Early high school football recruiting hurts some

By Michael Carvell

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Parkview's Jay Davis is finding out the hard way that an all-state performance by a high school senior is not always rewarded by big-time college scholarship offers.

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Brant Sanderlin, bsanderlin@ajc.com North Gwinnett High School offensive lineman Jawaun James backed off his early commitment to Alabama and is now researching  the 50 college offers he stacked up last spring as a junior.

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Davis, who is on pace to break the single-season reception record of Parkview legend Jeff Francoeur, is in the same awkward predicament as many other of the state's overnight senior sensations. Because they didn't flourish until their final year in high school -- for whatever reasons -- they are discovering that the nation's top programs, including both Georgia Tech and Georgia , finished putting the final touches on the 2010 recruiting classes months ago, long before this season even kicked off.

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. On the flip side, focusing on younger recruits has several unforeseen residual effects on high school teams. Some of the issues:

• If offered a scholarship as a junior, a player can commit right away, the decision often endorsed by his coach. This allows the prospect to put recruiting behind him and focus on team goals for his final season. At North Gwinnett, offensive lineman Austin Shephard made an early commitment to Alabama and just missed his first team meeting of the season last Saturday while on a recruiting trip to Tuscaloosa. Meanwhile, the undecided James was scheduled to return from a visit to UCLA on Monday.

"He has spent the last three days going back and forth to California on flights," Sphire said. "What is that going to do to him? You know he hasn't slept well and will have jet lag from the travel. You hope he gets rest and enough practice to be ready for our big game on Friday."

• Many early commitments may play harder as seniors to prove they were deserving of the college attention, while a few may go in the other direction.

"You'll have a kid that associates himself entirely with his college while he's still playing in high school," Tucker coach Franklin Stephens said. "He's not as concerned with the team as he is with his college future ... and when that happens, you've lost a great talent."

Gainesville coach Bruce Miller said Alabama coach Nick Saban specifically talked about this issue with quarterback Blake Sims after he committed early to the Crimson Tide. "[Saban] said, ‘Now that you've made your college decision, it's your No. 1 job to go back and help your team win a state championship.' A lot of colleges are like that ... they want to see a kid go back and keep getting better as a senior."

• Early offers can also threaten to destroy team chemistry, particularly if a senior player or his parents feel a younger player is not deserving of recruiters' attention. However, this problem is usually easily solved by the coach.

"You just remind everybody that when a college requests film of someone, they also have the chance to see the rest of the players on your team, too," Sandy Creek coach Chip Walker said. "From that perspective, it can be good thing for the entire team."