Players who are being recruited this yr...

[wave316 64]

Last year several players recruited for college such as Devon Johnson and Josh Hess from Richlands....who is being looked at this yr....someone mentioned a player from Ft Chiswell was being recruited...

[mrb 26]

I think Todd Mcglothlin is being looked at by Maryland.

[Huntercav 10]

The kid at Fort Chiswell is 6'6" 298 junior Coleman Thomas. He has an offer from WVU.

 

Our family member Lucas Holder, a 6'5" 270 OT/DE at CCHS, has been getting looks from mutliple D-1 and FCS schools.

 

I edited this message because my pervious messages may have "hijacked" the original purpose of the thread and that was to discuss kids who are being recruited-not the merits of their choices or personal opportunities. They, not I, would be a better source of any future disclosures on that topic.

Edited October 15, 2012 by Huntercav

[Deleted Account 5,203]

The kid at Fort Chiswell is 6'6" 298 junior Coleman Thomas. He has an offer from WVU.

 

Our family member Lucas Holder, a 6'5" 270 OT/DE at CCHS, has a D-1 offer, but it's an Ivy League situation that doesn't seem favorable. VT has invited him to walk on, but they make that offer to a lot of local kids who simply can't afford to make that choice. He's still alive with several other FCS schools.

 

Ivy League situation that doesn't seem favorable? Sounds like a paradox...

[tjhokies 47]

The kid at Fort Chiswell is 6'6" 298 junior Coleman Thomas. He has an offer from WVU.

 

Our family member Lucas Holder, a 6'5" 270 OT/DE at CCHS, has a D-1 offer, but it's an Ivy League situation that doesn't seem favorable. VT has invited him to walk on, but they make that offer to a lot of local kids who simply can't afford to make that choice. He's still alive with several other FCS schools.

 

Go with the Ivy Leauge, and dont look back.

[Huntercav 10]

It's Columbia, outside NY City, and Ivy League Schools don't offer "full rides." When he got the offer, it was accompanied by an application for financial aid. So, he can go and play football while he borrows about $25K a year. He can do much better with some of the other irons in the fire considering he's not crazy about the cultural differences between NY City and Hillsville. I went through similar situations with my son, Hunter Grubb, a couple of years ago. I had no idea how recruiting worked until his involvement with it. The casual fan has no idea (and I would have put myself in that group before an up-close personal look at it) what these kids are asked to do to play these days. I was called to the cafeteria at Greenbrier East and told where I could go (three whopping choices and none were D-1). There is a huge gulf between those days and today! It's very easy to say what you think you would do until it involves your child (or relative) and their future. There is ZERO reason to attend any school anywhere that a kid doesn't feel they want to spend the next five years of their life.

[cityofRaven 2,450]

They may not give "athletic" money per say but if the kid is smart enough to get offers from Ivy League schools then there is money out there to pay for school. An Ivy League degree is HUGE, even larger in today's job market.

[Deleted Account 5,203]

It's Columbia, outside NY City, and Ivy League Schools don't offer "full rides." When he got the offer, it was accompanied by an application for financial aid. So, he can go and play football while he borrows about $25K a year. He can do much better with some of the other irons in the fire considering he's not crazy about the cultural differences between NY City and Hillsville. I went through similar situations with my son, Hunter Grubb, a couple of years ago. I had no idea how recruiting worked until his involvement with it. The casual fan has no idea (and I would have put myself in that group before an up-close personal look at it) what these kids are asked to do to play these days. I was called to the cafeteria at Greenbrier East and told where I could go (three whopping choices and none were D-1). There is a huge gulf between those days and today! It's very easy to say what you think you would do until it involves your child (or relative) and their future. There is ZERO reason to attend any school anywhere that a kid doesn't feel they want to spend the next five years of their life.

 

Your entire post is about what a parent feels is best for a kid, while the very last sentence is entirely about what the kid thinks is best. I sense a disconnect...

 

Kids are all different. If Columbia had come a' knockin' my senior year and offered me admittance, I'd have done everything short of a crime to go there. There are pros and cons to every place, but the cons to an Ivy League school stop at "cost" and "it ain't like the backwoods". If those two things in and of themselves are prohibitive to a kid, by all means, the kid should avoid it. But I've yet to see a kid choose UVA-Wise over Columbia.

 

In the end, it's up to the individual kid. Parents should play only an impartial, advisory role that does not steer the kid toward what the parent/family member believes is best. If that means all my kids will attend VT or WVU, so be it.

Edited October 15, 2012 by UVAObserver

[sixcat 2,922]

Your entire post is about what a parent feels is best for a kid, while the very last sentence is entirely about what the kid thinks is best. I sense a disconnect...

 

Kids are all different. If Columbia had come a' knockin' my senior year and offered me admittance, I'd have done everything short of a crime to go there. There are pros and cons to every place, but the cons to an Ivy League school stop at "cost" and "it ain't like the backwoods". If those two things in and of themselves are prohibitive to a kid, by all means, the kid should avoid it. But I've yet to see a kid choose UVA-Wise over Columbia.

 

In the end, it's up to the individual kid. Parents should play only an impartial, advisory role that does not steer the kid toward what the parent/family member believes is best. If that means all my kids will attend VT or WVU, so be it.

 

My nephews girlfriend is a Galax graduate and a sophomore at Harvard. She was very homesick the first semester and a half but after coming home during spring break this past spring, she found herself missing the environment in Cambridge. She has yet to come home for a visit since. People adapt more easily the younger they are. A typical teenager don't know what they like, don't like, want or don't want because all they have ever experienced is what was controlled by the environment their parents placed them in. Which is why I agree with the bolded part of your statement UVAO.

[Deleted Account 5,203]

My nephews girlfriend is a Galax graduate and a sophomore at Harvard. She was very homesick the first semester and a half but after coming home during spring break this past spring, she found herself missing the environment in Cambridge. She has yet to come home for a visit since. People adapt more easily the younger they are. A typical teenager don't know what they like, don't like, want or don't want because all they have ever experienced is what was controlled by the environment their parents placed them in. Which is why I agree with the bolded part of your statement UVAO.

 

First, congratulations to her! Getting into Harvard is a wonderful accomplishment!

Second, I think your reason is even better than the one I gave.

[Lance 228]

I heard Richlands had an eye on the Mt. Mission bus at a track meet earlier in the year...don't know if that qualifies for this thread or not?

[cityofRaven 2,450]

I heard Richlands had an eye on the Mt. Mission bus at a track meet earlier in the year...don't know if that qualifies for this thread or not?

 

Were there not anybody on that bus to fit any empty weight classes at Grundy?

[Lance 228]

Were there not anybody on that bus to fit any empty weight classes at Grundy?

 

no...and there's a bunch empty this year.

[cityofRaven 2,450]

no...and there's a bunch empty this year.

 

Maybe we both need to go looking for talent.

[Lance 228]

Maybe we both need to go looking for talent.

 

we could use some linemen and from what I understand, a lot of slots in the upper weight classes are empty this year...but, what we do have is 100% home grown...no imports.

[cityofRaven 2,450]

we could use some linemen and from what I understand, a lot of slots in the upper weight classes are empty this year...but, what we do have is 100% home grown...no imports.

 

So you're telling me that no kid from Hurley, Garden, Whitewood or any other area has ever came to Grundy to wrestle?

[Lance 228]

So you're telling me that no kid from Hurley, Garden, Whitewood or any other area has ever came to Grundy to wrestle?

 

not that i know of. There have been some exchanges between Hurley and Grundy over the past couple of years with football players who changed schools for various reasons...but, as far as I know the wrestling program is all just Grundy kids.

[cityofRaven 2,450]

Seems like (not a 100%) there was a kid that wrestled for Grundy last year that lived on Three-Forks. And I do know for sure (my cousin) that a kid wrestled for Grundy in the 90's and lived in Keen Mtn.

[blueinbama 259]

I heard Richlands had an eye on the Mt. Mission bus at a track meet earlier in the year...don't know if that qualifies for this thread or not?

 

That's just funny, I don't care who you are!

[legend11 32]

Your entire post is about what a parent feels is best for a kid, while the very last sentence is entirely about what the kid thinks is best. I sense a disconnect...

 

Kids are all different. If Columbia had come a' knockin' my senior year and offered me admittance, I'd have done everything short of a crime to go there. There are pros and cons to every place, but the cons to an Ivy League school stop at "cost" and "it ain't like the backwoods". If those two things in and of themselves are prohibitive to a kid, by all means, the kid should avoid it. But I've yet to see a kid choose UVA-Wise over Columbia.

 

In the end, it's up to the individual kid. Parents should play only an impartial, advisory role that does not steer the kid toward what the parent/family member believes is best. If that means all my kids will attend VT or WVU, so be it.

And while playing 'adviser' I would hope parents would be smart enough to know, that if Columbia came knocking on their child's door, to push their child in that direction. In four very quick years, that kid will have a drastic advantage going forward in life.

 

In the particular case of Columbia, it's not right outside NYC; being located on the island of Manhattan, it's practically in the heart of the city. I mean, you're a 15 minute subway ride on the 1 train away from Times Square. As a kid from SWVA who lived and studied in New York for a couple years, I can tell anyone from first hand experience that they should take every opportunity to do the same.

[Lance 228]

Seems like (not a 100%) there was a kid that wrestled for Grundy last year that lived on Three-Forks. And I do know for sure (my cousin) that a kid wrestled for Grundy in the 90's and lived in Keen Mtn.

 

I don't know about either kid. You have the GWC and then Grundy High...two separate but co-existing groups....there might be a local kid from around there that ended up going to Grundy over the years, but it's not something you would see happen very often.

[Huntercav 10]

Sorry for contributing to how this topic got off track from kids being recruited to various schools turning into the tired stuff about "I would have ____ (fill in the blank) to go here or there or anywhere in-between, or Nobody should pass up that opportunity or this opportunity, or Biff or Buffy went to State U and they did well."

 

There is no “disconnect†on my part at all. I have been through the process individually, with my son, and with family members. This certainly doesn’t make what I say any more valuable than if I hadn’t, but my experiences are not pie in sky hypothetical scenarios. They are not concepts or theories; they are real! I disagree that parents should be "impartial" or only in "an advisory role." I believe the decisions involved with choosing colleges should be done collaboratively with one's child. Adding the complications that come along with participating in a sport at the college level in this particular case add ingredients that aren’t otherwise in play had everything to do with my response and nothing to do with the role of a parent. We can agree to disagree on that one. The decisions are financial, logistical, practical, and cultural, you name it. There is a HUGE disconnect between a statement endorsing the idea that teenagers don't know what they want so we should guide them or make sure they do the right thing (which of course is our opinion of what's right) and being impartial? Not to be a smarty pants, but how many children have you guys sent off to college? It's a lot easier to think about driving someone esle 10 hours and dropping them off than your own child. I have two in college, so it's not about living vicariously through them, some other relative, or trying to flex my intellectual muscles on a message board about what role a parent has in a child picking E&H or UVA-Wise over any other school (and forgive my ignorance about where in the world that comparison came from?)-it's REAL; it’s personal. With all due respect, did you play a sport in college? I have, so I don't speak in the hypothetical or generalities, I speak from my personal experiences with the realization that it doesn't make me an expert and may or may not apply to today’s landscape.

 

I visited several schools in the surrounding area (mostly ACC schools) during my son's recruitment. That certainly doesn't make me an expert on them, but it showed me the "Football side" of each one of them. Not to insult or enlighten anybody, but how many folks on here know that Duke has a "freshman campus?" Yes, they are segregated them from the upper classmen. Have you seen a dorm room at Duke? I hadn't until the recruitment experience and it was clear why Duke isn't for every kid who may have the opportunity to attend as a FOOTBALL player. Before somebody types who cares, consider that most of us would agree on the perceived value of an education from Duke. What about Liberty? Have any of you ever stepped foot on their campus? Have you been inside their "football program?" Their weight room? Their dorms? They were hands down the best we saw anywhere! How about Wake Forest? One visit to their tiny weight room or with their former OL coach and you'd know in a minute why he's their former OL coach! How about the schedule at UNC? Up at 6 a.m. and to bed by 11 p.m. if you're lucky. Lifting, eating, class (unless you're Julius Peppers I guess), practice, study hall, and light out. And the next day and the next day bring the same. In between are calls from home, home sickness, relationships, girlfriends, siblings, etc. I guess my point, if there is one, is to shed some light on all the dynamics involved with choosing a school for "football" reasons and not just for academic reasons or bragging rights about where one attended school, where their kid went, where their cousins’ sister’s daughter went, or the cultural/educational value of being exposed to a life outside SW Virginia. Any statement about why a kid wouldn't choose a school that he's only getting in because of football doesn't need defending. The aforementioned "scholarship" offer has everything to do with getting into the school and nothing to do with academics or being happy or staying at the school. Football simply opens some doors that wouldn't otherwise be available, but there are consequences behind each and weighing them isn’t easy. Most of these kids never get the opportunity to play for the home town team or the school of their dreams (I didn't either); most never considered all the possibilities that exist at school A or B; most want to enjoy their senior season and year of school and would rather talk about their homecoming date than scholarship offers. Heck, life is hard enough for kids these days without the dynamic of added pressure from ‘being recruited.†There's nothing wrong with pressing the keyboard to espouse our opinions on what any kid should or shouldn't do about playing or not playing or choosing school A or B, or what we think we would have done given similar possibilities, but to pretend that there are any absolutes in these areas is be disconnected at best. I wish you well in your future endeavors in this arena and if you survived all of it congratulations!

 

In closing, please don’t copy this entire pile of drivel to respond. If you would like to continue a conversation, send me a PM and we can. If you disagree with the contents of my message, that’s fine with me, but you most likely haven’t been through the process. If you agree, bless you for reading this mess!

[Deleted Account 5,203]

I read the entire post. Appreciate the time taken for this meaningful a response.

 

All I can say is, "welcome to university athletics".

 

The university's not extending admission so the young man can sit on his rump playing Wii all day. The university's extending admission for a particular purpose: so that the young man can play football. This is part of the decision-making process: each person should be well-informed of what will be required of him before agreeing to the offer. If you're an athlete, you want to play for a good team, no? Well, good teams do things like (1) hold 6 AM workouts, (2) hold afternoon practices, and (3) hold late-evening film study sessions. I'm sure you can find a doormat who doesn't...but it leads to an unfulfilling experience while in college. It's part of the sacrifice.

 

But your argument is not very convincing to me.

 

I am a bit insulted by your "you never played a sport in college, so don't tell me what's what" points of reference. Even if we personally did not play, this wrongly assumes (1) that we ourselves don't have family who have played college sports [i have]; (2) that we do not know anyone or have friends who have made the sacrifices that college athletics demands [i do]; and (3) that we ourselves are incapable of looking upon a situation and forming a rational thought regarding it [i am]. It's in the same family of logic fails as ("you've never coached football, so how dare you question Coach Beamer's decision making"; "you've never held a government job, so how dare you tell me how government works"; etc...).

 

Plus, you act as if college athletics are a lose-lose proposition. It's not. Not once did you mention the camaraderie that's built by 105 players working together, striving together, eating together, sweating together, and bleeding together. Those are people you're going to have at your weddings, and those are people who'll be there when you're laid to rest. Not once did you mention the social status and prestige it brings. I don't know a single university at which the athletes aren't the people that EVERYONE wants to know. Not once did you mention the tutoring that the athletes get to help supplement the time spent away from the books. Not once did you mention the travel opportunities that sports provide. Playing at Columbia, once gets to see the most prestigious schools in the United States of America. Those perks are specific to athletes. That's some cool stuff, friend.

 

Being an athlete is not all sunshine and rainbows, but you have gone significantly out of your way to portray it in an unfavorable, and dare I say inaccurate, light.

 

P.S. Most major colleges separate freshmen dorms from upperclassmen dorms. This isn't really something that shocks anyone...

[sixcat 2,922]

I have to agree with UVAO on this one. You are assuming that because we may not have gone through the college selection process with our own children (mine are 7 & 5), we have never gone through the process with anyone other than ourselves. I have six nieces and nephews that have gone through this process since 2007. While their parents were active participants in helping choose the right college, it was, and should be, ultimately the decision of the person that will be attending college. My wife and I offered any advice or help or answered any questions they may have had and even took my niece to UNC Chapel Hill on a visit. Travel time should not have any bearing on where someone goes to further an education.

 

I also have a brother who played college basketball and went through the decision making process of sorting through the 16 offers he had on the table. He ultimately decided to go to school where he wanted and not based on basketball with the mindset that he would never make his living at basketball. He treated it solely as four more years of competition while getting his degree in his field of choice, criminal justice.

 

We will have to agree to disagree that kids don't know what they want until they experience life through their own eyes. We can only hope that we raise our children to have morals, character, self esteem, motivation and integrity and turn them loose to follow their own path, as hard as that may be sometimes.

[Huntercav 10]

UVA-O Thanks for the supercilious left handed compliment before you attempted to attack my response like a misguided missile in the desert. Your summary leaves the rails as you rail against an imaginary idea that someone attempted to put “anybody in their place†or you suddenly have the answers about college football live, which by the way Duke separates their ENTIRE freshman campus independent of athletes and it’s not JUST dorms and NO other program we visited segregated freshman in any way shape or form.

 

What is this bizarre verse about “not once did you mention this, that or the other thing?†Not once when I fashioned that response or this one did I intend for them to meet your expectations, standards, or ideas of content, or be all inclusive about the life of a college athlete. That’s on you not me to fill in all of those blanks.

 

Insulted? Convince you of anything? My, what grand hubris! That was not my intent so I apologize for any misunderstandings in the content, but I don’t apologize for your misrepresentation or intent. My adding the ingredients of having played and went through the process with my son you referenced had ZERO to do with discrediting anybody who didn’t play and everything to do with first-hand information from somebody who did. It was intended to be the same as discussing medical issues with a doctor, legal issues with a lawyer, or Big Mac’s with a McDonald’s employee. I guess one could ask an MD about Big Mac's and quote it was the gospel or quote an employee at my work place about politics. It was a point of reference-only this and NOTHING MORE! I take it you didn’t play so that hit an unintended nerve? Or you simply stereotyped the FACTS to meet yet another imaginary enemy on the way to you being an absolute authority on the topic?

 

Funny you mention 105 young men, as its more like 135 around most all programs and 15 coaches, including GA’s and support staff, and the families of all those players and individuals, which you NEVER ONCE INCLUDED IN YOUR MESSAGE. Get the idea of that empty point and fall out of love with yourself on this issue-please you’ll feel better. They will attend your weddings and hold your hand the rest of your life just like church members do, good neighbors, co-workers, and the list goes on and on. That same brotherhood exists within most all groups from an average college student to someone serving in the military to fellow members on a message board. Sheesh, I even had them with my Kansas City Chiefs electric football set in the early 70’s!

 

Lose-lose? As opposed to a win-win of having everything from wake up calls, meals, to friends, to schedules, laid out for you? Talk about being disconnected in that area! I never suggested it was lose-lose that’s your perception and the days of G-Gods playing athletes died years ago!

 

Short of finding the mythical Oracle at Delphi, I guess some folks could trust you or me on the issue, but we are all different with different experiences, expectations and such. It’s up to each of us individually, hopefully with support of friends, family, and spiritual influences <which I further hope are Christian> to make the most informed decisions available to us. I truly hope that few, if any, are consulting a message board for them!

 

So, dissect, analyze and retort until the cows come home; this is not a pissing contest. The subject in my original reference is my FAMILY and I take it personally. To suggest that his support system wouldn’t be advising him to make the best decisions, juxtaposed to the idea that’s it’s a no brainer because that would be concurrent with your idea or somebody else's that Ivy League Schools are on the road to Shambala, is a matter better left to die in Cyberspace and the gross disconnect between my point and your defensive preception of said point.