Post by Sly Fox on Aug 4, 2005 21:41:35 GMT -5
Perhaps those names might mean something to someof you insiders like Scar. Here's an interesting article on basketball recruiting in Alaska with a tinge of LU hidden inside:
www.thisweeknews.com/thisweek.php?edition=common&story=thisweeknews/080405/Bexley/Sports/080405-Sports-629412.html
I believe Worthington Christian is where Freddie Morgan played back back in the day. I know its a good-sized school in suburban Columbus.
Colleges also in fierce battle to sign athletes
Thursday, August 4, 2005
JARROD ULREY
ThisWeek Staff Writer
By Michael Dinneen/University of Alaska Anchorage athletics
Bryan Weakley, a 1997 Worthington Christian High School graduate, is an assistant coach for the University of Alaska Anchorage men's basketball team. He knows Division I schools can steal his recruits late in the game.
What Bryan Weakley has learned over the last year is proof that not all college athletic situations are what they're cracked up to be.
It might seem like the 1997 Worthington Christian High School graduate would feel out of place as an assistant coach for the University of Alaska Anchorage men's basketball team, but he has not found his circumstances to be an obstacle.
Trying to explain that to a potential recruit might not seem like the easiest thing to pull off, but Weakley has quickly learned to overcome that barrier. For those central Ohio athletes who don't mind a little traveling -- Anchorage is about 4,000 miles away, presents an opportunity for Division II basketball competition and has some scholarship money available.
"When we get guys up there on visits, most of them like the feel of the city," said Weakley, a former all-state player at Worthington Christian who went on to become the all-time leading scorer with 1,322 points for Biola University, an NAIA school in La Mirada, Calif. "It's peaceful, and not a city with polar bears and icebergs."
Weakley originally committed out of high school to Liberty University in Lynchburg, Va., where he met former Biola coach and fellow UAA assistant Shane Rinner. He has watched as the school already has had two successful recruiting ventures among central Ohio natives.
Joe Davis, a 2003 Thomas Worthington graduate, will play for the Sea Wolves for the first time this season after spending the 2003-04 season at a community college in Arizona, and 2004 Beechcroft graduate Raylon Almon played for Alaska Anchorage last year but is not expected to return to the team.
As with an athlete trying to market themselves for colleges, the competition for athletes comes with its share of success and failure, particularly for Division I schools that don't compete in conferences such as the Big Ten, and for schools throughout Divisions II and III.
"Most kids coming out of high school have goals of going Division I, and if we've been recruiting them the whole year and then they get an offer from a Division I school, it's hard for us to get them," Weakley said. "We did have one player come from England (Richard McNutt) who chose us over some Division I schools. First and foremost, it's about developing relationships."
Ready graduate Tyler Rudman would agree with Weakley. The Division III state Player of the Year always wanted to play for Ohio State, but when the Buckeyes didn't show interest, he signed with the school that had been after him all along --Division III Otterbein College.
"I had some Division I schools out of state like Kentucky show some interest, but I wanted to stay close to home," Rudman said. "Otterbein showed a ton of interest in me, and I'm not disappointed I'm not going to Ohio State. I feel like if they didn't show interest in me then I should go where they are showing interest."
Bill Conley, a former football coach and recruiting coordinator at Ohio State who works for MAX Sports Center, believes recruiting has become more difficult in the last decade for smaller schools, particularly in football.
"The big schools only recruit the best of the best, and even though the pool might start off large, those schools might only have to look at about 100 or 125 athletes at a time," Conley said. "At a (mid-major or a Division I-AA school), they might have twice as many players to look at. They have to stay in contact with the bigger schools to see if the big schools drop off anybody from their list.
"The other part that's made the job tougher is that the NCAA has really changed the amount of miles you can travel. Before, you could watch a player as many times as you wanted, but now you can only watch them once, so really you have less time to evaluate a kid. That's why if you get a kid that's a little bit better of a person, it's better for them."
One service that has made football recruiting easier for Midwestern schools is the McCallister Scouting Report. John McCallister, a former high-school coach in northwest Ohio who began compiling the report about eight years ago, sends out questionnaires to high-school coaches asking them about some of their most recruitable players.
McCallister travels to 7-on-7 tournaments during the summer and then attends high-school games throughout the fall. In February, McCallister sends out a directory listing of who the top players are at each position with their ratings and home addresses to colleges who pay for the service.
"In one directory I probably have over 400 names on it, and maybe only 200 will get scholarships," McCallister said. "I do enough homework that I usually know who's where. I send out a report to colleges in all divisions. The supplement I do I send to a lot of Division III schools.
"I just do Ohio kids, so it cuts down on my travel. I'm also just providing another service to these schools, and hopefully it's credible.
Thursday, August 4, 2005
JARROD ULREY
ThisWeek Staff Writer
By Michael Dinneen/University of Alaska Anchorage athletics
Bryan Weakley, a 1997 Worthington Christian High School graduate, is an assistant coach for the University of Alaska Anchorage men's basketball team. He knows Division I schools can steal his recruits late in the game.
What Bryan Weakley has learned over the last year is proof that not all college athletic situations are what they're cracked up to be.
It might seem like the 1997 Worthington Christian High School graduate would feel out of place as an assistant coach for the University of Alaska Anchorage men's basketball team, but he has not found his circumstances to be an obstacle.
Trying to explain that to a potential recruit might not seem like the easiest thing to pull off, but Weakley has quickly learned to overcome that barrier. For those central Ohio athletes who don't mind a little traveling -- Anchorage is about 4,000 miles away, presents an opportunity for Division II basketball competition and has some scholarship money available.
"When we get guys up there on visits, most of them like the feel of the city," said Weakley, a former all-state player at Worthington Christian who went on to become the all-time leading scorer with 1,322 points for Biola University, an NAIA school in La Mirada, Calif. "It's peaceful, and not a city with polar bears and icebergs."
Weakley originally committed out of high school to Liberty University in Lynchburg, Va., where he met former Biola coach and fellow UAA assistant Shane Rinner. He has watched as the school already has had two successful recruiting ventures among central Ohio natives.
Joe Davis, a 2003 Thomas Worthington graduate, will play for the Sea Wolves for the first time this season after spending the 2003-04 season at a community college in Arizona, and 2004 Beechcroft graduate Raylon Almon played for Alaska Anchorage last year but is not expected to return to the team.
As with an athlete trying to market themselves for colleges, the competition for athletes comes with its share of success and failure, particularly for Division I schools that don't compete in conferences such as the Big Ten, and for schools throughout Divisions II and III.
"Most kids coming out of high school have goals of going Division I, and if we've been recruiting them the whole year and then they get an offer from a Division I school, it's hard for us to get them," Weakley said. "We did have one player come from England (Richard McNutt) who chose us over some Division I schools. First and foremost, it's about developing relationships."
Ready graduate Tyler Rudman would agree with Weakley. The Division III state Player of the Year always wanted to play for Ohio State, but when the Buckeyes didn't show interest, he signed with the school that had been after him all along --Division III Otterbein College.
"I had some Division I schools out of state like Kentucky show some interest, but I wanted to stay close to home," Rudman said. "Otterbein showed a ton of interest in me, and I'm not disappointed I'm not going to Ohio State. I feel like if they didn't show interest in me then I should go where they are showing interest."
Bill Conley, a former football coach and recruiting coordinator at Ohio State who works for MAX Sports Center, believes recruiting has become more difficult in the last decade for smaller schools, particularly in football.
"The big schools only recruit the best of the best, and even though the pool might start off large, those schools might only have to look at about 100 or 125 athletes at a time," Conley said. "At a (mid-major or a Division I-AA school), they might have twice as many players to look at. They have to stay in contact with the bigger schools to see if the big schools drop off anybody from their list.
"The other part that's made the job tougher is that the NCAA has really changed the amount of miles you can travel. Before, you could watch a player as many times as you wanted, but now you can only watch them once, so really you have less time to evaluate a kid. That's why if you get a kid that's a little bit better of a person, it's better for them."
One service that has made football recruiting easier for Midwestern schools is the McCallister Scouting Report. John McCallister, a former high-school coach in northwest Ohio who began compiling the report about eight years ago, sends out questionnaires to high-school coaches asking them about some of their most recruitable players.
McCallister travels to 7-on-7 tournaments during the summer and then attends high-school games throughout the fall. In February, McCallister sends out a directory listing of who the top players are at each position with their ratings and home addresses to colleges who pay for the service.
"In one directory I probably have over 400 names on it, and maybe only 200 will get scholarships," McCallister said. "I do enough homework that I usually know who's where. I send out a report to colleges in all divisions. The supplement I do I send to a lot of Division III schools.
"I just do Ohio kids, so it cuts down on my travel. I'm also just providing another service to these schools, and hopefully it's credible.
www.thisweeknews.com/thisweek.php?edition=common&story=thisweeknews/080405/Bexley/Sports/080405-Sports-629412.html
I believe Worthington Christian is where Freddie Morgan played back back in the day. I know its a good-sized school in suburban Columbus.
