KENNEDY AWARD FAVORITE NOT GETTING MUCH D-1 INTEREST

Publication: THE CHARLESTON GAZETTE
Published: 09/15/2005
Page: 4B
Headline: KENNEDY AWARD FAVORITE NOT GETTING MUCH D-1 INTEREST
Byline: RICK RYAN

rickryan@wvgazette.com

Over the past 17 years, only one Kennedy Award winner has failed to land a Division I scholarship. That number could double this year.

If Nitro senior tailback Josh Culbertson, as seems likely, winds up taking the Kennedy Award as the state's top high school football player, he still may not be able to cash it in for a major-college grant.

The 5-foot-9, 192-pound Culbertson, who's rushing for better than 300 yards and four touchdowns per game for West Virginia's No. 2 Class AAA team, hasn't had D-1 schools beating down his door.

"I think there are two reasons for that," said Nitro coach Scott Tinsley. "There's his height. That's the first thing they look at. Then I think it's because he had a bad summer. He pulled his hamstring early in the spring and it nagged him the entire summer. He went to a bunch of camps, but he was not able to run the 4.4 (-second 40-yard dashes) he did the year before.

"Unfortunately, these college coaches are so much about height, 40 times and all that stuff rather than watching film and seeing for themselves whether the kid can play or not."

Nitro hasn't exactly been churning out Division I football players through the years and Kanawha County is currently going through a dry spell of its own when it comes to major-college recruits. The last two were Capital linemen Darrion Scott (Ohio State) and Pierre Moss (Navy) in 2000.

Tinsley said that might factor into Culbertson's dearth of offers, but thinks the bum hamstring is the main culprit.

"I think it's the 40 times that have people stuck against him right now," Tinsley said. "Had he been healthy this summer and ran a 4.4, he'd be getting offers from everywhere."

The two Division I programs apparently tracking Culbertson the most are Marshall and Tennessee. Thundering Herd coaches watched his game against George Washington two weeks ago and Tennessee representatives have remained in constant touch with Tinsley.

"He had a pretty good camp down there [in Knoxville, Tenn.]," Tinsley said, "and ran one of his better times of the summer, in the mid 4.5s."

James Madison, the defending I-AA champion, has also expressed interest in Culbertson. Former Spring Valley coach Phil Ratliff serves as tight ends coach for the Dukes.

Culbertson realizes he needs to work on his grades, and he still hasn't received the necessary college-entrance test scores.

"Believe it or not, I haven't been thinking about college probably as much as I should be," Culbertson said. "Hopefully, I'll be able to keep it up [on the field] and get more recognition college-wise."

Culbertson would prefer an opportunity at a D-1 school, but said he's ready to listen to offers from all levels.

"Of course, I'd love to get an offer," he said. "I'm still waiting. I haven't got one yet. That's my main goal right now - getting a college scholarship - and it doesn't matter what level. If anyone offers you anything, you don't want to act like you're too good for it. If someone's going to hand you money, you'd better look into it.

"Obviously, you'd like to go Division I or Division I-AA - who wouldn't want to go look at those first? I wouldn't overlook anybody, though."

Tinsley has no doubts that Culbertson could play as a running back at the next level.

"I don't care where it is," he said. "I just know he can play and somebody's going to get a really good football player."

To contact assistant sports editor Rick Ryan, use e-mail or call 348-5175.