Blaine Bishop

Forum at Ravenwood also gives info on college eligibility

 By CAROL STUART
For Brentwood Home Page
Former Titans defensive standout Blaine Bishop warned potential college student-athletes to pick a school rather than a coach -- calling coaches “pimps” -- and also encouraged athletes to look at opportunities at all levels of college programs.

Bishop and other participants at Monday’s program at Ravenwood to inform students about college recruiting and eligibility also encouraged students to begin thinking about the process and grades before they even entered high school.

 “It’s better to choose the school for the school, not the coach – coaches are going to follow the money,” said Bishop, who also was pitching the National Collegiate Scouting Association fee service started by Vanderbilt grad Chris Krause.

He noted five students no longer had scholarships/spots on the team when Kentucky added five McDonald’s All-Americans.

Bishop also warned student-athletes that letters they get from colleges often have been sent to 50,000 others as well. He explained how he was an All-American running back – and fortunately a defensive back – on a championships team with a 3.3 GPA at a private high school in the basketball state of Indiana.

“I was All-Everything. I’m getting all these letters – I’m thinking I’m going to a big school. Ball State – does that sound like a big school? The only thing people know about Ball State is that’s where David Letterman went.

“I was All-Nothing, and it hurt.”

Even though he had played in high school against the likes of NFL quarterback Jeff George, Bishop actually first ended up going to St. Joseph’s College, a Division II program in Indiana in a town even he hadn’t heard of. He helped turn the program around in a year, then ran into a NFL scout who was looking at a teammate who told him he might play in the NFL if he went to a bigger school.

But Bishop also went from 25 students in classrooms at St. Joseph’s to much bigger classrooms at Ball State, a Division I school in the mid-major Mid-American Conference. He told parents they knew their child best and can help steer them to the right environment.

He called it “serious business – a lifetime decision” and said to pick a college for the academics – especially in case you suffer a knee injury. Bishop, now a sports talk radio host on 104.5-FM’s Three-Hour Lunch, said you might meet the best man in your wedding, your wife – it’s where you’ll start the web of your network to start your career.”

Another representative for the recruiting service, Division III Fisk assistant basketball coach Tommy Thompson, said he was highly recruited out of Chicago and went to the Big Ten. But he “never saw 1 minute on the floor” as a freshman year and transferred to Northern Illinois, where he found his comfort zone.

He mentioned that Ohio State has 64,000 students. “Are you going to adjust to classes with 400 students?” he asked.

Bishop also noted that only about 1% of high school student-athletes play Division I.  A chart in a handout shows 346 schools in DI athletics, 280 in DII, 415 in DIII, 258 in NAIA and 438 in junior college.

Payne Shanafelt, who used the recruiting service, and his father Paul were called up and talked about Shanafelt landing a scholarship package to play baseball and football at West Liberty University in West Virginia. The service’s recruiting coordinator assigned to Payne “told me I looked like a Division I athlete, but I might not play Division I.”

Players can input info to see if programs are looking for players at particular positions and they can send info for up to 26 states.

“My son started in October of his senior year, and that’s way too late,” Paul said. Answered Bishop: “It’s never too late, but that is late.”

One audience member asked about the costs, which are based on different levels of services including video packaging ranging from $600 on up. But Bishop and Thompson noted the service has a 95% success rate and scholarships averaging into thousands, and still helps you find a school if you decide to transfer later.

Matt Banker, assistant commissioner of the Ohio Valley Conference, which has its headquarters in Brentwood, went over some rules of recruiting and eligibility including the differences in official and unofficial campus visits.

You can only make five official visits max, only once to a particular school, and all costs are paid by the college. In an unofficial visit, you contact them and as long as it isn’t a dead time, you can visit as many times as you want but you must pay your own way – except the school can provide admission to an on-campus activity.

“Be realistic about your recruitment and your college choices,” Banker said. “If you get a letter from Nick Saban, it doesn’t mean you’re going to get a scholarship to Alabama.”

Some things to consider include how much playing time you might get, academic offerings, and location – including whether family members will be able to see you play, Banker recommended.

“You want to be thinking about this at the end of your eighth-grade year because every year of your high school counts,” noted Ravenwood guidance counselor Laura Travis. “You can’t wait until your senior year or you’ll be behind the 8-ball.”

Paul Shanafelt seconded that: “You’ll close a lot of doors if you don’t have good grades.”

Lady Raptors sophomore basketball player Lexi McKay was among student-athletes there with their parents from schools including Brentwood Independence, Centennial, Overton and Sunset Middle.

"I definitely want to play in college, and I learned about a lot about what recruiters are looking for and teams, and I never knew any of this,” McKay said. “If I waited until next year, I’d really have to catch up.”