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The Signing Scene

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: February 7, 2008

With 18 National Signing Day ceremonies being held at local high schools, The Tribune's Adam Adkins, Eddie Daniels, Rick Harmon, Katherine Smith, Bill Ward and Nick Williams crisscrossed the area to recognize some of the top athletes in the area. Here are their stories:

8:30 a.m.

Berkeley Prep headmaster Joe Merluzzi gave players Archie Barnes and Alex Matzkin a special gift in celebration of National Signing Day.

Merluzzi presented the players with a pair of Berkeley Prep pens to use to sign their letters-of-intent.

Barnes went first, signing his name to his official Vanderbilt paperwork. Matzkin was next, but he didn't have his paperwork, so he borrowed a page from Barnes and pretended to sign his Georgetown letter-of-intent.

9 a.m.

Chamberlain defensive back Justin Bell might not harbor any ill feelings toward Colorado State, the school he visited on a recruiting trip in hopes of signing a scholarship. After all, he signed for a full ride with Eastern Kentucky and was all smiles. It made his mom happy, too, because EKU is a lot closer than Colorado.

But as far as Chiefs coaches Billy and Brian Turner are concerned, Colorado State shouldn't bother coming to Chamberlain's campus again. Brian Turner said Wednesday the Rams coaching staff "flat-out lied" to him when they said they were going to offer Bell a scholarship and did not.

9 a.m.

Sitting together at a long table beneath a white cloth emblazoned with the Alonso Ravens' "A" and mascot, Joe Clarke, Jamal Crook and Dion Price had something in common.

As the trio prepared to sign their letters-of-intent, they had one person outside the Ravens football staff beaming - trainer Chris Hawkins. At some point during their high school careers, each were trained by Hawkins.

As each signed their names to a letter-of-intent - Price to South Dakota State, Clarke to Miami of Ohio and Crook to Murray State - Hawkins sat in the crowd.

"He was more than just a personal trainer, he was like a mentor," Clarke said, while also praising Ravens coach Mike Heldt and assistant Kevin Diaz. "He's been there before, he's played big-time football, he's played in the NFL. He guided us through what we have to do and showed us the right way to do things. He kept our heads right, kept us focused, kept pushing us, and obviously it paid off."

9:15 a.m.

Last year on National Signing Day, Middleton had a little problem with the school's fax machine. The coaches could not send the players' letters-of-intent at the school, so they had to drive to a local Kinko's and use its fax machine.

This year, Middleton coach Harry Hubbard said the school's fax machine wouldn't be a problem; at least he hoped it wouldn't.

"I pray it works," Hubbard said. "I gave it to the secretary so I don't have to have that headache."

9:15 a.m.

When Plant City's Mark Popek and Keith Dawson signed their national letters-of-intent in the media center, the class being held in the center stopped and applauded the two football players.

Popek will continue his career at South Florida, while Dawson will stay in state at Jacksonville University.

9:30 a.m.

Jesuit players Phil Smith and Will Horan got something extra special during the school's National Signing Day ceremony.

The players received a blessing from Principal Joseph Doyle. As Doyle held his hands on Smith and Horan's heads, he wished them well.

Wednesday's ceremony was Doyle's last as Jesuit's principal. He is retiring in August. He liked that his final signing day outing included a player committing to his alma mater, Fordham. Horan decided to sign with Fordham on Sunday night. He picked the New York City school over Iona and Stonehill College.

Smith, who signed with Georgia Tech, reflected on all the hard work it took to reach this point. Doyle told the players they should celebrate at "Chunky Cheese," which prompted a correction from football coach Joe Ross and laughs from the players.

"It's Chuck E. Cheese," Ross said.

9:40 a.m.

It was a somber setting inside the principal's conference room at Brandon High; that is, until it was time for Eagles senior Samir Baker and Adam Gieseking to finally sign their letters-of-intent.

The Brandon teammates finally cracked a smile after applying their signatures. Maybe it was because they realized they won't be far apart at the next level - both signed with colleges in Georgia; Baker, an all-state running back/defensive back with Georgia Southern, and Gieseking, a tight end, with Valdosta State, the 2007 Division II national champions.

10:47 a.m.

Signing day held similar to form from recent years at Armwood, as the program continued to move players to the next level.

Three seniors signed letters-of-intent during a ceremony at the school - running back Eric Smith (Auburn), defensive lineman Sergio Joyner (Western Kentucky) and kicker/punter Wesley Skiffington (Stony Brook). The interesting twist was that there was setups, complete with placards, for five. One empty seat wasn't much of a surprise, as two-way lineman Matt Patchan wasn't present because he has enrolled at Florida.

Meanwhile, Josh Alston had a chair set up, with a placard reading "Air Force Academy." But the defensive lineman was home sick, and he is still toiling over whether to sign an athletic scholarship with the military academy or take his academic scholarship and attend USF as a student, according to Hawks coach Sean Callahan.

The ceremony was a bit anticlimactic, considering all the players who signed had announced commitments to their respective schools. Smith held a news conference at a local Beef O'Brady's a few weeks ago.

That doesn't mean there weren't a bunch of smiles and a few lighthearted moments, including when Callahan forced each one of his signees to step to the podium and address the roughly 50 people. Each had one minute to do so, but we'll just say the Hawks were men of few words.

11 a.m.

Vittorio Benadusi Ottanelli might not be going to an Ivy League school, but he will fulfill his hopes of attending a school with high academic standards.

The two-way lineman, a three-year starter with Blake, signed with Colgate.

"I think I'm going to be real happy there," Ottanelli said. "The academics there are what I was looking for, and the football is probably a little more competitive than Ivy League."

It's not surprising he went with a school known for academics. His mother, Giovanna Benadusi, and his father, Fraser Ottanelli, are both professors at the University of South Florida.

Noon

There are football scholarships, and then there are football scholarships.

We are referring to the one just signed by King punter Daniel Zychlinski. He put pen to paper for Stanford University on Wednesday morning, and if you looked closely at that paper, you would notice two very important lines: the percentage of the scholarship the school is awarding Zychlinski and how much one year at that school costs.

For Zychlinski, those numbers are 100 percent, and an eye-popping $48,800 per year. If he plays five years for the Cardinal, that's - gulp - nearly a quarter of a million dollars.

"It's the perfect blend of academics and athletics," said Zychlinski, who averaged 40.5 yards per punt last season and set King's record for longest punt with an 81-yarder. "It felt perfect when I went out there on my visit."

1:30 p.m.

Robert Weiner became the Plant coach four years ago. On Wednesday, he celebrated a recruiting class that had been with him for all four.

In that span, a group of players that included three Division I recruits helped win three consecutive district titles and the Class 4A state championship in 2006 while compiling a 41-5 record.

"They truly have left a legacy of greatness," Weiner said. "I think they're the group that 40 years from now people will talk in legendary status around these halls and in these areas."

With last-minute adjustments to some ties, thanks to Derek Winter's father, Plant players took their seats before Weiner introduced each one and thanked them for their contributions to the program. Then, one-by-one, each player signed their national letter-of-intent.

Two-way lineman Tyler Evans (Murray State) was first, followed by receiver Kevin James (Bethune-Cookman), running back Lovell Jackson (Wake Forest), offensive lineman Rhonne Sanderson (Florida State) and receiver Winter (Auburn).

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