New Brunswick HS (New Brunswick, NJ) Marquis Hamm (Rugters), Paul Vigo (Colorado), Academic Coach Laurie Lazovick and Brandon Smith (Michigan) (l to r)

DALLAS, March 13, 2008 – The National Football Foundation & College Hall of Fame (NFF) highlighted today that 116 student-athletes from Play It Smart, the NFF’s highly successful youth development program, signed national letters of intent last month with universities that participate in the Division I football subdivisions.

“The realization of a dream, National Letter of Intent Day is a special day for every college football player. It dictates not only the next four years of his life but the next forty,” said NFF President and CEO Steven J. Hatchell. “We are extremely proud of the passion and countless hours that our academic coaches devote throughout the year to prepare all of their players for life after high school.”

The breakdown included 69 student-athletes heading to the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) and 47 signing letters with Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) teams. The numbers mean that the likely number of Play It Smart alumni on FBS rosters will increase from 190 student-athletes last year to more than 230 in the 2008 season with a comparable impact in the FCS total with more than 150 players.

Launched in 1998 in four schools and currently in 137 schools (listed at www.playitsmart.org) in 36 states and 79 cities, Play It Smart supports “academic” coaches as they work with high school football teams in underserved areas during the entire school year. Academic coaches build on the transferable life skills developed on the field, helping their players apply those same skills in the classroom and the community.

“Signing day is a major accomplishment for our student-athletes and a seminal moment for the students, parents, coaches, and teachers involved with our program,” said Long Beach Poly HS Academic Coach Monica Kim, whose team produced nine Division I letters. “It is the culmination of all the hard work on and off the field, and in and out of the classroom for everyone over the last four years.”

Academic coaches work with the direct support of a team’s head coach and other key personnel at the school to build key relationships with the players and others in the community to help the team and each player reach their goals.

“Play it Smart has helped our athletes stay on task, reach new academic heights, and fulfill their dreams of playing college football,” said head coach Mike Kirschner at Ben Davis HS in Indianapolis, Ind. “The opportunity to have [academic coaches] Leslie Kelly and Mari Atherton assist, mentor, and guide our athletes has been instrumental to their individual successes. It would be wonderful if we could reach every student the way that they have reached our athletes.”

Building on the positive peer pressure of the team, Play It Smart academic coaches are trained in a set of guiding principles and to use a variety of tactics, which make academic achievement the norm for a team. Tactics might include one-on-one goal setting meetings, life skills sessions, study halls, SAT/ACT prep classes, leadership conferences, and community service projects.

“For student-athletes competing at a high level, it is easy to get distracted from the important things outside of sports,” said Dennis Spacht, a participant at Long Beach Poly HS who signed with Fresno State. “Without [my academic coach] Monica Kim and the Play It Smart program, there is no way that I would be where I am today. Monica sacrifices so much time and energy to help us reach our goals that it borders on superhuman. She is an integral part not only of our education but our development as athletes and as people.”

With signers hailing from 49 different high schools, this year’s total of 69 FBS letters equals last year’s tally, but the 2008 additions more than replace the graduating seniors with the total number of alumni in the FBS ranks anticipated to increase from 190 over 230 players. The 47 players headed to FCS schools is an increase over the 41 who signed with FCS programs last year, and the increase should push the number Play It Smart graduates at FCS rosters to more than 150.

“By making it to the next level, this group symbolizes the hard work of their head coaches, academic coaches, teachers, teammates and many more,” said Executive Director of Play It Smart and NFF Vice President Len Stachitas. “We hold them out as an example of Play It Smart’s power to use a player’s interest in football to enhance his personal and academic development.”

Six graduates are headed to Miami (Fla.), the highest number attracted by a university in 2008, and the Big Ten drew 14 participants, the most of any conference. Long Beach Poly HS (Long Beach, Calif.) produced the most Division I letters of intent this year with nine signers. Glenville HS (Cleveland, Ohio) followed with eight commitments. Booker T. Washington HS (Miami, Fla.); Benjamin E Mays (Atlanta, Ga.); and Hillsborough HS (Tampa, Fla) each produced six letters. Boyd Anderson HS (Lauderdale Lakes, Fla.) and Henry W. Grady (Atlanta, Ga.) notched five letters each. Chandler HS (Phoenix, Ariz.) placed four student-athletes. Several schools produced three letters, including Ballou HS (Washington, D.C.); Ben Davis HS (Indianapolis, Ind.); Carver HS (Atlanta, Ga.); Douglass HS (Atlanta, Ga.); Glade Central (Belle Glade, Fla.); Liberty HS (Bethlehem, Pa.); and New Brunswick (New Brunswick, N.J.), and another 14 schools placed two players each at Division I schools.

“Ever since Play It Smart has been here, it has been a real plus for our program,” said Long Beach Poly head coach Raul Lara. “The help from the academic coach is tremendous. You can talk to the parents, and they can tell what a plus the program is. They will tell you how much it has helped in their kids’ development… We try to keep the kids accountable as much as possible and Play It Smart helps us do that. The benefit for us has been keeping guys eligible to play and having more guys qualifying to play in college… If you’re going to play football at Long Beach Poly, you better do it in the classroom too.”

The class includes two Parade All-Americans: Brendon Beal, who signed with Florida and participates at Liberty HS in Bethlehem, Pa., and Alameda Ta’amu, who signed with Washington and participates at Rainier Beach HS in Seattle, Wash.

"From an administrators perspective, working as a team has been critical to the success of Play It Smart at Lincoln,” said Renan Ebeid, Assistant Principal at Abraham Lincoln High School in Brooklyn, N.Y. “Involving the administrators, parents, coaches and teachers ensures that we cover all our bases and gives the student the highest chance of success.”

With major financial support from the NFL and the NFL Players Association, and a broad-coalition of corporations, communities, individuals and organizations, the program has quickly become one of the most comprehensive and effective youth mentoring programs, achieving dramatic results that include:

• 96% of senior participants graduate high school, compared to 76% of their senior classmates;


• 79% of seniors enroll in college compared to 63% of their senior classmates;


• Participants completed more than 69,000 hours of community service last year; and


• Participants earned more than $6 million in scholarships last year.

Prominent alumni include Ohio State’s Ted Ginn, Jr. (Miami Dolphins), Rutgers’ Ray Rice (2008 NFL Draft), Miami’s Leon Williams (Cleveland Browns), LSU’s Craig Davis (San Diego Chargers) and Super Bowl champion Jay Alford, who attended Penn State, and currently plays with the World Champion New York Giants.

“The success of our Play It Smart program lies in the relationships that have been established between the players and their academic coach. Our students know that they have someone that serves as their advocate, confidant, tutor, counselor and teacher,” said Dr. David Aderhold, the principal at New Brunswick HS in New Jersey. “Students within the Play It Smart program believe that if they reach the expectations set regarding academics, community service and athletics that tremendous possibilities will become available to them, but even more powerful is the belief that if athletic opportunities do not present themselves that they see college admission and college graduation as an achievable and desired goal.”

Additional quotes from participants (alphabetical by last name) who signed in 2008 include:

“Play It Smart and, more specifically, Coach Kim have helped me tremendously. She has helped me by staying on top of me and making sure I complete all of my learning hours and college requirements. It would have been very difficult to complete it without her, and I thank her and Play It Smart,” said Sheldon Armstrong who signed with Utah State and participates at Long Beach Poly HS in Long Beach, Calif.

“It gave me more time to do my work so my grades improved. I was able to give more of myself on the field because I wasn’t tired from doing homework from last night. [Our academic coach] was constantly staying on top of us about our grades,” said Darryl Farley who signed with Tulane and participates at Henry W. Grady HS in Atlanta, Ga.

"The program kept me on top of my books. My grades went up and I was able to focus better in the classroom. It definitely kept me eligible to compete on the field. [My academic coach] helped me with all my difficult work and all the assignments I struggled in,” said Daniel Few who signed with Georgia Southern and participates at Henry W. Grady HS in Atlanta, Ga.

"[Play It Smart] has been very helpful. Because of it, I passed my ACT. I got my grades up, and I am doing my homework now. I am also focusing more in class; I know I need to do that,” said MarQueis Grey who signed with Minnesota and participates at the Ben Davis HS in Indianapolis, Ind.

“Play It Smart is good for athletes. I remember it and my academic coach from my freshman and sophomore years. We had study hall in the theatre, and my academic coach caused me to stay focused on my classes even though I had no real problems in the classroom. Our coaches have been dedicated in keeping up with us and how we were doing academically. We did some community service like helping build a house with Habitat for Humanity,” said Artesza Portee who signed with Connecticut and participates at Benjamin E. Mays HS in Atlanta, Ga.

"Play It Smart has helped me in every aspect of life. I learned how to focus, plan out my schoolwork, and get things done. I have become more mature on the field and in my personal life from being in Play It Smart, and I have learned how to deal with different personalities in my life," said Khalif Staten who signed with Iowa and participates at the Abraham Lincoln HS in Brooklyn, N.Y.

"Play It Smart helped me get better study skills. My academic coaches have always pushed me and made sure I tried my hardest. My coaches showed me that when studying under the Play It Smart system, my grades would go up, and they were right,” said Darreion Robinson who signed with Georgia Southern and participates at Clarke Central HS in Athens, Ga.

“Academically Play It Smart helped me to maintain my GPA above a 3.0, helping me continue my success as a student-athlete. Athletically it kept me disciplined and humbled. Socially I was able to help others by participating in the community projects our academic coach set up for us. My academic coach has helped me reach the next level of being prepared for college with my academic studies, helping make sure I do what I am suppose to be doing,” said Naquan Smith who signed with Grambling State and participates at Benjamin E. Mays HS in Atlanta, Ga.

"For the last two years Coach Kim has been beside me step-by-step in my high school life. The recruiting process was extremely overwhelming, but with the help of Coach Kim I was able to get through it. I could not have realized my dream of receiving a scholarship and attending college without her," said Vaughn Telemaque who signed with Southern California and participates at Long Beach Poly HS in Long Beach, Calif.

“Play It Smart study halls were a good thing to keep us focused on our books. Even though I did not struggle in the classroom, the focus Play It Smart put on studying early as a freshman helped me see early how important it was to study and keep my grades up. I particularly liked the life skills conferences we had sometimes doing study hall,” said Patrick Thomas who signed with Savannah State and participates at Benjamin E. Mays HS in Atlanta, Ga.

"[Play It Smart] provided a way for me to study outside of the classroom and set me up with extra help for my classes. The Academic Coaches have given me advice and pushed me to get things done in the classroom, just like the football coaches push me at practice,” said Trevino Woods who signed with Kentucky and participates at Clarke Central HS in Athens, Ga.

The 2008 Play It Smart FBS Letters of Intent

College	Student- Athlete	High School & State
Air Force	Jeremy Kurz	Cheyenne East HS (Wyo.)
Air Force	Jaquon Robinson	Douglass HS (Ga.)
Air Force	Will Coley	West HS (Tenn.)
Alabama	Undra Billingsley	Woodlawn HS (Ala.)
Arizona State	Kemonte Bateman	Crenshaw HS (Calif.)
Arizona State	Clint Floyd	Crenshaw HS (Calif.)
Ball State	Torial Gibson	Glenville HS (Ohio)
Boise State	Tommy Smith	North Atlanta HS (Ga.)
Boston College	Dominick LeGrande	Curtis HS (N.Y.)
Boston College	Donnie Fletcher	Glenville HS (Ohio)
Bowling Green	Winston Etheridge	Glenville HS (Ohio)
California	Chris Little	Castlemont HS (Calif.)
California	Marc Anthony	Chandler HS (Ariz.)
Central Michigan	Lavarus Williams	Ben Davis HS (Ind.)
Colorado	Paul Vigo	New Brunswick HS (N.J.)
Connecticut	Artesza Portee	Benjamin Mays HS (Ga.)
Florida	Brandon Beal	Liberty HS (Pa.)
Florida International	Kambriel Willis	Booker T. Washington HS (Fla.)
Florida International	Jonathan Jackson	Booker T. Washington HS (Fla.)
Florida International	Chuck Grace	Hillsborough HS (Fla.)
Florida State	Moses McCray	Hillsborough HS (Fla.)
Fresno State	Douglas Spacht	Long Beach Poly HS (Calif.)
Illinois	Cordale Scott	Glenville HS (Ohio)
Illinois	Jarred Fayson	Hillsborough HS (Fla.)
Illinois	Donsay Hardeman	Raines HS (Fla.)
Indiana	Tandon Doss	Ben Davis HS (Ind.)
Iowa	Khalif Staten	Abraham Lincoln HS (N.Y.)
Iowa	William Lowe	Glenville HS (Ohio)
Kansas	Lubbock Smith	Carter HS (Texas)
Kentucky	Trevino Woods	Clarke Central HS (Ga.)
Louisiana-Lafayette	Derrick Dean	McDonough 35 HS (La.)
Miami (Fla.)	Brandon Harris	Booker T. Washington HS (Fla.)
Miami (Fla.)	Davon Johnson	Booker T. Washington HS (Fla.)
Miami (Fla.)	Thearon Collier	Booker T. Washington HS (Fla.)
Miami (Fla.)	Joseph Wylie	Boyd Anderson HS (Fla.)
Miami (Fla.)	Travis Benjamin	Glades Central HS (Fla.)
Miami (Fla.)	Vaughn Telemaque	Long Beach Poly HS (Calif.)
Michigan	Brandon Smith	New Brunswick HS (N.J.)
Michigan State	Johnny Adams	Akron Buchtel HS (Ohio)
Middle Tenn. State	Sancho McDonald	Booker T. Washington HS (Fla.)
Minnesota	MarQueis Grey	Ben Davis HS (Ind.)
New Mexico	Joe Harris	George Washington HS (Colo.)
North Carolina	Herman Davidson	Long Beach Poly HS (Calif.)
North Texas	Willie Taylor	Hillcrest HS (Texas)
Ohio State	Shawntel Ronwell	Glenville HS (Ohio)
Ohio State	Jermil Martin	Glenville HS (Ohio)
Oregon	Dion Jordan	Chandler HS (Ariz.)
Oregon	Justin Thompson	Westchester HS (Calif.)
Purdue	Gavin Roberts	Franklin HS (N.J.)
Purdue	Dwayne Beckford	Irvington HS (N.J.)
Rutgers	Eddie Poole	Glades Central HS (Fla.)
Rutgers	Marquis Hamm	New Brunswick HS (N.J.)
South Florida	Jatavious Jackson	Glades Central HS (Fla.)
Southern California	Jurrell Casey	Long Beach Poly HS (Calif.)
Stanford	Harold Bernard	Chandler HS (Ariz.)
Syracuse	Romale Tucker	Ballou HS (D.C.)
Syracuse	Nick Speller	Edmonson Westside HS (Md.)
Temple	Anthony Rapley	Benjamin Mays HS (Ga.)
Temple	Ahkeem Smith	Liberty HS (Pa.)
Temple	Tahir Whitehead	Westside HS (N.J.)
Toledo	Andreas Ashwood	Hillsborough HS (Fla.)
Troy	Chris Anderson	Boyd Anderson HS (Fla.)
Tulane	Darryl Farley	Henry Grady HS (Ga.)
Utah State	Sheldon Armstrong	Long Beach Poly HS (Calif.)
Washington	Kurt Magnum	Chandler HS (Ariz.)
Washington	Alameda Ta'Amu	Rainier Beach HS (Wash.)
Washington State	Kevin Norrell	Long Beach Poly HS (Calif.)
West Virginia	Bernard Smith	Benjamin Mays HS (Ga.)
Wisconsin	Kevin Claxton	Boyd Anderson HS (Fla.)

The 2008 Play It Smart FCS Letters of Intent

College	Student- Athlete	High School & State
Alabama State	Donovan Maeline	Raines HS (Fla.)
Austin Peay State	Jake Ryan	West HS (Tenn.)
Bethune-Cookman	Jarius Caffey	Henry Grady HS (Ga.)
Delaware State	Avery Grant	Canarsie HS (N.Y.)
Delaware State	Jermaine Morrison	Canarsie HS (N.Y.)
Eastern Kentucky	Shannon Davis	Benjamin E. Mays HS (Ga.)
Eastern Kentucky	Andre Evans	Glenville HS (Ohio)
Georgia Southern	Darrien Robinson	Clarke Central HS (Ga.)
Georgia Southern	Daniel Few	Henry Grady HS (Ga.)
Georgia Southern	DeMarcus Watts	Henry Grady HS (Ga.)
Georgia Southern	Marc Thomas	Hillsborough HS (Fla.)
Georgia Southern	Ricky Ponton	Hillsborough HS (Fla.)
Grambling State	Naquan Smith	Benjamin E. Mays HS (Ga.)
Hofstra	Ronald Green	Ballou HS (D.C.)
Hofstra	Chris Thomas	Curtis HS (N.Y.)
Hofstra	Tau Sudlow	South Shore HS (N.Y.)
Howard	Ashton Wilder	Shabazz HS (N.J.)
Idaho State	Brandon Green	Rainier Beach HS (Wash.)
Indiana State	Michael Palmer	Riley HS (Ind.)
Jackson State	Jordan Gross	Long Beach Poly HS (Calif.)
Jackson State	Avon Waters	Southside HS (Ga.)
McNeese State	Stuart Joseph	Edna Karr HS (La.)
Mississippi Valley State	William Woodward	Woodlawn HS (Ala.)
Morgan State	Josh Durden	Douglass HS (Ga.)
Morgan State	Dominic Logan	Southside HS (Ga.)
New Hampshire	Joe Orlando	Liberty HS (Pa.)
Norfolk State	Devon Lesesne	Ballou HS (D.C.)
North Carolina Central	Brandon Outlaw	Henry Grady HS (Ga.)
Northern Colorado	Pat Walker	Long Beach Poly HS (Calif.)
Northwestern State	Derek Rose	O. Perry Walker HS (La.)
Sacramento State	Jeffrey Johnson	Long Beach Poly HS (Calif.)
Savannah State	Patrick Thomas	Benjamin E. Mays HS (Ga.)
Savannah State	Chauncey Bailey	Carver HS (Ga.)
Savannah State	Tiunte Little	Carver HS (Ga.)
South Carolina State	Ronald Holliday	Douglass HS (Ga.)
Southern	Kennon Bradford	McDonough 35 HS (La.)
Southern	Darryl Scott	O. Perry Walker HS (La.)
Tennessee - Chattanooga	Aresnio Clemens	Carver HS (Ga.)
Tennessee - Martin	Kenny Jones	Austin- East HS (Tenn.)
Tennessee - Martin	Brian Sommer	Austin-East HS (Tenn.)
Tennessee State	Travis James	Boyd Anderson HS (Fla.)
Tennessee State	Traves James	Boyd Anderson HS (Fla.)
Tennessee State	Stevie Shelton	Stratford HS (Tenn.)
Texas Southern	Andrew Phorne	Carter HS (Texas)
Texas Southern	DeMarcus Washington	Lincoln HS (Texas)
William & Mary	Brian Thompson	Franklin HS (N.J.)
Winston Salem State	David Harris	West Mecklenburg HS (N.C.)

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