Sandburg's Schofield fast to rise

Morgan Park defensive end Craig Drummond is the "leading prospect" in Illinois, according to recruiting analyst Tom Lemming.
(Mark Kuefner/For the Sun-Times)

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A year ago, Mike Schofield was only a blip on most college football recruiters’ radar screens. A very big blip, to be sure, but despite his impressive size the 6-7, 275-pound offensive lineman hadn’t made much of an impression during his junior year at Sandburg.

"Last year, the coach said to play to the whistle," Schofield recalled. "I did that pretty good. I did a lot of things. I got to the second level pretty good. I felt I had a good enough year to be all-conference. But I wasn’t. I was good but I never thought I'd get so many offers."

Now Schofield ranks among the top 10 prospects in the Class of 2009 in the Chicago area. He has received scholarship offers from Illinois, Arizona, Michigan, Indiana, Minnesota, Iowa, Michigan State, Vanderbilt, Boston College and Northern Illinois. He has received interest from Notre Dame, Northwestern, Virginia, Ohio State, Purdue, Penn State, Oregon and Colorado.

He is the most recruited player to come out of the Orland Park school since Jeff Alm in the 1980s. Alm later played at Notre Dame and in the NFL.

Other noteworthy Sandburg products were Zak Kustok, Jeff Roehl, former Sandburg coach Mike Navarro and current Northwestern coach Pat Fitzgerald.

"I don’t know that he came out of nowhere," said Dave Wierzal, Sandburg’s second-year coach. "When recruiters see him on film, he is one of the kids who plays to the whistle, makes the second block and blocks downfield. Put the whole package together and you see a kid who will produce at the Division I level in the next few years."

Schofield, whose father is a firefighter, admitted he knew nothing about the recruiting process. He didn’t think colleges began to contact prospects as soon as they did. When he began to receive e-mails and letters last February, he said he began to catch on.

In February, Northwestern came in to talk to him. In March, Arizona made the first offer. Now he is talking about making some unofficial campus visits in June, then making a commitment in August, before the season begins, so he doesn’t have to worry about recruiting during the season. He marvels at how fast everything has happened.

"You have to talk to the coaches and get to know them and the players, then see how you like the school," Schofield said. "Sometimes it is a little overwhelming, getting 10 letters a day. But I won’t rush my decision. It is one of the biggest decisions of my life."

Recruiting analyst Tom Lemming believes Schofield has a great opportunity to make a statement this fall.

"Schofield is a good athlete and it is a bad year nationally for offensive linemen," Lemming said. "Everyone is looking for them and Chicago is loaded with offensive linemen. If you’re an offensive lineman, you should be working on your quickness. If you improve your foot speed, you'll get a scholarship. Kids who are borderline national recruits are getting offers. There are very few good offensive linemen in the South and East."

According to Lemming, next fall’s senior class in the Chicago area continues to be headed by defensive end Craig Drummond of Morgan Park, offensive lineman Chris Watt of Glenbard West, quarterbacks Jon Budmayr of Marian Central and Northwestern-bound Evan Watkins of Glenbard North and offensive lineman Pat Ward of Providence.

"Drummond is clearly the leading prospect. He is like Richard Dent in high school," Lemming said. "But he has been downgraded a bit by some analysts and college coaches because they aren’t sure if he will qualify academically. I don’t get that. What has he done to warrant being dropped? He hasn’t played a game since November.

"He is still the best player I have seen. Defensive ends are more difficult to discover than offensive linemen. Watt is one of the best offensive linemen in the country and he gets more attention because he is a good student. But Drummond has great speed and burst and explosive moves that give him an edge."

Some fresh faces, including Schofield, tight end Austin Baker of Driscoll, quarterback Darren Jones of Thornton, offensive linemen Sean Cascarano of Glenbrook South and Gus Handler of Barrington and defensive end Anthony Wells of North Chicago, surfaced in recent weeks and impressed college coaches during the May evaluation period.

"Overall, the class of 2009 in the Chicago area isn’t very strong," Lemming said. "There are a lot of suspects and not many prospects. There are only about 20 kids who excite college coaches. Normally there are 40 at this time. But there are another 60-70 who are suspects, who could develop but need to have good senior years."