January 13, 2006
Young Man’s Dream
by JASON SAPP
Sam Young, one of the nation’s top offensive tackles out of Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., is set to announce which school he will attend next week on ESPN. Young was scheduled initially to take an official visit to Notre Dame for the Tennessee game, which would have been his second time on campus, but had to postpone the visit to Jan. 21 due to a schedule conflict with his high school team as a result of Hurricane Wilma.
Much has happened since Young’s trip to South Bend. His St. Thomas Aquinas team reached the state finals and teammate, Dan Wenger, committed to the Irish. Young and Wenger recently played together at Army All-American Bowl earlier this month in San Antonio, Tex.
“The first time Sam played right tackle was at the All-American game,” said Young’s father. “It may not appear as a big deal to most, but it’s a difficult transition because you have to switch your stance, footwork, hands, etc. After watching him at practice all week and in the game, I think he handled it well.”
Coaches, scouts and fans were given an opportunity to watch Young and other Notre Dame commitments and prospects practice all week in San Antonio. In fact, several Notre Dame coaches were in attendance to watch Young put it all together and perform in the game. Young and his father also noticed something unique off the field during the week and it appears that it may have been in Notre Dame’s favor.
“The parents of the Notre Dame commits were all very nice and friendly people,” Mr. Young said emphatically. “Sam told me that one thing he noticed about the Notre Dame commits was that they have already developed a great relationship. He said that they all get along extremely well and are in regular contact with each other.”
Being the top-rated offensive tackle in the country creates exposure and an abundance of attention. The recruiting process has been quite the busy one for Sam Young as he decided to let his father handle most of the interviews and phone calls. This allowed Sam to focus on finishing out his senior year.
“It got to the point where we were getting 30 phone calls a night and at least 10 text messages,” added Mr. Young. “We stopped answering the phone because you never know if the number is a coach or the media. Things got busy from all the schools and one school even sent 11 letters in one day.”
Young and his family were prepared for the recruiting process that was coming near after his junior year. In fact, the Youngs took a road trip to cut down to a specific list of schools and allow Sam to concentrate on St. Thomas Aquinas’s season. His school has found plenty of success in sending players to the next level, so the coaches and families of the athletes were very supportive in the process.
“There were 22 players from Sam’s team last year that went to college and play football,” explained Mr. Young. “We were able to receive a lot of good advice and gain an idea of what we were looking for. The thing that impresses me the most about Notre Dame is the graduation rate, which is very important to get a degree. I tell Sam all the time that after football you still have 40 years of mortgage payments.”
St. Thomas Aquinas head coach, George Smith, is well-versed in handling all of his collegiate prospects and their recruiting process. He decided that all the announcements should take place following their season so his team can concentrate on the playoffs, and Sam Young has done just that.
“ESPN has agreed to have the press conference for us,” reported Mr. Young. “A specific date hasn’t been set yet, but I will know tomorrow (Friday) evening for sure what date for next week. I told ESPN that it must be done in a classy fashion. I’m not a fan of the whole hat switching thing really. It just seems as if it bad manners to drop a hat after picking it up when the school that it represents have put so much time, effort and money into recruiting you.”
Players tend to have an idea of where they want to attend early in the recruiting process, but are advised to hold off on the decision so they don’t make the wrong one. Sam Young knew where he wanted to go about 5-6 weeks ago and decided to hold off just in case other schools came into the mix, and to explore his options. Young has returned to his initial decision and the ND nation will have to wait until next week to find out just what it is. This announcement is one of the final two most anticipated ones, and in my opinion, it is still in the Irish’s favor.
*St. Thomas Aquinas head coach, George Smith, reported to BGI yesterday that the announcement will either take place Wednesday or Thursday. BGI will be in touch with Mr. Young today to find out the confirmed date.
