An interesting story on recruiting
Posted: Sat Jan 03, 2004 12:20 amhttp://www.washtimes.com/sports/20030205-32514210.htm
"Charades"
By Barker Davis
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
Approximately 2,000 high school seniors will put pen to paper today and sign NCAA national letters of intent, securing football scholarships at Division I schools across the country. One of those prep signees likely will be Syracuse native Travis Tolbert, the personification of the pitfalls involved in the college recruiting game.
Tolbert's convoluted story reads like a sports version of "Catch Me If You Can." In reality, Tolbert is a 6-foot, 185-pound safety from Henninger High School with average speed, pedestrian skills and sub-par grades. But on the Internet, he's 212 pounds of pure platinum — a 4.4 speedster with a 2.5 GPA, a propensity for delivering punishing hits and an awesome array of prestigious suitors from Ohio State to Alabama.
"I guess I started to realize something strange was going on last spring when we started getting all sorts of mail for Travis from the top college programs in the nation," said Bob Campese, the football coach and vice principal at Henninger. "I had Marquise Walker here a few years ago. He went on to Michigan and set all kinds of receiving records there, and now he's in the NFL, so I know what a big-time D-I player looks like. And suddenly Travis is getting more interest from schools and more publicity from local papers than Marquise did.
"I'm wondering what's going on. I'm thinking, 'What am I missing?' Because, frankly, Travis is a JUCO or Division II talent at best. People are asking me about the best strong safety in the state, and I'm looking at a kid who isn't even the best defensive back on the team. His 40 time is 4.5 and change, and he's got some decent strength. But the natural football ability just isn't there. And he's not even going to graduate. He's nowhere near having his core course work done."
Eventually, Campese realized the misinformation about Tolbert was coming from the Internet, where an impressive volume of pro-Tolbert posts on varying sites had at one time convinced the recruiting service TheInsiders.com to list Tolbert in its national top 100. Respected recruiting analyst Max Emfinger plugged Tolbert, sight unseen, as a top safety. And TheInsiders.com contributor Mike Bakas named Tolbert to his All-East first team.
Trusting such services and reports, schools like Ohio State, Michigan State, Michigan, Alabama and Florida invited Tolbert to make university-funded official visits.
"You can see how it could happen," said one duped college coach, speaking on the condition of anonymity. "There are so many kids out there that we can't possibly see them all. Of course we all look at the Internet. It's a tool. If you see a name once or twice, no big deal. But when it keeps popping up, you have to take some of it on good faith and assume the kid can play."
Tolbert, who did not return calls from The Washington Times, provided updates on his recruitment for services like Rivals.com, which still has him listed as a two-star prospect. He took at least one free recruiting visit (to Michigan State), told reporters he had taken other (unconfirmed) trips to Ohio State and Michigan and has discussed the pros and cons of each school on recruiting sites like any other high-profile recruit.
Most schools eventually discovered the scam. Florida, which owns three planes and has a $48 million aviation budget for athletic recruiting, had the foresight to call Campese the day before Tolbert was scheduled to visit Gainesville on Jan. 25.
"I wouldn't say I blew the whistle on him, but I did tell anyone who cared to call the truth," Campese said. "I guess in a way you have to admire the kid's ingenuity. I'm almost certain he made all the Internet posts himself. The whole thing is a remarkable case study in self-promotion and the hazards of Internet information."
"Charades"
By Barker Davis
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
Approximately 2,000 high school seniors will put pen to paper today and sign NCAA national letters of intent, securing football scholarships at Division I schools across the country. One of those prep signees likely will be Syracuse native Travis Tolbert, the personification of the pitfalls involved in the college recruiting game.
Tolbert's convoluted story reads like a sports version of "Catch Me If You Can." In reality, Tolbert is a 6-foot, 185-pound safety from Henninger High School with average speed, pedestrian skills and sub-par grades. But on the Internet, he's 212 pounds of pure platinum — a 4.4 speedster with a 2.5 GPA, a propensity for delivering punishing hits and an awesome array of prestigious suitors from Ohio State to Alabama.
"I guess I started to realize something strange was going on last spring when we started getting all sorts of mail for Travis from the top college programs in the nation," said Bob Campese, the football coach and vice principal at Henninger. "I had Marquise Walker here a few years ago. He went on to Michigan and set all kinds of receiving records there, and now he's in the NFL, so I know what a big-time D-I player looks like. And suddenly Travis is getting more interest from schools and more publicity from local papers than Marquise did.
"I'm wondering what's going on. I'm thinking, 'What am I missing?' Because, frankly, Travis is a JUCO or Division II talent at best. People are asking me about the best strong safety in the state, and I'm looking at a kid who isn't even the best defensive back on the team. His 40 time is 4.5 and change, and he's got some decent strength. But the natural football ability just isn't there. And he's not even going to graduate. He's nowhere near having his core course work done."
Eventually, Campese realized the misinformation about Tolbert was coming from the Internet, where an impressive volume of pro-Tolbert posts on varying sites had at one time convinced the recruiting service TheInsiders.com to list Tolbert in its national top 100. Respected recruiting analyst Max Emfinger plugged Tolbert, sight unseen, as a top safety. And TheInsiders.com contributor Mike Bakas named Tolbert to his All-East first team.
Trusting such services and reports, schools like Ohio State, Michigan State, Michigan, Alabama and Florida invited Tolbert to make university-funded official visits.
"You can see how it could happen," said one duped college coach, speaking on the condition of anonymity. "There are so many kids out there that we can't possibly see them all. Of course we all look at the Internet. It's a tool. If you see a name once or twice, no big deal. But when it keeps popping up, you have to take some of it on good faith and assume the kid can play."
Tolbert, who did not return calls from The Washington Times, provided updates on his recruitment for services like Rivals.com, which still has him listed as a two-star prospect. He took at least one free recruiting visit (to Michigan State), told reporters he had taken other (unconfirmed) trips to Ohio State and Michigan and has discussed the pros and cons of each school on recruiting sites like any other high-profile recruit.
Most schools eventually discovered the scam. Florida, which owns three planes and has a $48 million aviation budget for athletic recruiting, had the foresight to call Campese the day before Tolbert was scheduled to visit Gainesville on Jan. 25.
"I wouldn't say I blew the whistle on him, but I did tell anyone who cared to call the truth," Campese said. "I guess in a way you have to admire the kid's ingenuity. I'm almost certain he made all the Internet posts himself. The whole thing is a remarkable case study in self-promotion and the hazards of Internet information."