NCSA College Athletic Scholarships Blog

Tim Wrightman joins NCSA as a Recruiting Analyst and Speaker. Wrightman shares his experience being recruited as a high school student-athlete who continued to become one of the most notable football players in UCLA history. Wrightman was only the fifth Bruin in history to be selected as a consensus All-American and an Academic All-American in the same year. His accolades include being the team’s Most Valuable Player and two time All-Coast and All-Pac10 performer. In 2003, he was inducted into UCLA Hall of Fame as one of the schools all time greatest athletes. Wrightman’s career continued in the United States Football League and peaked as a member of the Chicago Bears Super Bowl Championship team.

Rick Wire is a nationally known speaker and is considered an expert in the field of athletic scholarships and the recruiting process. He has been the premiere speaker at Athletic Director Conferences as well as Nike athletic camps, college camps, and high schools all over the country.  

As a result of his son Coy’s success with the recruiting process, Rick developed an educational program in 1997 to help student-athletes and parents go through the collegiate recruiting process. Today, Rick and his team at Dynamite Sports continue to spread their wealth of knowledge to families and high schools across the country.

Paul Putnam comes to NCSA with an impressive athletic resume. While attending Skyline High school in Salt Lake City, Paul was a three sport star in football, swimming, and track and field. Aside from being a member of a state champion football team, Paul broke state records in several track and field events and was named MVP at the 1981 State Track Meet. Paul’s high school success led to a collegiate football career which began at Bakersfield College in California where he earned all-conference honors as a kicker. After being called to an LDS mission in England, Paul returned to collegiate athletics and was awarded a scholarship to Weber State where he was the conference champion in the Decathlon.  
Paul is currently the co-owner for BASICS Sports Medicine which, in partnership with Weber State University, provides and promotes higher education, physical and psychological wellness, and performance enhancement. Through Paul’s leadership, BASICS has set an industry standard in the state of Utah for sport specific training. BASICS has overseen the training of world class caliber athletes ranging from Olympians to NFL players. Paul looks forward to drawing from his own personal experiences with recruiting and the impact athletics can have on a young individual’s life and educating aspiring athletes around the country.

Dion Wheeler joins NCSA as an event speaker with a unique recruiting resume. He is the author of the highly regarded college prospect recruiting book, The Sports Scholarship Insider’s Guide, Getting Money at any Division, published by Sourcebooks, Inc. and is the former owner of a college prospect recruiting service, Midwest Scouting Reports. As a high school football Chicago Tribune All-Star and track student-athlete, Wheeler was recruited by a number of colleges. He chose to attend UW-La Crosse and went on to become a relay, 440 yard dash and hurdle conference champion as well as an NAIA All-American. After his collegiate career, Wheeler coached sprinters and hurdlers at the high school and college level. While coaching more than two dozen All-Americans and nine Division II National Champions, two of his athletes went on to participate in the Olympics. As a semi-retired author and speaker, Wheeler continues to help prospective student-athletes successfully navigate the recruiting process.

NCSA Educational Speaker, David Carl, was one of those many high school student-athletes who ‘fell thru the cracks’ in the college recruiting process. Dave graduated third in his class academically, earned 11 varsity letters, received All-Conference, All-Area, All-County, and All-Metro Awards in both football and basketball. His football team was State Runner-up his senior year and one of his basketball teams was ranked #1 in the state and #10 in the country. He was recruited by only a few schools and no scholarship offers were made.

Dave played football (plus 1 year of basketball) at the University Wisconsin – LaCrosse, and was part of the NAIA Division II National Championship Football Team in 1985. After earning All-Conference awards, he had professional tryouts with the Green Bay Packers, Toronto Argonauts, Hamilton Tigercats, and the newly formed World League. Dave played football professionally in England for the Nottingham Hoods of the English League. He also played for Team USA, an all-star team, and traveled internationally for numerous games. Dave has coached both at the high school and college levels. Since 1996 he has helped over a thousand student-athletes nationwide through the recruiting process.

Carmen Bucci comes to the NCSA as a former client of NCSA President, Chris Krause. Bucci is very familiar with the recruiting process. He was recruited nationally for baseball, which landed him a scholarship to Northwestern University. As a four year starter, Bucci was a two-time All-Big Ten Shortstop. Carmen continued his athletic career with the San Diego Padres for two years. Post Padre achievements include the operation of the West Coast Baseball School (Sherman Oaks, CA), former Scout with the Texas Rangers, and current columnist with the Naperville Sun, writing about the ins & outs of College Recruiting. As an NCSA Educational Speaker and Collegiate Scout, Carmen Bucci educates prospective student-athletes on how to manage and maximize their collegiate recruiting potential.

Je’Mone Smith, NCSA Educational Speaker and former Philadelphia Eagle, thought he knew how the recruiting process worked by watching his older brother become heavily recruited by several major Division I football programs. When it was his turn, Smith realized the process was not the same for every student-athlete. While he was recruited by a few Division I schools during high school, those offers were slowly pulled off the table due to his lack of knowledge about the recruiting process. Fortunately, Je’Mone had kept in touch with college coaches of all levels, and was eventually offered and accepted a full scholarship to Indiana University of Pennsylvania.  

For Smith, academics were a top priority and while in college he excelled on the field and in the classroom. Before becoming a free agent in the NFL, Smith earned a BA in Criminology/Pre-Law and later a Master’s Degree in Labor Relations from IUP. He also has earned a Master’s Degree in Human Resources from Chapman University. Smith has been recognized professionally for his public speaking and business leadership skills, and has been designated as a “Competent Toastmaster” for the Toastmasters International Organization. He currently gives educational recruiting seminars for the NCSA around the country. Je’Mone uses his experience with the recruiting process to help today’s student-athletes and their parents understand what they need to do to be successful at the next level.

Lucious began his basketball career at Colonie High School in Albany New York where he experienced a great deal of success. He was named second-team all state in his senior season and scored almost 2,000 during his four years on varsity. Taking advantage of his high school success, Lucious earned a full scholarship to Loyola College of Maryland and made an immediate impact by leading the team in scoring and was named to the MAAC-All Rookie Team during his freshmen campaign. After a successful sophomore season in which Lucious earned Second Team-All Conference, he made the difficult decision to transfer back home to the University of Albany.

Lucious proved to handle the transition exceptionally well as he was named second-team All-America East in his first season with Albany. His senior year at Albany will always remain a highlight in his basketball career. Aside from being named to the America East All-Championship team, Lucious led his team to the school’s first ever NCAA tournament appearance in which Albany almost defeated top seeded UCONN. After all his collegiate success, Lucious spent three years with the Albany Patroons of the CBA in addition to playing professionally in Europe. Lucious understands the importance of finding the “right fit” as much as anyone and is anxious to help young athletes make the most of their athletic opportunities.

Tony Collins has performed on the biggest stage imaginable for a football player -The Super Bowl. Tony spent nine seasons in the NFL with the New England Patriots and Miami Dolphins. His successful career was highlighted by a Pro Bowl selection in 1983, a single-game rushing record of 212 yards for the Patriots, and a trip to Super Bowl XX. Tony spent his college career breaking records at East Carolina University until he was selected in the second round of the NFL Draft in 1981. Although Tony did not complete his undergraduate degree during his initial time at East Carolina, realizing the value of an education, he has since gone back to school to pursue his bachelor’s degree in communications. Through his experience as a parent of eight and his charitable work with the “Tony Collins Foundation,” Tony has developed a deep appreciation for the advantages athletics and academics can provide and hopes to spread that message to families around the country.

Bob Pickens has experienced athletic success in more ways than most. Beginning with his high school career in which he was named all-state in three sports, all the way to a NFL career with the Bears, and even a 6th place finish in the 1964 Olympics in Greco-Roman Wrestling, Bob has seen it all. Bob has strong collegiate ties after being named a s a pre-season All-American candidate football player at the University of Wisconsin and then later serving as a Big Ten football official for 13 years.
Success did not always come easy to Bob. He started his college career at University of Wisconsin until academic struggles forced him to transfer to Nebraska where he eventually finished school and graduated with a degree and All Big 8 offensive tackle honors. Based on the values Bob learned through athletics and his experience at Wisconsin, he went on to enjoy an accomplished business career before being appointed Commissioner of Chicago Park Districts by Mayor Richard M. Daley. Bob relishes the opportunity to share the lessons he has learned about the impact athletics and academics can have on student athletes’ lives.