Jayda Evans wrote
a good profile on Mr. Smalls in the Times last week.
When I read about his priorities for college, I hear recruiting pitches of Clemson and UW:“Everybody has nice facilities and nice uniforms,” said Smalls, who made unofficial visits to Alabama, Clemson, Georgia, Florida and Florida State this summer. “How they’ll develop me, how good will the business degree be and the coaches vibe, that’s how I look at it. Do I feel like they’ll make me a better person, a better player? Do they genuinely care about me? That’s a big thing.”He cares about academis:Not being challenged academically enough at Kennedy Catholic to warrant the cost of attending the private school is part of the reason Smalls transferred to Garfield for his sophomore year.God bless Joey Thomas:Then there’s Bulldogs coach Joey Thomas, who played five seasons in the NFL, and defensive end coach Valentino Coleman, who played at Kansas State. Their approach is to create a program that mimics college on and off the field.
“Most don’t know how to handle a player of that magnitude,” said Thomas of Smalls .... “We coach Sav’ell hard and hold him accountable,” Thomas continued. “He’s a special talent, but the thing that makes him so special is the way he works. It always gets overshadowed because people just see the results and think he was always good. Sav’ell Smalls worked to be the No. 1 player in the nation. Countless hours, studying his craft.”The young man has a 3.87 GPA at Garfield and already trains so diligently that he has a nutrition program. Goodness, he is going to be successful on and off the field. Please go to the UW.
