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Home > Blogs > Springfield, Ohio High School Sports > Archives > 2010 > January > 30 > Entry
On this date in area sports history …
Seventeen years ago on this date, Jan. 30, 1993, the News-Sun published a story about football recruiting experiences of South’s Chris Wallace. Complete story on the jump.
SOUTH’S WALLACE SEES DARK SIDE OF COLLEGE ATHLETICS
By Dave Shedloski, Sports Editor
We have all heard or read, at one time or another, about the dark side of college athletics.
It is out there somewhere, lurking just below the glitzy surface of big-time football and basketball, as well as some lesser sports. And while we never know who next will stumble into the morass of one scandal or another, we know someone will.
Someone always does.
The fall likely will come in the high-stakes poker game of athlete recruiting, a never-ending pressure point in the arena of big business masquerading as amateur athletics. We’re used to the fact that rules will be broken here, the same rules intended to promote an atmosphere of fair play and a level field.
But fair play hardly seems a consideration anymore when it comes to schools chasing athletic talent. And even in instances where the rules aren’t trampled, integrity still too often takes a great fall.
The recruiting business is one cavernous wasteland.
Chris Wallace has walked in and out of the shadows of this valley, and has discovered the painful truth: that his best interests, stacked up against those of schools and their programs, are mighty far down on the depth charts.
The South quarterback with the rocket arm is headed to the University of Toledo, where he hopes his vast but underdeveloped passing abilities can overcome the second-tier status associated with the Mid-American Conference and propel him to his dream of an NFL career.
That the dream still exists at all is something of a wonderment, seeing how it will be sustained in spite of the system, not because of it.
Last resort is best
“It was one of my last resorts, but Toledo is like the best-kept secret in Ohio,” said Wallace, who last fall passed for 2,889 yards and 38 touchdowns, both state records. “It feels good to be wanted.”
He means truly wanted.
Of false affections he’s had his fill. But such is the nature of the college football recruiting game. Opportunity knocks, then knocks a kid down.
Tennessee, for instance, put the early blitz on Wallace, reportedly talking about a scholarship in mid-October. Further discussions with Vol recruiters, however, uncovered this enlightening bit of information: they really coveted Dee Miller, South’s preseason All-American wide receiver, who eventually committed to Ohio State.
If the Vols could land Miller as prime choice, they reportedly conceded, they’d gladly accept Wallace as gravy.
Tennessee officials could not be reached for comment.
“Tennessee answered all our questions honestly. They were up front with us the whole time,” said South Coach Tom Adams, generously overlooking the school’s initial expressions of earnest interest. “I told Chris he needed to go to a place where he could establish his own identity.”
Similar, though not duplicate, scenarios of bait and switch played themselves out with Michigan State, Louisville and Cincinnati, according to Adams. Each showed more than a passing interest in the 6-foot-1, 195-pound Wallace, only to back off without warning.
Schools short on foresight
Explanations weren’t abundantly forthcoming either. Louisville and Michigan State simply stopped calling, Wallace said. Cincinnati, after a change in head coaches, suddenly noticed that Wallace is, gasp, only 6-1, supposedly too short for major college football.
“A lot of schools said Chris was too short to be effective as a quarterback because he can’t see downfield,” Adams said. “Well, the greatest quarterback probably who ever lived - I’m talking about Joe Montana - isn’t but 6-1 or 6-2. (Heisman winner) Charlie Ward (of Florida State) is 6-1 and he seemed to be pretty darn effective.
“One of the things people in college football look for is can the kid make plays. Chris can make plays. He’s a player. What kid around here in the last 20 years has made more plays than Chris Wallace?”
Indeed, while the talented Miller was one of the nation’s preseason celebrities at receiver - and rightfully so - Wallace began his senior year as a relative unknown. But after twice throwing seven touchdowns in a game and enjoying nine Friday nights of 300-plus yards passing (including a couple of 500-yard explosions), Wallace ended up sharing the Division I All-Ohio Offensive Player of the Year award with his better known teammate.
Still, Wallace’s big-time college opportunities dried up once Miller announced he would become a Buckeye.
Only Hawaii, which he was to visit last week, and Toledo, which Wallace had turned down earlier, remained interested. That the Rockets finally landed him was due more to their good fortune than any benevolence they extended on his behalf.
“Yeah, I was a little disappointed,” Wallace said. “When you first start out you get caught up in all the hoopla and you’re not really thinking straight. But after awhile you realize that an education is an education. I’ve still got the opportunity to fulfill my dream, my longtime goal.
“I’m going to get to play college football. Maybe the odds are a little longer, but like Coach said, if you’re good, they (the NFL) will find you.”
They will find you on the college level, too. Whether they keep you - or keep themselves in the bounds of forthright behavior - is another matter.
Fortunately, Wallace landed on his feet. His dream goes on, with nary a psychological nick. Toledo, which finished 4-7 last year, uses a four-wideout attack that presumably will take advantage of his skills.
But consider this: Wallace had turned down Toledo once, lured by the sweet nothings of bigger, more prominent programs.
He could very well have ended up with no scholarship. Perhaps not, but who’s to say for certain.
If Wallace was not used by the system, he most certainly was mistreated by those who wallow in its trenches.
“I’ve learned a lot in the last few months,” said Adams, who admitted to being worn out by two having big-time prospects in his care. “You can’t imagine how much pressure is on these kids. I’ve seen how the game is played.”
“I feel pretty lucky,” Wallace said.
He ought to.
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