Three Iona Prep Football Players: Three Different Paths To College
In normal times during the winter, senior student-athletes from Iona Prep would be narrowing down their college lists and making official campus visits to different schools across the country.
The all-boys Roman Catholic college preparatory school located in New Rochelle, like many other schools, are filled with student-athletes facing difficulties with their recruiting due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The Iona Prep varsity football team includes players affected by the pandemic. The team’s fall football season was cancelled due to New York Governor Andrew M. Cuomo deeming high-risk, full contact sports unsafe and unplayable.
Taj McDowell, a senior linebacker and defensive tackle for Iona Prep, counted on his senior season to attract Division I schools since he was unable to play his junior season due to a broken back. McDowell broke his back preparing for his first varsity year in 2019. He says his workout regimen included lifting weights six times a week to gain strength and running sprints for conditioning.
McDowell continued to keep the same workout routine after experiencing pain in his lower back. He learned that he broke his L5-S1 spinal motion segment, also known as the lumbosacral joint, after five different visits with doctors and chiropractors. He got the news during a visit with a doctor at the Hospital for Special Surgery in Manhattan. The news meant that his junior season would end before he could play one snap of varsity football.
Junior season is recognized as the most important season for a student-athlete. Recruiters look to see how the student-athlete handled the jump from junior-varsity to varsity, how much did the athlete’s body physically grow and determine if standardized test scores are up to par for admission to the school.
Missing out on junior year meant McDowell could only rely on his senior season to show schools he is capable of receiving a Division I offer. New York high schools moved high-risk Fall sports to the Spring in hopes to play if COVID-19 cases dropped in the state. With rising cases and hospitalizations from the virus, the likelihood of a Spring season is very unlikely.
This leaves McDowell, his teammates and other New York student-athletes working to find alternatives to get on the radar of college recruiters.
“COVID really messed me up,” McDowell says. “I have been doing my best now to go on Twitter making sure to showcase whatever I can. Right now I think I have 14 Division III offers. That is because I have just been doing a real good job of putting myself out there on Twitter.”
The coronavirus pandemic took the possibilities for student-athletes having one last shot of playing college football at the highest level. Many like McDowell thought they could depend on performances from a solid, final season to bolster their offer list. Many football camps, which are common for prospects to join to get exposure from various attending schools, were cancelled as well.
Changes from the pandemic were not kind to those who already received Division I offers and interests either. Prospects who received offers from the best schools in the country were not allowed to participate in official visits and were forced to settle for unofficial visits.
The National Collegiate Athletic Association encouraged colleges to stop all official and unofficial visits on Nov. 18. Some Division I schools opted to suspend official visits but allow unofficial and administrative visits.
College freshmen that are now attending their college of choice did not have to deal with the restrictions being faced by high school student-athletes in the class of 2021. College freshmen now were able to take official visits, which are trips to a college campus where the college pays for lodging, transportation to and from the campus, three meals per day and three tickets to a school home game for the athlete and their families. Each prospect is allowed up to five official visits and are only allowed to begin visiting after their junior year.
Prospects and their families are responsible for financing unofficial visits themselves and are allowed to take them at any time. The school can provide housing but only if the athlete pays the normal rate. Administrative visits allow students to visit schools but restrict them from any contact with the athletic department.
Iona Prep senior wide receiver Alex Willams picked up Division I offers from colleges but was unable to fulfill all five official visits due to the pandemic. The Bryant University commit was offered a scholarship from the Northeast Conference school on Oct. 8. Williams accepted the scholarship a month later without taking an official or unofficial visit. Williams and his family were only able to take an administrative visit.
The wide receiver toured the campus like a student that is not an athlete, a situation that only presented itself due to the coronavirus pandemic.
“Going into it, it was upsetting because as an athlete you look forward to putting on the gear, taking all the pictures and doing all the photoshoots,” says Williams. “That stuff is really fun. And then you get to really sit down and talk with the coaches.”
Williams’ teammate on the defensive side Khordae Sydnor, a six-foot-five 255-pound defensive end, was not slowed down because he received most of his offers before the pandemic.
The Harlem native racked up offers from Syracuse University, Rutgers University, Arizona State University and Ivy League schools among others. Sydnor committed to Purdue University on April 25.
Even for Sydnor, the pandemic did not leave his college recruiting process unscathed. He committed to Purdue University without making any visits to the campus. The school’s recruiting coordinator conducted a virtual visit for Sydnor. Current Purdue student-athletes sent videos and pictures of the campus to him too.
A high school student-athlete making a four-year commitment to a school and community they have never visited before is a leap of faith. But during this pandemic student-athletes are more grateful to just receive an offer from top schools this year more than ever.
Sydnor got the chance to visit Purdue during the Thanksgiving holiday weekend while on a trip to visit an aunt that lives near the campus. The visit came after signing his national letter of intent form, which is an agreement between player and school binding the two parties together. It is the final step in the recruiting process.
“It kind of felt awkward,” Sydnor says about signing with Purdue without any visits to the school. “But I knew that was the school I wanted to go to. It is a great academic school and I felt very comfortable with the coaching staff.”
With Purude having another Harlem native Sanoussi Kane and other New Yorkers on the roster, Sydnor’s decision was a bit more easier because of the familiarity of some players.
“And what made it more comfortable was that I know some kids that are already there,” Sydnor says. “I know three kids there now so it made me feel good about my choice.”
All three Iona students credit their college offers to their play on the field before the pandemic and solid highlight tapes they sent while being recruited. They also did not forget that their high grades and SAT scores gave them an opportunity to be recognized by more schools in the country.
The student-athletes posted their grade point averages and SAT scores in their Twitter bios as a way to attract recruiters to their page. Attractive grades and SAT scores meant schools would be at ease offering good students knowing they will take care of their classwork when not on the football field.
Despite McDowell not getting the scholarships from institutions nationally known for football on the highest level, his 4.0 GPA has gotten him offers from schools known as solid academic institutions. His offer list includes Wesleyan University and University of Rochester.
Williams’ 3.4 GPA and 1140 SAT score made recruiters comfortable knowing that he will be focused on and off the football field.
McDowell, Williams and Sydnor were all a part of About U, a nonprofit organization based in New York City that provides academic instruction, physical preparation, coaching and social media marketing services to high school students.
“I was in their SAT program and I used to work out in Queens and their facility downtown too,” Williams says.
Williams continued to say that George Lanese, the co-founder and coach at the organization, helped him get to Purdue University through all the obstacles in his way.
“Coach George has helped me a lot,” Williams says. “He really did a lot for my recruiting process and really showed me the ropes of how it really is. College is a business at the end of the day. So he showed me how to maneuver it.”
About U’s SAT program charged $275 for monthly classes but all fees were waived after May due to the pandemic. Lanese says he was able to keep students enrolled through October and provide free Zoom football training sessions for three months.
Lanese says he made sure to stress the importance of good grades to the Iona prospects because it would widen the pool of schools that could recruit you. He added on saying the foundation to maximize your recruiting is through academics, during a pandemic or not.
“Your ability and your size will determine what level [you can play at],” says Lanese. “But the number of schools that can recruit you within that level is going to be determined by your GPA and SAT scores.”
About U’s Elite Five Showcase helped the student-athletes gain some attention from schools while being unable to participate in Fall football games. The showcase took place at Archbishop Stepinac High School on Oct. 24. Invited prospects took advantage of the opportunity since many camps were cancelled for months and colleges had no high school game film to recruit from.
Many New York student-athletes are also competing for scholarship offers against prospects in different states that were allowed to play football. Some New Yorkers even transferred out the state for an opportunity to play.
Lanese says McDowell took the opportunity to compete at the showcase and dominated. McDowell says before the showcase he just wished there was a way he could show how valuable he could be to a school’s roster.
“A lot of schools are going to look at it like why would I take a chance on a kid who does not have film,” says McDowell. “And I completely understand that but I wish there was a way I could show I am a dog. Take a chance on me.”
McDowell was given an FCS ranking after the showcase, which means evaluators at the camp believed he is skilled enough to play in college football’s Division I Football Championship Subdivision. FCS is a division right below the more popular, top-level Football Bowl Subdivision(FBS) that normally have their games aired on ESPN, CBS and FOX.
McDowell says that one more season for himself and other New York athletes could be the difference between getting that Division I offer they dream about. And he says if he was granted an opportunity to speak with Governor Cuomo, he would explain how a cancelled senior season negatively affected his recruiting considering not being able to play junior year due to a broken back and how the decision will ruin the future for many families.
“I am not blaming him but the way [Cuomo] is doing things right now is messing up a lot of kids,” says McDowell. “There are a lot of kids’ futures who are riding on this. A lot of kids that need to get out of poverty stricken areas in the city need this to get out. They are using football as an outlet. This is their way out.”
