Anthony Hines receives full scholarship to Missouri after playing one year at CSM
August 14, 2015, 05:00 AM By Nathan Mollat Daily Journal
The big-time, Division-I football recruit sits at a table, with the hats of the three schools that are the finalists for his services. With much fanfare, he chooses one of the hats, puts it on his head and smiles for the cameras.
Welcome to the televised world of college football recruiting. Like a lot of television, it isn’t real — in the fact that not every potential college football recruit’s scholarship decision is a made-for-TV event.
More often than not, the television cameras aren't there when a recruit finally decides on a scholarship offer. The players transferring from the College of San Mateo are a perfect example: many of the more than two dozen players who have transferred to four-year schools for the upcoming school year did so in the last couple of months.
Bret Pollack, CSM’s head coach, said there are three distinct signing periods when it comes to the recruitment of community college players — winter, spring and summer — and it’s all dependent on what a four-year coach is looking for and when. If players at the four-year school screw up and don’t take care of business, an offer for a replacement can come real quick.
[Community-college recruiting] is driven by the four-year schools,” Pollack said.
That’s where Pollack and his coaching staff come in. Not only have they done a good job of getting their players in a position to transfer — both academically and athletically — they will also help their players wade through the vagaries of the college-scholarship system.
“We (the coaching staff) have gone through [the recruiting process] a million times. … We’re there to help the process,” Pollack said. “Our deal is to get kids to graduate (from college), period. If that’s financed through football, that’s great. If it’s not football, great.”
Anthony Hines knows all about the whirlwind that is the recruiting process. An incoming sophomore cornerback, Hines had no college offers after graduating El Camino in 2013. This past spring, he was in contact with a few schools, including University of Missouri, which said it was interested in offering Hines a scholarship for the 2016 season.
A couple weeks ago, Missouri told Hines a spot opened up for this upcoming 2015 season. Hines took an official visit to the school this past weekend and Wednesday he signed a letter-of-intent to become a Tiger and play in the Southeastern Conference.
Jordan Fogal, a safety from Arroyo High School in San Lorenzo, is in a similar situation as Hines, signing with University of Utah after playing just one season with the Bulldogs.
“I was actually prepared to play at CSM (for this season),” Hines said. “I was doing everything [my CSM teammates] were doing. I did everything the coaches wanted me to do.
“I was doing what I needed to do to prepare for the season (regardless of where I was playing).”
Pollack said that is the most important thing a player can do — keep taking care of business and be ready to strike when opportunities present themselves.
“[The coaching staff will] work our butts off for you, as long as you work your butt off for us,” Pollack said of the mentality of dealing with scholarship players.
“The kid that signs in July, that’s a testimony to his perseverance,” Pollack continued. “Are you going to keep working, not knowing if something is going to come?”
Missouri stuck with Hines even after he fractured his foot six weeks ago. But after the Missouri doctors got a chance to evaluate the injury, they cleared Hines and both school and player moved forward with the scholarship. Hines said paperwork still needs to be filed and he expects to be heading to Columbia, Missouri in the next week, without knowing what the future will hold. The Tigers will have already been in camp for a couple weeks by the time Hines joins his new teammates, which could put him behind in the competition for a spot.
But with a red-shirt season still available to him, Hines isn't too worried. He just knows when he gets his opportunity, he wants to give it his best shot.
“When my time comes, I think I can compete for a spot,” Hines said.
