I received a link in an email from my brother, Ending A Recruiting Battle, which is published in the NYSlimes. I highly recommend everyone read the entire story, even if you aren’t a football fan. It is an interesting glimpse into an agonizing, months long recruiting process, which placed an enormous amount of pressure on an eighteen year old, and the emotional toll it took on him and his mother.
The young man in this story, Jamarkus McFarland, is considered the nations number one defensive tackle college prospect. The type of player any college team would want, and could build a defense around. However, this young man is more than an athlete, he is a good student, the class President at Lufkin High School, and a young man that is interested in his professional opportunities, after college. I saw an interview with him, during the U.S. Army All-American Bowl, this past Saturday, and he is a very composed, well spoken young man.
Jamarkus McFarland’s story should serve as a cautionary tale, and a guide, for other young men and their families, facing the recruiting process. The reasoning he used, in verbally committing to Oklahoma, are sound, as well as the reasons he decided not to commit to Texas, LSU, and USC. While you may be surprised at some of the experiences he had during the process, imagine what Jamarkus must have felt, being a centered young man, coming from a small East Texas town, and a loving family.
Our children will be exposed to all the ugliness the world can provide, sooner than we would like. A young man, playing a game he is good at and enjoys, shouldn’t have to be placed under such enormous pressure, when deciding where he will attend college, and begin the next phase of his ascent into adulthood.
Of course, verbal commitments are non-binding, and any number of events could persuade him to chose a different school, before the national signing date. At this point, with all the effort and time he has put into his choice, I think he will prove to be a man of his word.
I wish Jamarkus McFarland the very best future possible, and hope that he can also serve as an example for other young men that may be facing the recruiting process.
The rivalry between OU and UT is one of the best known, and most heated in all of college football, and much of that is played out in living rooms when coaches visit, and on the phone. Too often the individual/s the coaches are recruiting get lost in this rivalry. I’m glad that Jamarkus’ mother was able to identify that, and express it to her son.
“This isn’t about J-Mac anymore,” Adams said. “It’s about O.U. versus Texas. It shouldn’t be that way.”
Jamarkus is a very smart young man listening to his mother and grandmother. The pressures put on Jamarkus and other recruits like him are mind boggling and it takes a strong person to find the right school that has all the things the student needs without breaking under the pressures. I also wish Jamarkus the best in his life.
Left by Croc hunter on January 5th, 2009 at 1:17 am