A piece on Vince Crochunis hoping to sign with a NFL team via free agency. He will be earning his masters degree at the end of the semester. A legitimate credit to the concept of the student-athlete (or cynically, the exception that proves the rule).

On the other hand, there are all these high school day camps for seniors to try and raise their profile for scholarships — for a fee.

They’ll have more opportunities than ever before, whether it’s at free, invitation-only day camps sponsored by adidas, Nike and New Balance or Joe Butler’s Metro Index camp, which costs $160 per camper for each four-day session.

Sparkling performances at the Nike camp were instrumental for former Penn Hills quarterback Anthony Morelli and former Gateway cornerback Justin King to be ranked No. 1 nationally at their respective positions and among the top-10 overall.

“These things are key for recruiting,” West Allegheny all-purpose back Dorin Dickerson said. “You have to be prepared and focused going in. It’s crucial when you do one-on-one drills against the best kids.”
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MSL Combines ran that event, and is staging one May 7 at Gateway High School. MSL Combines, sponsored by New Balance, measures athletes to NFL standards, then creates a profile of each prospect, complete with digitized highlights and their results from the combine. Access to the Web site is $25 for prospects, but much pricier for college coaches.

“It’s a pretty amazing deal,” said Sara Ellison, MSL Combines event producer. “We don’t like charging kids for things. A lot of times, the really good kids don’t need it.”

Add the adidas Elite Camp, to be held May 14 at the UPMC Sports Performance Complex, to the growing number of one-day combines to come to Western Pennsylvania this year.

Nothing like seeing the shoe companies do these camps at the schools they have deals with.