Searching for an opportunity to keep playing football and continue his education, Cadence Burch was doing all he could Saturday morning.
At a recruiting fair for high school football players at Drew High in Clayton County, the North Clayton High senior tried to make a strong first impression on the college coaches he met.
As he and attendees circulated between classrooms to listen to coaches pitch their schools, Burch asked questions, made sure to shake hands with the coaches and did one thing in particular when the young men were asked to state their name, high school and position.
He did as told — Cadence Burch, North Clayton, defensive back. But he also added that he was a first-team all-region selection. That detail invariably triggered a raised eyebrow or a follow-up question from the coaches. They became even more intrigued when he told them that this was his first year of football since sixth grade and that he plays basketball and has run track.
“Coach Cap (Burnett), my head coach at North Clayton, he was telling us to make sure the first impression is a good impression,” Burch told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
An aspiring cybersecurity major with a 3.4 GPA, Burch enjoyed a productive morning at the Brandon Adams Football Recruiting Summit. Unsigned but hoping to earn a football scholarship, he connected with coaches from Savannah State, Albany State, Benedict College and Livingstone College — all HBCU Division II schools.
“It was a good experience for me,” said Burch, who hopes to make a decision by the end of February. “It was great to talk to all these coaches and get to know them, some of them to get know me, too.”
The creation of pathways for high school football players like Burch is the purpose of the event. Taking place on the first Saturday after the start of the NCAA’s regular signing period for Division I and Division II football, it is a market to connect unsigned seniors with college programs with available scholarships, free of charge to students and colleges.
Launched in 2008 and run by members of the Black fraternity Omega Psi Phi, it was later named in honor of late Georgia Tech defensive tackle Brandon Adams, who died unexpectedly in 2019 at the age of 21.
Mostly from Division II schools with some from Division III and the junior-college ranks, coaches from 20 schools met with athletes and later led a combine-type workout on the Drew field. There were 129 athletes, largely from metro Atlanta but some traveling from out of state.
It’s a fitting tribute to Adams, who was a beloved figure within the Tech athletic department for his service to others and joyful spirit.
“He would be speechless, is what I can honestly say,” former Yellow Jackets teammate, fraternity brother and close friend Chris Martin said of Adams’ likely reaction. “His mother (Lisa Greer, who spoke at the event) used the words of making an impact, spreading the impact. I know he wouldn’t have been able to fathom this type of impact that he’s had.”
In a way, exposure events like this have only grown in importance for young athletes on the fringe. Due to the growing volume of college players in the transfer portal, demand for high school talent has dropped.
Why risk a scholarship on a 19-year-old with no college football experience when you can sign a more physically developed 21-year-old who has already played two seasons?
“I put it to you like this,” Livingstone defensive coordinator Mike Austin said as he surveyed high school seniors working out at the event. “The portal being 7,000 to 12,000 players that have played college football, that makes it very hard for (high school prospects).”
Before the portal and other NCAA rules easing transfers, Austin said, Division II Livingstone might have signed 20 to 23 high schoolers out of a class of 27. Now it’s around 12.
Austin said he went to another high school showcase similar to Saturday’s that was attended by about 150 athletes. In the past, perhaps 30 to 50 coaches might have set up shop, looking for undiscovered talent. This time, Austin was one of two college coaches.
“It’s flipped,” he said. “It’s a different landscape.”
The de-emphasis on high school recruiting has created a trickle-down effect. High school prospects who previously would have merited Football Championship Subdivision scholarship offers now are only getting Division II offers, and those who before the portal were worthy of Division II offers are getting shut out. (Division III schools are not permitted to offer athletic scholarships.) Multiplied by the nearly 300 programs in FCS and Division II, that’s hundreds of high schoolers finding their paths blocked. It’s a pattern replicated elsewhere in the NCAA landscape.
“The elite guys are the elite guys,” Hapeville Charter coach Winston Gordon told the AJC. “But the developmental guys almost don’t stand a chance.”
It’s another outcome of a college athletics system that has gone haywire.
The portal has benefited college athletes in many ways, granting them the freedom to secure better opportunities for playing time and name, image and likeness deals.
But the negative impact on many of their younger peers is undeniable.
There are thanks to be offered for events like the Brandon Adams Football Recruiting Summit, trying to keep a foot in the door to allow dreams to pass through.
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