Colleges recruit top student athletes
Almost every high school athlete’s dream is to be offered a full-ride scholarship to the Division I school of their choice. But how often does that really happen? To most it seems as likely as a lightning strike.
However, these lightning strikes are more common than some might think. Among the many talented student athletes at our school, three have come forward to tell about their personal recruiting experience.
Darnay Holmes, sophomore, caught the attention of many of his fellow students with his performances on the football field. In the 2014 season, Holmes racked up 1350 receiving yards and 15 receiving touchdowns, leading the Panthers in both categories. However, his peers were not the only ones watching. “Plenty of schools have asked me to be a part of their university, but I think 24 have offered me a scholarship,” Holmes said.
As of now, Holmes’ top three college choices are Stanford University, Duke University, and University of Notre Dame. Stanford is Holmes’ dream school, and is his top choice when he moves to the next level. Five years from now Holmes said he sees himself, “…attending Stanford, getting ready to graduate.”
Like Holmes, Kayla Overbeck, junior, is well-known on campus for her athletic prowess in volleyball and basketball.
Overbeck is a dual-sport athlete on both the Varsity volleyball and basketball teams. During the 2014-2015 basketball season, Overbeck averaged 19.6 points and 10.9 rebounds per game.
As a key player on the Varsity girl’s basketball team the past three years, Overbeck has drawn interest from universities all over the country. “34 schools have contacted me, and 28 of those have offered me a scholarship,” Overbeck said. However, she has not kept in contact with most of those 34 schools because they did not fit all of her needs as a student. Overbeck said these offers do not let her become complacent with her ability, “…It makes me work harder to show those coaches that they didn’t make the wrong decision with wanting me to go to their school,” she said.
Overbeck’s top three choices were Vanderbilt University; University of California, Berkeley; and Oregon State University. On May 20, Overbeck officially committed to Vanderbilt University.
When an athlete commits to a school they are telling the school they want to accept the offer to play a specific sport at that school. Both Overbeck and Chucky Smith, senior, committed earlier this year.
Smith officially committed to Villanova University, a Division I AA football championship contender, as a preferred walk-on to the football team, meaning he is guaranteed a roster spot without being offered a scholarship. Smith was all over the football field in his final season as a Panther, playing both offense and defense. Smith led the team with 172 total tackles and a total of 16 touchdowns.
Smith, like Overbeck, is a dual-sport athlete. In addition to football, Smith was an All-American defenseman in lacrosse as a junior and an All-Marmonte League defenseman as a senior.
Smith was not looking at Division I schools when he first started his college journey. “Most of the schools I was interested in were Division III, so they couldn’t technically offer athletic scholarships,” Smith said. Smith expressed his excitement to go to Villanova, “Villanova is a great school academically and athletically, I am excited to see what we do next year,” he said.
Holmes, Overbeck, and Smith all agree that if a young athlete hopes to receive an offer someday, they need to be willing to work hard. Because as high school coach, Tim Notke, once said, “Hard work beats talent when talent doesn’t work hard.”
