Central-Phenix City appears to be on track to take over as the Bi-City’s best spot for recruits in 2011-12. Just take a look at what the Red Devils have in the wings and the scholarship offers several of its rising seniors are raking in.
Nine Central players recently were included in a list of some of the nation’s top player and invited to participate in the Schuman’s National Underclassmen Top Prospect Elite Camp at the University of Oklahoma on July 23-24.
Of those, seven of them are interested in attending: rising freshman running back Traveon Samuels; rising sophomore safety Joseph Ray; rising sophomore offensive lineman Christian Campbell; rising junior offensive linemen Cameron Frazier and Jeremiah Payne; rising junior defensive lineman Derrick King; and rising junior linebacker Cedric Chambers.
The only issue is getting to Norman, Okla. Central assistant coach Adrian Lyles said he would like to rent a van and hotel rooms for a couple nights, but that gets a little costly. The booster club and the team likely will schedule some fundraisers this week, so keep an eye out for car washes or contact the school if you want to help.
Each of the athletes had to be good to get that invite -- as in top-15-at-their-positions-and-in-their-grades-in-the-country good -- and each earned his spot by performing well at a National Underclassmen combine in Atlanta last month.
And it turns out getting invited to this camp is a strong predictor of how well these athletes fare on the recruiting trail. About 80 percent of those invited to the elite camp eventually sign with an NCAA Division I program, according to the Schuman’s National Underclassmen website.
“That’s the reason we are trying to find a way for all of these guys to go to the camp,” Lyles said. “I heard about that and emailed guys from previous years who went to the camps, and a lot of them said it was that camp that put them on a national level as far as recruiting.”
Offers in for pair
While the combine provides a valuable boost for young Central players, a pair of the Red Devils’ rising seniors are already piling up scholarship offers this summer.
Quarterback Jonathan Wallace (6-foot-1, 203 pounds) has scholarship offers from more than a dozen colleges including Oregon, and he can expect to find a few more arriving in the mail if he picks up where he left off last year with 1,206 yards passing and 857 rushing with a combined 27 touchdowns.
And Central tight end Jonathan Curry (6-2, 224) has picked up nearly two dozen scholarship offers. Among them are Stanford, Louisville, Memphis, Wake Forest, Vanderbilt, Nebraska and Perdue.
Dinner with the Devils
Speaking of Central, the school’s football program will begin its season in style and with some Auburn football royalty on hand as former Tigers coach Pat Dye will be at the school for the second annual Dinner with the Devils on Aug. 3.
The football program began the formal dinner last year with former Alabama coach Gene Stallings there to sign autographs and meet with fans.
Central coach Woodrow Lowe, a former Alabama standout, said he would like to see the team host a similar preseason dinner each year.
“We started this last year, and it’s something we hope can continue every year,” Lowe said.
“We’re looking forward to getting our season kicked off with a nice event.”
Tickets are $50 apiece and include a steak dinner and a chance to rub elbows with the hall of fame coach.
For more information, call 706-464-8941.
Chris White, 706-571-8571; follow Chris online at twitter.com/le_chriswhite and at facebook.com/lechriswhite.
