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Long Road To Success

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By JOEY JOHNSTON, The Tampa Tribune

Published: December 22, 2007

Preston Nicholson's junior football season at Hillsborough High School was only six years ago.

"But it almost seems like another lifetime," he said.

There was his senior-year transfer to Madison (Wis.) East, where everyone seemed to focus on indoor sports such as hockey and basketball, where the football team became an afterthought.

Then a year of inactivity back in Tampa, when he didn't know what the future held. There was his scholarship offer from Culver-Stockton College in Canton, Mo., a place where he soon learned there were absolutely no distractions.

"No movie theater, no mall, no Wal-Mart, no McDonald's," he said. "I had no idea they made towns this small. For me, it was just school and football."

School went well. This spring, he will earn his degree in business administration.

Football went even better.

Two weeks ago, Nicholson was named NAIA first-team All-America by the American Football Coaches Association. Nicholson, a 6-foot-2, 196-pound senior, had 84 receptions for 1,259 yards and six touchdowns. He received national notice despite playing for a 1-10 team.

"It has been amazing to watch Preston develop over the last four years," Culver-Stockton coach Christian Guenther said. "The only time he ever got shut down was when we couldn't get the pass off in time. That certainly wasn't his fault.

"The thing that separates Preston from other receivers is when you need a play to be made, he will always make it. Even when two or three defenders were dealing with him, he'd go up and get the ball. What a season he had."

Nicholson was a perfect fit for Culver-Stockton's spread-offense set. He caught 10 or more passes three times this season, including a career-high 13 receptions against Central Methodist on Oct. 27.

Those numbers made him quite the magnet for attention on Culver-Stockton's campus.

At the same time, he knows those exploits went largely unnoticed back in Tampa.

"I think my guys at Hillsborough pretty much lost track of me," Nicholson said. "Some people might have seen my potential. They might've known this was in me. But I'm sure they're looking now and saying, 'Wow! Look how it turned out.'"

Nicholson, who played two seasons at Sickles before transferring to Hillsborough, then moving to Wisconsin with his father, said he often wonders how his career would have evolved had he remained in Tampa.

Then again, maybe he has created an opportunity for himself. He hopes to work out at the NFL pro days at nearby Division I-A schools such as Missouri or Iowa, looking to catch someone's eye. With his speed (between 4.4 and 4.5 in the 40-yard dash) and unquestioned production, he'd like a shot in the CFL or Arena Football, if the NFL doesn't have immediate interest.

"I want to surface somewhere," Nicholson said. "I want to get noticed."

ODDS AND ENDS: For the fourth time in his career, Emory University men's basketball senior guard Spiros Ferderigos (Berkeley Prep) was named University Athletic Association player of the week, sharing the honor with Washington University's Troy Ruth. Ferderigos had a career-high 32 points, 12 rebounds and nine assists in a 106-89 win against Oglethorpe University. ... It's official. The 51 touchdown passes by Plant QB Aaron Murray will stand up as the all-time single-season state record. Miami Northwestern QB Jacory Harris, bound for the Miami Hurricanes, tossed a pair of TD passes in the Class 6A state championship game against Orlando Boone. Harris finished with 49 to rank second all-time, one ahead of the 48 thrown by Plant's Robert Marve in 2006. ... Senior WR Quinton Williams (Plant) finished as Eastern Kentucky's second-leading receiver with 38 catches for 631 yards and eight touchdowns. Freshman WR Evan Cromer (Jefferson) was fourth with 25 receptions. He scored a touchdown in his first college game, a 50-10 loss at Kentucky.

Reporter Joey Johnston can be reached at (813) 259-7353 or jjohnston@tampatrib.com.

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