CuseLegacy
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"The most important thing and something that isn't completely understood by the Canadians on the outside of that American media hypemachine is that recruiting starts early," Ridley said. "In Canada you can send out some emails as a high school senior and get recruited, but in the US they are identifying talent in the 8th grade. Keeping an eye on players as they move up. If players aren't getting field time by the 10th grade they'll likely drop off some lists unless they are sitting behind an All-State varsity player. It's even worse for quarterbacks! QBs go through training programs trying to earn an invite to one of the big QB camps to get recruited there."
"Next, the school. To your average Joe Canada, they see high school football on one level. Sure they understand big schools vs little schools (for many their only thought is city schools vs rural schools) but they don't understand that Alabama has 10 distinct levels of 11-man football. [That's] seven classes of public schools and three classes of private schools handled by an independent association, plus six-man and eight-man versions of the game. For crying out loud, they name cheerleader all-star teams in Alabama! When it comes down to Nathan's situation specifically, well, his Class AA football has only two regions and a total of 11 schools playing this year. Their first state playoff game was against a 2-8 school."
So, while Rourke's stats are certainly impressive, the lack of previous U.S. data on him and the level of competition he played at may have hurt his cause. Ridley said it's important to remember that high school players are competing for college spots not just against players within their division (where Rourke stood out, but in the second-smallest division of public school football), but against players from all divisions (and all states). Bigger schools and tougher competition can help players stand out. However, this isn't to say that Rourke isn't as deserving as many of the players who did get scholarships. In fact, Ridley said he thinks Rourke has tons of potential.
