. On top of all those finals and long term papers you still find time to put in work on and off the field. Your body has taken all the pain it can take and you still find some way to play through it to become a winner. Dedication, determination, sacrifice, and commitment are all keys to your success thus far and these words continue to run through your mind to keep you going and make you hungry for more. You realize as you step on the field or court that this is your last chance to make an impression on scouts and coaches as signing day approaches. Now all the homework has been done and its time to look for more work, work at the college level.
Stepping foot on a college campus as an athlete for any school nationwide is the dream that we as high school athletes want to live, but do we really have what it takes to make this a reality. As you walked through the hallways of your school trying your best to stay on track you still seemed to have obstacles in your way, but you never let that stop you from chasing your dream. Day in and day out you wonder what college program you will play for or even where in the heck you will be moving away to. Getting recruited can be the best years of your life if you make it, but having a lot of knowledge and” guide stones” to the process makes it that much easier.
Now all the letters are piling up and you sit on your bed trying to find answers to the many questions running through your mind. Will I go to this school or will I go to that school. But because you did your homework and studied your playbook, now you’re smooth sailing with a comfortable lead on your competition and all the answers to overtime lies right there in your spirit as you soar into another lane and play your first college game.
This is just a story in the shoes of a high school athlete transiting to the college level. Who knows maybe this will be you or maybe your story will be legendary and inspirational to someone else. When the game comes to a close and the buzzer sounds there is only one winner, so let this be your victory in overtime!
Two-a-days has become a staple in high school football practice. The common use of two practices a day during the summer in order to prepare for the upcoming fall season has been put to use by almost all programs throughout the Unites States. However, an ESPN article described that some changes may be on the horizon.
High school football teams should eliminate two-a-day practices during the first week of August drills when heat stroke has proven particularly deadly, a leading trainers’ group said Thursday in a report issued less than two months before the sweltering rite of passage begins at thousands of schools.
The National Athletic Trainers’ Association said its recommendations, which include longer breaks between practice and more time for players to ease into contact drills, are not radical changes and closely mirror policies already in place at the Division I college level.
“Thing aren’t going very well at the high school level. We’ve had a couple very bad years,” said Douglas Casa, director of athletic training education at the University of Connecticut and co-author of the report for the Dallas-based association. “This wasn’t done for the convenience of coaches.”
The executive director of the Texas High School Coaches Association, D.W. Rutledge, said he declined an invitation to appear at a news conference announcing the proposals. Rutledge, who won four state championships in Texas, said he first wanted to review the guidelines with his membership.
Scaling back on two-a-days amounts to lost preparation time, he said, and that’s something that could concern coaches in football-crazed Texas.
Since 1995, at least 39 football players across all levels have died from heat-related causes and most of those cases happened in early August, said Dr. Frederick Mueller, director of the National Center for Catastrophic Injury Research at the University of North Carolina.
Many of the proposals are stricter versions of rules already in place. In Florida, contact drills are prohibited during the first three days of practice. Under the recommendations by the athletic trainers association, teams shouldn’t begin full contact until the sixth day of practice.
In Texas, schools must take a minimum one-hour break between practice during two-a-days. The report calls for a minimum three-hour rest, and would limit the second practice of two-a-days during the first week to only a light walkthrough without helmets or pads.
Rutledge said a three-hour break could actually force players into the heat, since some teams start practice early as 6:30 a.m. to avoid the hottest parts of the day. He also stood by the current guidelines that Texas coaches follow.
With two-a-day season looming, athletes need to take their own precautions in order to prepare themselves for its physical toll. First, they need to make sure they stay hydrated; lack of hydration can lead to heat stroke or hear exhaustion. Drink plenty of fluids during practice to replenish what you are losing, it is just as important to have high fluid intakes before and after practice. Secondly, get plenty of sleep, it is necessary to “recharge you batteries” for the next day. Finally, do not be afraid to inform your coaches or trainers if you are feeling dizzy or light headed during practice, your safety and well-being is their primary concern. Staying on top of your health is just as important as staying on top of your grades and athletic endeavors. Coaches are looking for responsible players who will be able to handle the high demands of college football.
The rise of the club or travel team has been astonishing. Club teams bring together the top high school talent to compete with other similar teams across the country. Parents pay hundreds, sometimes thousands of dollars, along with hours of their time in order for their children to play on these teams. Their hope is that the team will lead to bigger and better things for their rising athlete; whether it be high school stardom, collegiate athletics, or even breaking into the professional rankings. The question comes to mind as to what the actual impacts of these travel teams are. One idea is that the higher rate of competitions helps to develop a player’s skill set. Another is that college recruiters are more drawn to these teams because the top high school players are in a higher concentration than the average high school games.
While the latter argument is valid, there are flaws in the former. The higher competition in travel games is beneficial to players. They have to learn to adjust their skill set and limit mistakes in order to succeed against gifted players. This makes them far more prepared for any kind of competition because they have proven they can play at a higher level. However, the presence of more talented players does not vicariously make athletes more appealing to college coaches. The presence of coaches at club games mirrors that of their presence at camps and showcases. Coaches go to watch games with the intent of scouting players they are already interested in, not to find new talent. While there are exceptions to this idea, sometimes a player may perform so well they can spark interest in a coach; these situations are limited to exceptions. Club coach Kyle Vierck puts it best in saying that, “A player is a player no matter where he or she is at. As much as players want to think that every time I go out to play a club match somebody is watching, that is just not the case. What it boils down to is young people and their families pursuing the school and really making an effort to do it. Ultimately, taking the initiative is so important.”
Getting your name out there is the hardest part of the recruiting process. Coaches obviously cannot assess their need for you if they do not know who you are. Players and parents need to take the first step in order to achieve their dreams of college athletics. The keys are to get started early and make yourself known. One ways to do this is to understand that college coaches evaluate talent online through reliable sources such as the NCSA.
A 19-19 record over three years and no players selected players in the first round of the 2009 NFL Draft represents a major disappointment for the University of Miami football program. Coach Larry Coker was dismissed two seasons ago despite winning a National Championship and one of the main reasons was a drop in recruiting. Hurricane’s Recruiting Coordinator Clint Hurtt told the Sun Sentinel that one of the main reasons for the drop-off was a lack in depth evaluation and an over reliance on Internet sites.
“The big difference is we’re evaluating game film now. A lot of times it was highlight tapes, highlight tapes,
Jeremy Shockey and Andre Johnson celebrate a National Championship
highlight tapes. That could just be a big teaser.”
“We spent way too much time recruiting off lists and finding these top guys instead of truly evaluating. You can’t just go off hearsay or just becuase Florida, FSU, or Alabama is recruiting him. That doesn’t mean a thing.”
ESPN recruiting analyst Tom Luginbill said the Hurricanes were often caught up in the hype machine that occurs in the world of online recruiting. Many websites claim to rank the best players, but Luginbill said the moment coaches start paying attention to the “star system” is when “a program starts walking a cliff.”
“In my opinion, you’ve got to stay true to your own evaluation, your own blueprint,” Luginbill said. “Don’t worry about what everybody else is saying, but that’s a very difficult thing to do. … What happens is there is so much information out there about guys. Most of it can be untrue. A lot of it is perpetuated by people who are claiming to be recruiting analysts, but don’t know if a football is pumped or stuffed.”
It’s vital that recruits take a couple of lessons from these quotes. One, don’t worry about what the Internet rankings say about you. they are most often driven by who is recruiting you rather than real evaluation. Two, make sure that you don’t just market yourself to coaches using a highlight tape. Highlights are great for initial evaluation, but coaches need full game tape to make accurate scholarship decisions.
NCSA strives to give coaches the tools to make honest in depth evaluations. Our Scouting Reports allow athletes to upload highlights and full game videos. Our recruiting coaches evaluate prospects, but the true evaluations are always left up to the college coach. The formula has made NCSA the most trusted third party for Verified Prospects.
It is well known that hard work is a necessity if any athlete wants to achieve their dream of competing at the collegiate level. Hours in the gym, countless repetitions, sound recruiting strategies, and good old fashion luck are required if they want to make it to the next level. However, it is often seen that these are not the only factors that coaches look at when deciding whether or not a student-athlete is worthy of a scholarship, or even a spot on the roster. It is becoming more and more evident that a student’s academic accolades as well as their overall character are able to make or break their chances of continuing their athletic careers. Academic merits are able to make a recruit more appealing to a coach. First, if they qualify for academic scholarships, it lowers the burden of a coach to divide limited athletic scholarships throughout an entire team. Secondly, academic failure can lead to sanctions against a program. A recent example would be that of the Florida State University football team. The NCAA recently divulged information of academic indecency at the school, including 61 players within the football program. The result of these finding could be head coach Bobby Bowden losing 14 of his career wins (his current 382 puts him one win behind Joe Paterno for the title of all-time winningest Division 1-FBS coach). The scandal does not reflect well upon the program or institution as a whole. It is a scar that will mark the prestige of a program, costing it alumni dollars as well as student interest. Academic failure can also result in the loss of scholarships for a program, thus making them less able to compete at the highest level. The final example of the importance of academics within college recruiting is that a high academic standing is often associated with a high moral standing. Coaches are committed to winning, and that requires coachable players. Players with off the field issues are shied away from by recruiters. Lance Stephenson deemed as “once the most-hyped recruit in the country” by Chris Chase of Yahoo! Sports “enters June without a school, without much hype and with many recruiting circles saying he’s not worth the trouble”. Stevenson has pending criminal charges and some question his amateur status. This has led most college coaches to lose interest in him because of the burden Stephenson would be on the chemistry of their team. Even Gary Williams who Chase describes as being “desperate to sign a big-time national recruit” following some disappointing seasons has deemed Stephenson’s services unworthy of the baggage that would follow him.
These examples make it obvious that a prospective collegiate student-athlete cannot simply concentrate on improving their athletic premise. It is necessary that an athlete stay out of trouble and in the classroom. With the competitive state that college recruiting is in today, athletes cannot afford to give coaches a reason not to recruit them.
Looking briefly at a College World Series team roster, the University of North Carolina, I notice a few things. Not everyone is going to be drafted by Major League Baseball. Even though there are approximately 1,500 players drafted each year it doesn’t mean everyone on a top-level college baseball roster will move on to play professionally. There were seven draft picks this year and probably many more to come in future years, but there are other significant thoughts, too. Two players are 5’7″ and five are 6’4″ or taller. Only one on the roster is a junior college transfer. Nine are from outside of North Carolina. They were the only team to have made the College World Series each of the last four years. They were the number four national seed in Omaha. So many numbers, but what stands out?
After dissecting the roster a little further there is one accomplishment that seems to be constant. Every player, except for six, on the roster was named All-State at least once. Some people say it’s political, but the numbers speak for themselves – 24 of the 30 players on UNC’s roster were named to an All-State team; 6 of those 24 were High School All-Americans. Of the six that were not named All-State one was named All-American by Under Armour and Perfect Game, one was drafted in the 46th round out of high school, another was a 3x varsity starter for a team ranked 5th nationally, and another was a 4x All-Conference player. In conclusion, it seems the possibility of playing for a high level, division one program seems to be slim if you are not a part of this prestigious honor of being named at least All-State no matter height, weight, draft status, or being close to that college geographically.
Three players were drafted from both Lewis-Clark State College and Oklahoma City College in the 2009 MLB Draft. Forty-Six players were taken from the NAIA level this year and the highest pick was taken in the fifth round.
