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70

/

ST. THOMAS HIGH SCHOOL

/

HOUSTON, TX

INSIDE EAGLE ATHLETICS

Eagle Community Gains Edge

in College Recruiting Process

Rick Wire is nothing if not an

absolute realist.  

He developed a game plan

which he carefully crafted and

implemented, leading to his son,

Coy, landing a football scholarship

at Stanford University in 1998,

and followed by finely tuning the

program into a thriving national

tutorial.

Wire founded Dynamite Sports

to put that expertise into play and

perhaps provide a similar outcome

for other high school student-

athletes chasing the same dream

of extending their careers with a

college experience.

During an April 2015 night on

the St. Thomas campus, Wire

delivered a straight-forward, to-

the-point powerpoint presentation,

aiming to leave Eagle coaches

and parents with a deeper

understanding of the recruiting

process and the respective roles

needed to execute the best

possible results.

It was the exact message Athletic

Director Mike Netzel wanted

delivered to his STH athletic

community.

“Parents can’t expect St. Thomas

to take full responsibility for

creating a college destination for

their son. But parents should

absolutely have expectations that

St. Thomas should be partnering

in the process,” Netzel said. “This

is a team effort ... the student-

athlete, the parents, the school ...

and determining the best future

fit, both athletic and academic,

factoring in talent, resources and

individual goals. The blueprints

are rooted in the same proven

principles but are largely different

for each and every student-

athlete.  That’s a key component to

understand.”

Wire met with Netzel and his

coaching staff for an hour

before the 90 minute interactive

involvement with the larger

audience and stressed that only 1%

of high school student-athletes are

“highly recruited.”  

Even with the depth of

opportunities which exist outside

the heavyweight NCAA Division

I tier, it’s not uncommon for

those with significant skills and

accomplishment to go unnoticed,

especially by Division II, Division

III or NAIA schools that have

limited recruiting budgets.

Wire bulleted how parents must

gain a higher understanding of

... how college coaches evaluate

talent in your sport ... the often

convoluted workings of NCAA

rules relating to contact periods ...

and the ever-growing importance

of academics playing a pivotal role.

But the overriding two-pronged

theme was parents harnessing

realistic

expectations and

taking ownership

of their son’s

pursuits.  

The aggressive

self-marketing

includes

compelling cover

letters, DVD

and on-demand

highlight videos,

detailed and

relevant statistical

information,

substantive

outside media

content detailing

performances

and, most

critically, an

orchestrated

series of unofficial visits to

college destinations as early as the

eighth grade to begin fostering

relationships.

Wire’s sense was that the STH

audience was “dialed in right way.

Big time. They all knew what they

wanted to hear and were glad they

finally heard it. You have to be a

realistic parent, what is your son’s

accurate talent level. And you

have to contact schools and start

visiting. Tomorrow.”

Sarah Fisher has two sons who

hope to cash in college athletic

opportunities and recognized after

the session that the recruiting

process “begins much earlier than

I suspected.”

Henry Fisher ‘16, was a TAPPS

all-state golfer in 2015 leading the

Eagles to a third-place finish at the

state tournament, while George

‘18 is a rising talent in the STH

basketball program.

“Those unofficial visits are

obviously important for any

number of reasons,” Fisher said.

“If your son is a late-bloomer

there are still options available but

you have to know that so many

others have likely already been in

the mix for months or years.”

Bo Huggins readily agreed that

Wire: “You have to be a realistic parent... you have to

make contact and start visiting. Tomorrow.”

Rick Wire, founder of Dynamite Sports

Wire with STH coach Joe Malouf

Three-sport standout Huggins ‘16 eyes a student-athlete

experience beyond STH