70
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ST. THOMAS HIGH SCHOOL
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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