Like fine wine, the Nike Camps get better with time. I’ve been going to the Nike Camps for four years now and they along with the “Elite 11” quarterback camp are becoming a staple in the recruiting season.
I’ve been to (Nike) camps in both the Midwest and in Florida. The attitude is different in both places. The Florida kids want to compete, improve their stock and show they are of deserving of national recognition.
The Midwest kids are worried about how they test and how much their stock is going to get hurt. Some people in the Midwest have gone as far as to call the kids and tell them not to come.
Here’s the biggest problem with camps in general, as far as I can see. Prospects saying they run 4.4 in the forty and then come to camp and run 4.8???
If you run a 4.4, come prove it at the camp. If a prospect is being honest with himself and the media, everything works out.
It doesn’t make sense to hide a bogus 40-yard time. It will come out on film, college coaches and recruiting coordinators know how fast a prospect is just by looking at game film. There’s a big difference from 4.4 to 4.8, trust me on this.
Times are a changin’. I recently had a conversation with Greg Biggins, the Director of Recruiting for Student Sports and he says this is the first year that he didn’t have to call kids and ask them to come.
“We called and one time this year to get someone to come to the camp and that was Kyle Williams.” Biggins said.
“We had a good Michigan turnout but the Penn State camp on Sunday could be the best Midwest camp we’ve ever had.”
Williams, the 6-foot-2, 219-pound, linebacker from Bolingbrook, Illinois not only decided to attend the Nike Camp this past Saturday in Ann Arbor, he improved his stock greatly and showed he’s one of the nations best prospects at the linebacker position.
Williams along with Huber Heights (Ohio) Wayne linebacker Marcus Freeman, stole the show just outside the Big House, on the campus of the University of Michigan.
“The two are awesome, two of the top 10 players in the nation at worst,” said Biggins. “All the linebacker coaches had Freeman #1 on their cards at the end of the day but Williams was a close second.
“Williams is a better cover guy than Freeman and a bit more athletic, measuring 6-1 ½, 219 pounds and 4.59 speed and an awesome 36.5 vertical.”
Williams had offers from Purdue, Illinois and Iowa prior to the Nike Camp but his stock has soared so much after the camp that there will be several more schools pulling the trigger by the end of the May Evaluation period.
Coaches from Michigan State, Wisconsin, Colorado, Michigan and Missouri all had their eyes on Williams and Marcus Freeman as they went through the linebacker drills.
Michigan State was probably the most impressed with Williams and said they are going to offer a scholarship soon. Wisconsin will take a closer look during the May Evaluation period.
“UCLA assistant coach, Brian Schneider, was in Chicago yesterday and his first stop was Bolingbrook. Schneider didn’t come empty handed, carrying with him a Bruin scholarship offer for Kyle Williams.
The Nike Camp made a believer out of one skeptical coach.
“My first impression was that it (Nike Camp) was going to be a meat market,” said Bolingbrook head coach, John Ivlow.
“After seeing how things were run, I’ll bring my kids every year. From the registration, to the testing and the drills, everything was run in a top notch fashion.
“Kyle has been working hard and I left attending the camp totally up to him. He said he wanted to compete against the best to prove he’s the best.”
Williams didn’t disappoint. He showed everyone that he belongs among the nations elite prospects and he could play at the highest level of D-1 football.
Williams gained a friend at the Nike Camp as he and Marcus Freeman did all the drills and positional work together. Seeing them side by side must have been a recruiting coordinators dream.
Photos: Above left: Michigan State assistant coach Steve Stripling, working the phones.
Above right: LB Marcus Freeman shows off his footwork in the ladder drills.
Stay tuned for more Ann Arbor Nike Camp notes!
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