Stars taking talents to U.S.

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This article was published 17/12/2020 (1980 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Manitoba’s reputation as a source of football talent got a major boost this week when two St. Paul’s High School products signed letters of intent Wednesday to attend Division I NCAA football programs.

Zach Lytle, a defensive end, announced he will be heading to Dartmouth College next fall and linebacker Nathan Carabatsakis accepted a scholarship offer from Robert Morris University.

At least three other local high school stars — cornerback Ryland Kelly, wide receiver Dallas Sims and safety Trae Tomlinson — are expected to land Division 1 scholarships within the next two years. All five players honed their skills with Recruit Ready, a Winnipeg-based training program. 

Lytle, the 17-year-old son of former Winnipeg Blue Bombers fullback Dean Lytle, has big plans for the classroom and the gridiron.

The 6-5, 230-pound defensive end plans to study medicine at the Hanover, N.H., school, which is a member of the Ivy League and plays in the Football Championship Series, a notch below the Football Bowl Series level of Division 1. He hopes to add 15 or 20 pounds prior to next season.

“It’s been super exciting,” Lytle said Thursday. “Just seeing all the reactions from my family and my peers at school and my teachers. Everyone’s really proud of me and I’m proud of myself, too.”

Lytle accepted the Dartmouth proposal after getting an offer of a preferred walk-on role at Notre Dame, his dad’s alma mater.

“We had to sit down and think, ‘All right, you’re a Canadian kid and first of all, we have to start with schools that have a tendency to be open to that and then, what level of football can you play right at your size?’” said Dean Lytle. “He only played at 205 (pounds) last year.”

Zach Lytle used social media throughout the recruitment process to get his name and game film exposed to the widest possible array of college coaches.

“My mom, my dad and me all spent hours at a time just emailing… so many coaches and also messaging them on Twitter,” said Lytle. “(I had to) get doing phone calls, which I didn’t really want to do and it kind of got demoralizing if not all of them would respond, right? In the end, I’m glad I did that. I think that’s the type of dedication it takes to achieve your goals and to get to this position.”

Dean Lytle, who grew up in Brevard, N.C., in the 1980s and ’90s, said the process was much different for him.

“For my recruitment in North Carolina, they came right to the school and they just saw you in person,” he said. “You didn’t have to go to camps, right? You didn’t have to do all this, the all-star stuff. They came and they found you.”

While Lytle is completing Grade 12 in his hometown, former Crusaders linebacker Carabatsakis took his talents to Clearwater Academy in Clearwater, Fla., last fall and it helped net him a scholarship at Pittsburgh-based Robert Morris. 

In fact, Clearwater Academy has become a haven for football players from around the world, including many Canadians looking to raise their profiles as college prospects.

Tomlinson, who is completing Grade 12 at St. Paul’s, was eligible to sign this fall but decided to reclassify for 2022 when the Winnipeg High School Football League season was scrubbed owing to the pandemic. He will attend Clearwater next fall to prepare for the next level.

“Since we didn’t have a season this year I didn’t get the opportunity to play,” said the 18-year-old Tomlinson, who had a scholarship offer from the University of North Dakota, an FCS school, in 2019. “By reclassifying I’ll have like more film to show to colleges, especially down in the States. So I feel like it’s like the best opportunity for me to like get exposed to the next level talent.” 

The 5-9, 176-pounder has guidance from home from his dad Donovan Tomlinson, a former member of the University of Manitoba Bisons. 

“To be prepared for that I’ll probably just keep on training with my dad and also training with Recruit Ready as well,” said Tomlinson. “And once I get down there — since I haven’t written the SAT, which I probably will — I’d like to show my academic skills because having good academics now is especially important for D1 colleges.”

Two other major talents from Winnipeg have already landed at Clearwater Academy. Kelly, originally from Oak Park High School, is a member of the recruiting class of 2022 while Sims, formerly of Dakota Collegiate, is eligible for 2023.

Sims is a 6-3, 190-pounder with a 40-inch vertical. Kelly also has spectacular physical tools.

“He’s 6-2, almost 6-3, with 4.4 (40-yard) speed and wingspan like a defensive end,” said Recruit Ready’s Brad Black of Kelly. “This kid is just super athletic and he’s living up to the hype. I’m already getting calls from Washington, Notre Dame, Rutgers and UConn. The list goes on. So you know he’ll go to a big school.”

 

mike.sawatzky@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @sawa14