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For all the glitz and glamour that comes with being recruited as a Division I college student-athlete, there is also a wave of relief that comes once a recruit makes a final decision.
Cruce Brookins and Greg Smith know that feeling. The Steel Valley seniors recently made verbal commitments to play football in college. Brookins, a 6-foot-2, 190-pound all-conference quarterback and defensive back committed to Kent State University, while the 6-foot-5, 320-pound Smith will be an offensive lineman at Miami of Ohio. With the recruiting process over, they can be fully focused on trying to bring a WPIAL championship to Steel Valley.
“There's a bit of relief, because I know I can just focus on the season,” Smith acknowledged.
“It was a long process, but it relieves a lot of stress on me,” Brookins added. “I can actually just focus on football, and not worry about what school I want to go to.”
What solidified the choice for each of them was the connection they forged with coaches and staff at their respective colleges.
“For me, it was just about the academic part and where I felt wanted,” Smith said. “Some schools fell off. Some schools were on and off. But (Miami) kept on me hard.”
Brookins said that his older brother, Cameron, advised him to pay close attention to how schools communicated during the process. When other schools backed off following a spring injury, Kent State stuck with him. That convinced Brookins that the Golden Flashes were right for him.
“It’s how they treat you and if they show you love,” Brookins said. “That shows that they’re actually a family and they actually love the players they recruit.”
Smith and Brookins are the latest Steel Valley football players to secure college commitments.
“I’m one of the first ones in my family to play Division I football, so that means a lot to me,” Brookins said.
“It feels really good to join that whole movement,” Smith said.
It’s a historic pipeline with NFL ties in names like Charlie Batch and Luke Getsy, but recent names are also resonating. Players like Todd Hill (Duquesne), Paris Ford (Pitt), Dewayne Murray (Duquesne), Amonte Strothers (Delaware), and others inspired the current Ironmen while they were in elementary school, while former teammates Nijhay Burt (Eastern Illinois), Nyzair Burt (Slippery Rock) and Matthew Marrone (Geneva) give this year’s team a more tangible connection to the college path.
“I think what helps more than anything is they realize the education part is the part they’ve got to get,” head coach Ray Braszo said. “A lot of them come in here and they have some talent, but when they see those guys go to college, they know what they had to go through.”
To further develop that connection, assistant coach and Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Coordinator Olando Dulin said the older players will be visiting the middle school and elementary schools as part of a mentorship program.
“We’re going to go into the middle school, go into the elementary schools, and talk to the kids
and give them opportunity to tell their story and listen to some of what the kids have to say,” Dulin said.
Academics are part of the message. College recruiters pay close attention to specific eligibility requirements, and it is imperative that aspiring college athletes avoid academic pitfalls in ninth and tenth grade to avoid potential NCAA eligibility questions.
“When you’re in ninth grade, you’re not thinking about that stuff. But what you do academically throughout high school is huge now,” Coach Braszo said. “The ones we have now, they put their mind to it from ninth and tenth grade on that they wanted to go play in college.”
Exposure to a variety of college opportunities also helps in the recruiting process, as student-athletes can better identify their priorities by comparing real examples. It’s why Dulin has been taking students on tours to regional campuses, including some outside of the Pittsburgh area.
“To take these young men from their communities and allow them to see a college campus, meet college coaches, talk to college administrators, that means the world,” Dulin said.
Steel Valley also has a coaching staff blessed with football and life experience. Braszo has three decades of head coaching experience. With assistant coaches like Ed Tozzi, Rusty Firestone, Jeff Hruska, Kevin Clarke, DiAngelo Mitchell, and Dulin, the coaches offer a variety of life experiences and educational backgrounds. As a group, they can help guide student-athletes down whatever path they envision.
“If you look at our overall staff, and you’ve got a young man coming into our program, that's what you want,” Dulin said. “You want because you want that well-roundedness that we have as a coaching staff.”