Recruiting Stories from around The Northwest 2007: Part 1

Recruiting a player is a real process and tough if your a Collegiate Program. It can be even tougher if you are a family or athlete trying to figure out how to get recruited. Very few parents realize the complexities of having their athlete recruited and almost as few High school coaches know the process.

Let me say that the Blue-Chip D1 kids get found. They just do. Once and a while a sleeper gets left behind but a big, powerful, fast, athletic football player will rarely slip by. A true D1 Collegiate prospect will in high school stand out to the point that jaws will drop. Many programs go years without a D1 Caliber player. So even though you will hear "this kid has got to be D1" all the time in 90% of the cases it is not true. For those that are on the edge and are a great talent but not quite there it can be a little tougher. So here is a look at several stores we have followed this year and where they are at and how they got there.

Case Study #1: Wade Bowen, 6'7" 310 Pounds Colony High School:

Wade Bowen is one of the biggest physical specimens you will ever see. He has consistently dominated his football teams in Alaska since Youth. In the Summer prior to his Junior Year his Mother and Coach felt the need to get Wade some exposure and experience. That Summer Wade attended camps at Washington and Washington State. He also competed in the Competitive Edge Combine in Tacoma that Summer. Wade did very well and at 290ish looked lean and he began to make a name for himself. Now we have an athlete with size, and involved parent, and coaching. About that time the mother was told on good authority that Wade would project into College as an Offensive Tackle. After some work on the web Mom found Coach Brian Derby who with myself had just launched a website dedicated to offensive line play and camps. After inquiring with us Mom was able to convince Coach Derby to spend a week in Alaska with Wade's team. That went well and Brian found a big strong kid that could actually block very well and learn what he was taught. Wade then travelled to Oregon to train at the Derby Camp in the Summer of 2005. Wade went on to have a fairly good Junior year and was turning into a Big Time College Prospect.

About this time Wade was referred by us to some Sports reporters that work for Scout.com and Rivals.com. They will trust our advice and took a look and liked what they saw. Wade now had web pages at both national recruiting websites. He was starting to get the exposure necessary to get where he needed to go. Letters started coming to the house.

Basketball season came and Wade played as he usually did. But he was unfortunate to incur a sever shoulder injury that would sideline him and prevent him from training properly. probably a good idea to focus on one sport if you are getting offers at this point. In the Spring of 2006 he was invited by a contact of mine at SPARQ to the Invite Only Nike Combines where many big time programs planned to check him out. Wade was unable to attend the Big California events and had difficulty preparing. he did make the University of Oregon 2006 Nike Combine and Camp.

We took Wade down and mom had flown him in. Wade was the biggest athlete out of 550 in attendance. He competed hard but his inability to train had allowed his weight to pop up to 326 pounds. Wade came up hurt in a speed and agility drill. Subsequently he did not finish the combine and was not able to do much to impress the Coaches form Oregon and the Camp the next day.

Wade returned to Alaska and heeled himself up over the course of a month or so and began training for the upcoming season. He by this time had received an offer to attend Hawaii on a full ride scholarship. Coach Derby had contacted them and recommended Wade and they responded with an offer after seeing him. Wade went on to have a very good senior year and was First team all State in Alaska and Player of the year in his league and led his team to the State Championship game. It looks like the big man was about to make it all the way.

Now for the tough part. Wade had some academic issues in some classes. Without going into all the gory details...Wade has lost his scholarship as Hawaii is not sure he will recover the credits and graduate on time. They told wade they still want him but right now he is just "too risky". This is a bitter pill for Wade to swallow. His family and classmates and teachers are all very upset. The word travels of what has happened and Wade very shortly picks up calls from some junior colleges.

Now Wade must go to a small college or go to a Junior College where he can earn his way back to the bigs. And so that is what Wade is doing. As of right now Wade has been offered by three Junior Colleges and he is trying to make sure he gets with a solid academic school, a winning program, and somewhere he can play and get the exposure he will need to get to the next level. If he toughs it out and makes this all work he will end up playing Division 1 football. Wade's folks will now have to pay to have him go on to the next level.

A lot has gone right for wade and God blessed him with a big body. Wade let his grades get away from him. That is on him. Wade is on a road and it won't be a long one but his final destination remains unknown. This is a case of a very good player...playing in a small market... doing a lot of the right things...and making it...and than not. This is one story from the Recruiting Road this season. We will update you on the outcome of Wade's Story. No doubt he let alot of people down. Respect is earned and not given. So it is time to work now!