Basketball: 6-8 Idaho prep now headed to Louisiana
We told you a few days ago about Casey Oliverson, the 6-foot-8 high school freshman from Preston, Idaho, who was moving into American Fork's boundaries and was likely to perhaps even start for the Cavemen this season.
Well, the situation has changed -- dramatically.
Oliverson's father, Mike, will not accept a job teaching special education at American Fork after all. Instead, he has taken a job at Simsboro High in Simsboro, La.
Yes, Louisiana!
That means the family will move to the town near Ruston, La., and Louisiana Tech on Friday, Mike Oliverson confirmed this afternoon. Some lucky coach is going to get a 6-foot-8 athlete with Division I potential dropped into his lap from Idaho, of all places.
And he will have him for four years, presumably.
The tie to Louisiana is that Casey's older brother, 6-11 Shaun Oliverson, signed to play for La Tech and former Utah interim coach Kerry Rupp last spring. Shaun Oliverson played a year at Cornell before a church mission, but was recruited to La Tech by Rupp and assistant Curtis Condie, a Preston native who has coached at Wasatch and South Sevier highs and Snow College and Utah Valley University.
A teacher in Idaho for 20 years, Mike Oliverson said American Fork dragged its feet about matching his years, wanting to pay him what a seven-year teacher makes, while the Louisiana school was willing to give him a pay raise, when benefits and bonuses are figured in.
The family has another boy, Shane Oliverson, who will be a senior this fall but will remain at Preston High and live with his grandmother. Shane, 6-4 and 240 pounds, is a football star who doesn't have any offers yet, but has drawn interest from Boise State, Idaho State, Idaho, Utah and, of course, Louisiana Tech.
Mike Oliverson has been an assistant football coach at Preston for many years, and plans on helping out at Simsboro, if they'll have him.
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For you hardcore recruiting junkies, the Chronicle of Higher Education has an in-depth article on its Web site this week about the incredible amount of money that colleges spend to recruit athletes.
You can get to the article (and avoid having to register) by going to fanblogs.com and following the links about recruiting spending.
The Chronicle reports that nearly half of the nation's largest athletic programs -- those at BCS schools, basically -- have doubled or tripled their recruitment spending over the last decade.
The journal looked at more than 300 Division I institutions and found that 21 of those spent more than $1 million pursuing talented athletes for the 2007 academic year.
Knowing that, aren't you glad the ol' Recruiting Trail is free?
Well, the situation has changed -- dramatically.
Oliverson's father, Mike, will not accept a job teaching special education at American Fork after all. Instead, he has taken a job at Simsboro High in Simsboro, La.
Yes, Louisiana!
That means the family will move to the town near Ruston, La., and Louisiana Tech on Friday, Mike Oliverson confirmed this afternoon. Some lucky coach is going to get a 6-foot-8 athlete with Division I potential dropped into his lap from Idaho, of all places.
And he will have him for four years, presumably.
The tie to Louisiana is that Casey's older brother, 6-11 Shaun Oliverson, signed to play for La Tech and former Utah interim coach Kerry Rupp last spring. Shaun Oliverson played a year at Cornell before a church mission, but was recruited to La Tech by Rupp and assistant Curtis Condie, a Preston native who has coached at Wasatch and South Sevier highs and Snow College and Utah Valley University.
A teacher in Idaho for 20 years, Mike Oliverson said American Fork dragged its feet about matching his years, wanting to pay him what a seven-year teacher makes, while the Louisiana school was willing to give him a pay raise, when benefits and bonuses are figured in.
The family has another boy, Shane Oliverson, who will be a senior this fall but will remain at Preston High and live with his grandmother. Shane, 6-4 and 240 pounds, is a football star who doesn't have any offers yet, but has drawn interest from Boise State, Idaho State, Idaho, Utah and, of course, Louisiana Tech.
Mike Oliverson has been an assistant football coach at Preston for many years, and plans on helping out at Simsboro, if they'll have him.
---------------------------------
For you hardcore recruiting junkies, the Chronicle of Higher Education has an in-depth article on its Web site this week about the incredible amount of money that colleges spend to recruit athletes.
You can get to the article (and avoid having to register) by going to fanblogs.com and following the links about recruiting spending.
The Chronicle reports that nearly half of the nation's largest athletic programs -- those at BCS schools, basically -- have doubled or tripled their recruitment spending over the last decade.
The journal looked at more than 300 Division I institutions and found that 21 of those spent more than $1 million pursuing talented athletes for the 2007 academic year.
Knowing that, aren't you glad the ol' Recruiting Trail is free?
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