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Monday, February 16, 2009

H-DNL to College ... more

Some more college athletes from the H-DNL, courtesy of readers...

Jim Berning, Montana basketball

**Ted's Note: Eureka's Berning was a 6-foot-3, maybe 6-foot-4, sky-jumper from 1973-1975 -- by H-DNL standards. He blocked more shots than any H-DNL player I can remember...and he played all three years in high school...and he was an outstanding student. The world's filled with great players who "coulda' been somebody" if they'd managed that 2.0 gpa and stayed off the police blotters. Berning was just a truly great student-athlete.

Mike and Ron Spini, University of Washington baseball

Stacey Morgan U Washington baseball

Rick Lundblade, Stanford baseball.

Rob Harrison, Sac State football

**Harrison initially accepted a full scholarship to play at San Diego State University out of Eureka High School.

Kenny Maire - Cal baseball

**Ted Note: Maire was the best pitcher of his era in the H-DNL.
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2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Rachel Grushkin (EHS '03) played 4 years at University of Oregon.

Jan Nash Hunt

12:44 PM
Anonymous said...

What can be the most frustrating is when the coaches KNOW the talent level of players and STILL refuse to play them.

My son played football for a fairly prestigious high school program in the San Joaquin Valley. His "position" was left tackle, protecting the QB's blindside, which he was very good at doing. However, he was also the best defensive tackle on the club. I'm not just being a dad either, the defensive line coach told me that. Regardless, he did not play a single down of defense the entire regular season. I should add that his team was dominant, and they really didn't need him on defense...it still would have been nice to see him a couple series though.

Then came the play-offs. Suddenly the competition level rose and "magically" whenever the opponent's offense got inside the "red zone" in came #78 at defensive tackle. As a matter of fact, he played both ways quite a bit. His team did well, they won the school's first Division III state championship competing with schools 4 times their size.

Coaches told me the reason for his not playing more defense during the regular season was the risk of injury. They "needed" him protecting their star passer. Eh, whatever.

It wasn't until he played junior college football, and was a full time nose tackle, that he was noticed by Division I colleges. He ended up playing college football at a few different schools and is now coaching himself. But I do understand what you're saying that the high school coaches need to do a better job for the player's future...and not just worry about their own win/loss record.

Berk Brown

10:28 AM

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