You would be hard pressed to find a more well rounded young man than Maroa-Forsyth (Ill.) linebacker Dalton Coventry. A fine student, he has a 4.5 grade point average on a 5.0 scale. He has also run track and played varsity basketball.
However, it is on the football field where he has really made his mark. The 5’11, 225-lb linebacker has played varsity ball since his freshman year and made 1st team All-Conference and All-County last season after making 95 tackles (10 for loss). His grades and athletic prowess have put him on the radar of many schools.
“Well, I’ve already visited Northwestern,” he reported, “I visited them over Christmas break and I’ve got a visit to Illinois next week for junior day. Illinois State, I’m pretty close to them. I’ve also heard from Cincinnati, Ball State and Stanford. I’d had over 15 D1 schools contact me, but those are the ones I hear from the most.”
Coventry played mainly middle linebacker last season, but says he has played outside and is capable of playing any of the linebacker spots. He is hoping to show colleges that versatility this summer, when he heads to several camps.
“All those colleges I mentioned, I’m going to day camp with. They have already seen game film, but they want me to go to camp and check me out in person. If I do good enough, there will be the possibility of an offer, but I’ll probably get an offer by Illinois State by this summer actually.”
With his proximity to Champaign, the Fighting Illini are one school Coventry will definitely camp at and he is looking forward to his visit there next weekend.
“I’ve been in contact with Reggie Mitchell’s aids. He is the recruiting coordinator for Illinois. They are also interested in the kicker on our team, Alex Chiligiris, so we’re visiting there together. They basically said, go up there, do good at day camp and they’ll seriously consider me.”
As for Northwestern, their blend of academics and athletics is attractive to a student-athlete like Coventry and he also was impressed with the coaching staff.
“They’re real nice, I really like Coach Fitzgerald” he said, “He’s full of energy. Our school has a year round football program. We get seven days off after the season ends, then we lift and speed train every day after school. A lot of our practices and the way everything is set up is similar to Northwestern.”
Conventry will be one of the participants in the Scout.com/FoxSports combine in Evanston on May 9th.