Some area athletes are re-routed
By: JEFF SANDERS - Staff Writer
National Signing Day isn't the end of the line for many athletes | ∞
For as long as he can remember, Matt Ticich dreamed of playing big-time college football. A lot of kids do.
Packed houses in front of 60,000 frenzied fans. Televised games for the nation to watch. The Road to the NFL.
Hundreds of high school athletes will sign National Letters of Intent on Wednesday with those visions fueling the few flicks of the wrist it will take to set their futures in motion. But those futures don't always go as expected on signing day, as a variety of factors -- finances, environment, ambition or a need to be closer to home -- often lead athletes down a winding road that travels far away from their original intent. For some, the process is referred to in recruiting circles as "bouncing back."
Four years ago, Ticich, a quarterback from Chaparral High School, hoped to sit down at a table with his own contract to sign, one he felt he earned with a school-record 45 touchdowns and 4,600 yards.
National Signing Day, though, came and went without offers from the Pac-10 and Big Ten programs of the land -- that's just the way it goes for sub 6-foot signal-callers -- and when his parents received his first tuition bill for the University of San Diego, Ticich decided he needed to re-route his dream of playing Division I football.
"My parents cranked out that check, and it ate me up that they were going to have to pay for such an expensive school," said Ticich, who graduated in 2004 and is a former All-Valley Offensive Player of the Year.
The Toreros, you see, compete in Division I football, albeit in a conference that does not offer athletic scholarships. By the end of his redshirt freshman season, Ticich decided a full ride anywhere outweighed the desire for a glitzy ride on a bigger stage at even the most modest of Division I programs.
Enter Mt. San Jacinto College, where Ticich settled into an All-American campaign with the Eagles, one that snowballed into numerous offers at Division II programs. Two years later, he is nearing the completion of degrees in biology and history while making his own mark on the record books at Truman State in Kirksville, Mo.
His dream has changed. The payoff, in the end, has not.
"It was definitely disappointing seeing peers and guys I knew signing with big colleges -- guys from all over the area signing," said Ticich, who's pre-dental at Truman and will start at quarterback in 2008 for the third consecutive year. "It's every kid's dream growing up to play in front of 60,000 people. The reality is, it's not in the cards for everyone. ...
"The most important thing is getting your education paid for."
Eyes on the real prize
At first, Spencer Brinton -- the anti-Ticich as a 6-foot-5 statue with a gun for a left arm -- enjoyed the recruiting process. At the end, he couldn't wait for ... well, the end.
Few Valley athletes drew the kind of attention Brinton did when tapes from his junior season at Temecula Valley and performances at combines landed him in dozens of recruiters' crosshairs.
Coaches from schools such as Ohio State and Michigan visited the campus. Countless more called, and plenty walked into his living room. By the time he'd taken his five visits, Brinton settled on San Diego State, where he meshed well with then-offensive coordinator Tom Craft and had a clear route to playing time early in his college career.
When he signed his National Letter of Intent in February 1997, he breathed a huge sigh of relief.
Little did he know, he'd only just begun.
"It felt like I had crossed a finish line," Brinton said. "But it's also totally the start of something you don't have a clue of what you're getting into. You're at the pinnacle of your high school career, you sign, and then all of the sudden, you fall right back down to the bottom of a huge mountain you have to climb."
Some will climb that mountain with their first choice, some will even star.
Others are left to find alternate routes that lead to better fits academically, socially and on the field.
No path is the same. All of them can make sense.
"Reasons for transferring are as varied as the individuals you come across," said former MSJC football coach Ed Carberry, who counted seven bounce-back players on his roster at Southwestern College in 2007. "If you walk up to 25 guys, you get 25 different reasons. If anything, it all boils down to this: The experience is not what they expected."
Sometimes it's about culture shock. Other times, it's about missing home or making the grade.
Often, it's about playing time.
In any case, athletes can ease their pain if they keep their approach grounded.
"It's a small formula," Oregon defensive backs coach John Neal said. "What are you going to get out of it academically? What are you going to get out of it socially? What are you going to get out of it on the football field?
"That's all recruiting is. If there's a plan in place for all three, kids will go, be successful and graduate."
Brinton had plans in place as a wide-eyed freshman heading to San Diego State.
That didn't change when Craft left after Brinton's signing to helm the Palomar College program. It did, however, when a thumb injury ended Brinton's sophomore season prematurely.
Certain he'd thrown his last pass for San Diego State, Brinton weighed academics more than football when Big Ten recruiters came calling after his two-year Mormon mission to South Africa ended. He also took into consideration the big-time college atmosphere he saw as a freshman when his Aztecs, a glorified commuter university, traveled for a game to Wisconsin.
"The second time around, I made the decision I should have made the first time," said Brinton, who completed just 11 passes as a Wolverine, but completed two degrees free of charge. "This time, I looked at the academics, because what happens if I get hurt again? Then what?
"As it turned out, I had to fight through some more injuries, but I stayed there and got my education."
Finding a fit
When National Signing Day arrived in February 2003, Paul Como settled.
The Southwestern League Defensive MVP recorded 13 sacks and 19 tackles for a loss while on the line the previous fall for Murrieta Valley. A month after signing with Northern Arizona, he was sure he could have the same kind of impact at a bigger school.
Fresno State showed interest after Como committed to NAU. Others did, too.
If he could convince Northern Arizona to release him from his letter, Como was certain he could up his value at a junior college.
"I felt that was the best move for me," Como said. "I didn't think I was ready to leave, to go to college. I also thought I was a better player than that. I told (NAU) that I wouldn't be happy going there. They were really understanding about it."
Como landed at Saddleback College the next fall. Two years later, Como got the offer he wanted from Kansas, where he'll graduate with an economics degree in May after recording seven sacks and 13 tackles for a loss during the 2005 and 2006 seasons.
"I've got no regrets," Como said. "I could have gone to NAU and started for four years, but I had a lot of fun at Saddleback. Why not go to a JC, have some fun and start for two years, and then transfer?"
Former Vista Murrieta kicker Johnny Babcock asked himself the same question when he arrived at West Virginia last summer. He had a chance to kick himself onto the team's scholarship list, but opted to take the junior college route at MSJC rather than gambling with having to enroll without financial aid secured.
"I went in thinking about junior colleges as a negative thing," said Babcock, who's preparing for a final, sophomore season with the Eagles. "There, I can have an opportunity to play and hopefully come out of JC strong."
As it turned out, that's exactly how things worked out for Ticich two years earlier at MSJC.
He threw for 22 touchdowns and 2,600 yards that year and guided the Eagles to the 2005 Beach Bowl. The next year, with his own ticket written at Truman State, Ticich finished the season ranked nationally in five categories, including 14th in total offense.
Ticich's banner season last year included a Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association record 493-yard passing game. He also set a school record with 516 yards of total offense in that game, approached the single-season mark with 25 TD passes and will enter the 2008 season ranked third all-time in touchdown passes (40) and fifth in total offense (5,736).
That it happened at Truman State -- and not a BCS school or on ABC -- doesn't diminish a thing in Ticich's eyes.
"When it comes down to it, football is football," Ticich said. "There might not be as many fans in the stands, but it turns out, I didn't need to go to Division I to achieve my dream of playing college football. It's just been incredible."
-- Contact staff writer Jeff Sanders at (951) 676-4315, Ext. 2629, or jsanders@californian.com.
National Letter of Intent signings
(area athletes expected to sign on Wednesday)
Athlete / School / Sport / College
Adrian Abreu / Vista Murrieta / Football / Mesa State (Colo.)
Jake Carr / Vista Murrieta / Football / New Mexico
Shane Glover / Vista Murrieta / Football / Mesa State (Colo.)
Tyler Hansen / Chaparral / Football / Colorado
Jordan Koeppen / Murrieta Valley / Water Polo / Long Beach State
Erik Quinones / Temescal Canyon / Football / San Diego State
Kavon Seaton / Vista Murrieta / Football / Mesa State (Colo.) or Navy
Hamani Stevens / Hemet / Football / Will announce Wednesday
Taj Walker / Vista Murrieta / Football / Mesa State (Colo.)
Jonathan Warzeka / Temescal Canyon / Football / Air Force
Amanda Windsor / Chaparral / Soccer / East Carolina
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