The Early Bird Gets the Scholarship
October 21st, 2009 - byA record breaking senior All-State football player. Sounds like a shoo-in for a big-time athletic scholarship. 15 years go; Absolutely. Today; No longer a guarantee.
The Atlanta Journal Constitution reports on Parkview’s Jay Davis who despite being on pace to top school legend Jeff Franceur’s single season mark for receptions, lacks a scholarship offer from major BCS schools.
Within the last five years, methods of recruiting have changed drastically, with colleges both offering scholarships to and accepting commitments from primarily high school juniors.
Who is hurt most in this shift to early recruiting? Seniors such as Davis, who are late bloomers. Some players need a little longer to shine, be it because of player development, injuries as juniors, or simply being stuck behind older teammates on the depth chart in past seasons.
“It’s not impossible for a young man to come out of the blue as a senior and earn a big-time scholarship offer, but the odds are a lot longer than they used to be,” North Gwinnett coach Bob Sphire said. “Just about every college coach that stops by our school these days is asking about juniors and sophomores. They are finished with seniors, unless something happens.”
Fortunately for North Gwinnett’s overlooked seniors, something did happen when teammate JaWuan James backed off his early commitment to Alabama and is now researching the 50 college offers he stacked up last spring as a junior. North Gwinnett wide receiver Cordero Dixon, who missed most of his junior season with a leg injury, is getting a few extra looks by colleges now pursuing James.
At Parkview, Davis is flourishing with 46 catches in eight games, one shy of Francoeur’s school record (47 in 2000 season). The Panthers didn’t plan on passing as much this season, but changed their minds after the rapid improvement of Davis and another late-blooming senior, quarterback Kalik Barnes.
The 6-foot-1 Davis has an offer from Miami of Ohio, but no other takers yet from the dozens of schools that are still evaluating senior film.
“This kid is so talented and worthy of a big-time offer … he has made some of the hardest catches of any player I’ve ever coached,” Parkview coach Cecil Flowe said. “He can play ACC or SEC football, no doubt about it. Yet I’m afraid because he didn’t start full-time last year at wide receiver and have junior stats, that he is being overlooked.”
It’s easy to see why colleges are offering players earlier than ever: if they wait too long, they run the risk of being left out of the running for a particular prospect.
Davis’ story is just another example of why athletes need to start the recruiting process earlier than ever. When is the right time to start? Whenever a recruit is sure he wants to play in college. Once they’ve come to that important decision there are many steps that need to happen. If Davis had been in touch with coaches earlier than this year, chances are likely he would have more offers. Once that first offered is secured, things usually snowball into several offers. By not starting early Davis never gave the recruiting process a chance to snowball. Don’t let the same thing happen to you!
