500 Line Up, See How They Measure Up : High School Players Flock to Football Workout

Savvy guys that they are, Keith Smith and Leodes Van Buren are always in search of an edge. The standout Newbury Park High athletes know the competition is good; Smith and Van Buren want to stay a step better.

Currently, they are sharpening their football skills during summer passing league play, Smith throwing the ball and Van Buren catching it.

Smith and Van Buren recently awoke at the crack of dawn on a non-school day, traveled almost 50 miles, stood in a registration line for two hours and then their day began .

For four hours, they worked toward exhaustion while enduring a light rain and a downpour of constructive criticism.

They could not have been happier.

Smith and Van Buren were among more than 500 Southland high school football players--including about 100 from the area--participating in an inaugural workout for NCAA Division I college coaches at El Camino College in Torrance on May 15. The event kicked off a series of combines scheduled nationally (the others were in Dallas; Boston; Columbus, Ohio, and 22 locations in Florida) this summer that provided high school football players with exposure and, they hope, a leg up on the pack in the recruiting process.

“Usually, you don’t get a chance to see all the guys you hear about,” said Smith, who was selected All-Ventura County by The Times as a quarterback. “(The combine) is important because you get a chance to see the big-name competition from all over. There are also a lot of scouts everyone is trying to impress.”

Van Buren, an all-county receiver, agreed.

“Everybody was really into it,” Van Buren said. “Some guys talked a little more (trash) than others, but everybody (was) good enough to back it up.”

The events--sponsored and coordinated by Reebok International Ltd., Cal-Hi Sports and Scholastic Coach magazine--were modeled after scouting combines for college players entering the NFL draft and are believed to be the first of their kind nationwide for high school football players. Dick Lascola, owner of the Fallbrook-based Scouting Evaluation Assn., holds two much smaller combines annually for athletes from California. But Lascola does not allow spectators at his combines.

As with would-be professionals, high school players attended the combine hoping to improve their standing with the sport’s decision-makers, with one notable exception: The payoffs are scholarships, not lucrative contracts.

Next season’s top seniors in Southern California, as selected by the Cal-Hi Sports staff, were invited to participate in the combine, which was attended by more than 70 college coaches from prominent schools in the Big Ten and Pacific-10 conferences among others.

UCLA and USC were not represented at the event. Many schools stayed away because NCAA recruiting guidelines limit coaches to four in-person evaluations of athletes. Some coaches opted to save all four for the fall football season.

“I think the whole idea is good,” Oregon assistant Mike Bellotti said. “The kids get to show us their skills and it allows us to evaluate, in one place, a lot people who we like.”

Not everyone shares Bellotti’s enthusiasm. Some high school coaches contend combines are useless because of the expansive scouting and evaluation procedures taking place today at the Division I level.

High school coaches wonder how much stock colleges really put in the data collected at the combines. Moreover, they fear high school athletes will suffer injuries while pushing themselves to impress recruiters.

“All that has to happen is one young man gets hurt and possibly costs himself playing during the season--and then where is he at?” Canyon High Coach Harry Welch said. “Today, you can look at a young man on videotape and tell if he can play Division I.

“I’m happy for any young man who can be helped (by a combine), but I’m really not in favor of it.”

Canyon running back Ed Williams and offensive lineman David Pratchard were invited to the combine. Neither participated on Welch’s recommendation.

Athletes who did attend underwent a battery of tests that measured their agility, endurance, speed and strength, in addition to having their heights and weights recorded. They completed an 11-stop circuit that included the bench-press, 40-yard dash, standing long jump and vertical leap, encountering constructive criticism and tips on improving their technique at every turn from former college and pro stars. Former USC All-American and current Chicago Bear Curtis Conway was among the event’s staff.

The day concluded with counseling sessions outlining Division I freshman eligibility guidelines. Every Division I program will receive combine data on participants, including pictures and profiles, event staff members said.

“I thought it was definitely worth (the trip),” Hart receiver Soren Halladay said. “Some kids who didn’t get looked at before might have helped themselves.”

The events afforded football players many of the advantages and challenges basketball players have enjoyed for years at summer camps where the best throughout the nation compete.

Recruiters flock to such camps in search of talent. Strong showings can help prep standouts improve their status.

There are similar gatherings nationally for top football position players, most notably “quarterback camps” where accomplished passing experts offer instruction. However, nothing exists for football players on the scale of basketball camps.

Basketball is a sport more conducive to large-scale competition at camps because of the comparatively small numbers of players needed to field complete teams and relatively minor equipment needs.

“I know when I was playing, a lot of good players were never seen by recruiters,” said Andy Bark, publisher of Cal-Hi Sports. “It’s good to know we can help the kids get that exposure.”

Reebok wants to lead the pack in prep football the way Nike Inc. has in basketball.

“We see this as a real opportunity for prep football players,” said Terry Tracey, senior director of cross-training for Reebok. “We’re trying to give something back to the community by helping these student-athletes earn scholarships (through) exposure to the major colleges nationwide.”

Noble as that sounds, Reebok’s involvement is not entirely altruistic.

Reebok has capitalized on the combines--and the media attention they’ve received--to hawk their various athletic footwear and apparel. Nonetheless, some college coaches deem the combines useful.

“Well, it has been very beneficial for me,” Bellotti said. “This helps a kid who might be a ‘maybe’ get more of a look.”

Moreover, Bellotti said, the combines are especially useful for another reason: money. Athletic departments have not escaped the economic crunch that has struck higher education nationwide.

“It helps us condense recruiting time and traveling,” Bellotti said. “It’s good for cost-containment, which everyone is interested in.”

However, high school coaches remain concerned.

“From the standpoint of exposure, this makes (the recruiter’s) job a little easier,” Chaminade Coach Rich Lawson said. “But a ballgame with equipment on is different than running through patterns in shorts.

“Hopefully, coaches will look at some of these times and scores with some reservations.”

Hart assistant Dean Herrington agrees.

“I have mixed feelings,” the Indians’ offensive coordinator said. “I just wonder how closely the kids are getting looked at. There were an awful lot of kids (out) there.”

College coaches say that no respectable program would award an athletic scholarship to someone based on a light workout before the season even started. Instead, the combines are useful tools in the overall recruiting process.

“It’s a big help, but there is a lot more to (recruiting) than just that,” Bellotti said.