To help answer questions about Hargrave I linked an article which, oddly enough, talks about Keiland Williams and his 4.32 time in the 40. It gives you some idea what these kids are going through just for the chance to get into college. Auburn has had a number of players here also, and I have always wondered who is footing the $23,000 bill. Can you get a college loan for prep school? http://www.hargrave.edu/news/news_detail.php?news_id=308&category_id=18 The Washington Times. Making a Run from the ‘Grave John Coscia Copyright 2005 News World Communications, Inc. CHATHAM, Va. -- Keiland Williams drops into a sprinter's crouch, carefully placing his splayed fingers behind the gymnasium baseline. He coils his 6-foot, 225-pound frame under him, rocks back and forth on the toe of his extended right leg to rid his body of tension and lifts his head to the future. A knot of football teammates clustered behind the running back begins clapping and whooping in anticipation -- "How you be, K-Dub." "USC in the house, Keeeeiland." Beside him, assistant coach Raymond Cobb barks, "Let's do this. ... Let's do this." In front of him lies an outrageous human gantlet, a 40-yard channel of floor cutting tightly between two packed corridors composed of college football coaches from every league, level and locale imaginable. Dozens of stopwatches beep in unison as Williams erupts from his stance and bolts down the line, a blur of flesh on display at an indoor bazaar. The collective coo of amazement rises to a crescendo as he explodes through the finish in 4.32 seconds, moving with the desperate efficiency of a man running from the 'Grave. Welcome to Hargrave Military Academy's annual college combine, the defining day of the nation's definitive high school football program. "It's like a coaches convention in here," says Louisiana State (LSU) running backs coach Larry Porter, one of nearly 300 coaches who braved 3 inches of fresh snow to complete the pilgrimage to the rural campus about 25 miles north of the North Carolina border on Route 29 in Chatham, population 1,302 and falling. "The joke in the business is that the top four recruiting grounds in the nation are California, Florida, Texas and Hargrave," Porter says. "There's more talent in this room than on many college campuses in the country. And I don't care who's coaching -- in the final analysis, it's all about talent." No high school in the nation boasts more of that commodity than Hargrave. Read the Rest of the Story
I know of three players we've signed and placed there who received one of their partial scholly's. Two of them ended up covering the remaining portion of their tuition with 2nd mortgages on their parents homes. Besides these kids playing against some great competition before they hit the Div. 1 ranks the coaching staff there is really big on making sure the players keep their original verbals.
Incredible article. VERY interesting and sounds like a great program for these kids. Thanks for posting.
I read an article where the coach said he is allowed to give a handful (may have been a dozen or so) full scholarships to players every year. In order to help more kids (heh..yea, right), they split up the full scholarships into 1/4 or 1/2 increments and double or quadruple the # of kids who get help. The rest is made up by the kids and their parents (or some other 'source' of income)...such as mortgages like the poster above said.
