Recruiting Pressure Weighs on Multisport Athletes

Hart High basketball Coach Greg Herrick thought this guy on the doorstep was kidding. A few minutes later, however, he realized that Brian Jacobs was not just looking for a roommate, he hoped he was looking at his roommate. Herrick, in turn, was faced with adopting a 270-pound bouncing baby boy.

The coach was not exactly enthralled with the prospect and declined the offer.

“He thought I was messing around,” Jacobs said. “I wasn’t.”

Because of the mounting pressures of college recruiting, Jacobs, a 6-foot, 5-inch offensive tackle who also played center on the basketball team, was ready to pack his bags and move into Herrick’s Hideaway.

“He said, ‘You have an extra room, why don’t I stay here for a week or so until some of this blows over?’ ” Herrick said. “He just wanted to get away from it all. I couldn’t really blame him.”

Jacobs, who admits he was close to unraveling, can unwind. Last week he made a verbal commitment to attend UCLA, ostensibly bringing to an end a whirlwind of visits, phone calls and obtrusive knocks on the front door.

Like a handful of area players who excelled at football and also played a winter sport, Jacobs was forced to juggle his schoolwork, basketball and social life while making a decision on where to attend college. It is another side to all-everything honors, where people come at players from all sides.

At first, the adulation and attention from fans and recruiters gratified him. Jacobs attracted plenty of both--he was selected to the All-USA Today first team, Cal-Hi Sports’ and California Football magazine’s all-state teams, the All-Northwestern Conference, All-Foothill League and Times All-Valley teams. He was rated the No. 10 prospect in the Far West by Super Prep magazine of Costa Mesa.

“The beginning was great,” he said. “But after about the second or third trip, it’s not as much fun. In the back of your mind you know you’re coming down to crunch time.”

Before deciding on UCLA, Jacobs visited USC, Washington and Arizona State. He said he received an average of six phone calls a night from persistent coaches, players, alumni, friends or newspapers.

“I guess it was about 2-2-2,” he said. “A couple of coaches, a couple of players and a couple of reporters every night.”

At school, the question awaited at every hallway turn.

“Every day, it’s ‘Where are you going to school?’ ” he said. “Some students probably didn’t really care one way or the other. They just wanted to know. I mean, I appreciated the interest and all, but it gets to you.”

Jacobs’ girlfriend, senior Angie Gorski, said she has been unable to spend much time with Brian recently. And perhaps that has not been the worst situation, all things considered.

“I haven’t seen him the last four weekends, and he’s been a little more irritable,” she said.

Jacobs was more blunt: “I’ve been a jerk lately. I’ve been pretty tense.”

And this was supposed to be the time of his life? Hardly. In order to concentrate on his impending decision, Jacobs left the basketball team. Herrick, who coached several Division I basketball prospects while at Cleveland High, sympathized with Jacobs.

“I’d say over the last five basketball games he played in, somebody from USC was there,” Herrick said. “These guys were everywhere--he knows all of them by sight. Heck, I know them by sight.”

Herrick was introduced to USC Coach Larry Smith after one game. Smith had watched the game with Jacobs’ parents.

“Recruiters aren’t there to watch a high school basketball game, they are there to make a statement,” Herrick said. “Brian knows that.

“Combine all that with the fact that he was trying to play basketball for the first time since he was a freshman, and that’s a lot for any kid to think about. But being a USA Today All-American carries a heavy load.”

Jacobs’ academic load could make anybody testy. It was finals week at Hart, and he took exams in mythology and math analysis, then chemistry and economics on successive days.

“I had to slow down a little in school,” said Jacobs, who was named to California Football’s all-state academic team last month. “I’m still doing well, but the time just isn’t there.”

Others playing winter sports have had to make similar concessions.

Alemany tight end Vince Ferry verbally committed to attend Oregon after trips to Utah, UTEP and Oregon State. The recruiting visits often conflicted with his soccer schedule, forcing him to miss one match, which ended in a tie.

“I felt pretty bad about that,” said Ferry, a center-forward. “Especially since we’re really battling for a playoff spot.”

Crespi running back J. J. Lasley, who has committed to Stanford, also visited USC, forcing him to miss a few basketball practices. Lasley, who rushed for 928 yards and was selected to the all-state academic team, said he narrowed his choices before taking trips, which helped minimize the selection process.

Burroughs quarterback Jeff Barrett, who passed for 2,109 yards and 20 touchdowns, actually found himself throwing passes before a basketball game last month. It was his way of burning nervous energy.

“I was out by the gym before a game, hoping the basketball coach wouldn’t see me,” said Barrett, who committed to Nevada Reno. “Then I went home, changed, and played that night.”

Maybe there is something to be said for his method. Barrett, who also visited UTEP, scored a career-high 17 points that night. Barrett’s two trips did force him to miss one game, which Burroughs lost.

Reseda’s Sam Edwards a California Football and Cal-Hi all-state and Times All-Valley defensive back, took the easy way out. Also a forward on the basketball team, Edwards canceled a trip to Colorado after visiting Arizona State.

“I saw all I needed to see in Arizona,” he said. “That’s where I want to play.”

Chatsworth quarterback-running back Bryan Addison, the Sunset League player of the year and a Times All-Valley selection, is making his first and only visit--to Hawaii--this weekend. Addison also plays basketball but will not miss any games.

“I guess it was a pretty good time to go,” he said. It was also about the last time. Players may sign letters of intent Wednesday.

San Fernando quarterback Joe Mauldin, a Times All-Valley selection who passed for a school-record 1,633 yards and rushed for a team-high 410 yards, chose Cal State Fullerton. Mauldin, who as a guard on the basketball team is averaging 19.2 points and 4.3 assists a game, still must take the Scholastic Aptitude Test.

Granada Hills wide receiver Kyle Jan, also a starting forward on the basketball team, missed a game while taking his only trip--to Washington State. Jan, who caught 65 passes for 950 yards and a school-record 15 touchdowns, said he wonders why the phone is not ringing more often.

“It makes your disposition a little bad,” he said, “trying to figure out why people aren’t interested in you while they’re calling players you think you’re just as good as.”

Jacobs, of course, would not have minded if he had heard one or two fewer rings.

“I was over at his house for about an hour the other day,” Gorski said. “And he got three calls. Once, he was over at my house, and when he went home there were 12 calls on his message machine.”

Gorski, a statistician for the basketball team, said Jacobs has found the recruitment a distraction--even at his busiest moments.

“I see him sitting on the bench, and I know he’s really trying to concentrate on basketball,” she said. “But I can tell that football is still bouncing around in there somewhere.

“It’s a decision that will affect the rest of his life.”

Another factor also came into play: Jacobs’ father wanted him to attend USC. After a discussion with his father late Wednesday night, Jacobs announced he had selected UCLA.

“He wasn’t real happy about it,” Jacobs said. “He really liked USC. I think they recruited him as much as they recruited me.”

Herrick said Jacobs will appreciate the experience--eventually.

“We’ve talked about recruiting a lot, since I went through all that with my players at Cleveland,” Herrick said. “I keep trying to tell him to enjoy the process of being courted. It’s like being a girl on a date.

“It gave him an opportunity to travel, something other kids wills never get to do. I had a kid once who was being recruited, and I asked if he’d ever been East. He said, ‘Yeah, I’ve been to Covina.”

Jacobs called UCLA Coach Terry Donahue late last week to give him the good news, then he called USC to deliver the bad. Donahue quickly dispatched an assistant to Jacobs’ home. The reason--to tell Jacobs what he will be facing until he is officially signed on Wednesday.

“USC said they still haven’t given up on me,” Jacobs said. “They said I’m not UCLA’s until I sign.”