Karney Sells Himself
Kentwood fullback Mike Karney wanted to play college football and he wasn’t going to leave anything to chance.
Karney, unheralded at the start of the recruiting season, took the necessary steps to inform college recruiters last winter that he was interested in playing NCAA Division I football as a fullback. Arizona State University took the bait, and welcomed Karney into its program with a scholarship offer in September.
“I knew I wasn’t a big recruit,” Karney told the Tacoma News-Tribune. “But I felt really comfortable right away with ASU.”
Karney is a self-made prospect, one who attended the Nebraska summer camps for two seasons, took criticism well from those coaches and worked hard on his skills.
Then, last January, he took a cue from fellow Kent-area recruit Robin Miller, who wasn’t getting any interest last year from in-state universities. Miller caught the interest of Nebraska instead and signed there as a tailback.
So, Karney sat down at his computer. He created a formatted cover letter to send to recruiters. He edited a highlight tape consisting of his best plays and best games. Finally, he copied off the newspaper stories that were written about him and included them in the packet.
“I got a lot of responses,” Karney said.
He didn’t send the packets to just any university. Karney researched the schemes and depth charts of 20 universities.
“Oh, big time, it made a difference for me,” Karney said. “When I got a letter (in response), I’d send something back by mail as a thank you. I’ve learned the more hands-on you are, the better it is for both.”
How much impact did Karney’s work have? Well, at the beginning of the recruiting season last spring, he wasn’t among the top 30 recruits in the state. Now, he’s a member of the Northwest Nuggets’ honorable mention team.
No Inland Northwest players made this year’s Northwest Nuggets, but junior linebackers Trent Bray of Pullman and Ben Woodard of Cheney were on a list of potential Nuggets for next year.
The only Eastsider this year is Tyler Stubblefield of Davis. He’s one of a handful of players who lost an opportunity to play at the University of Washington because they wouldn’t commit early. Stubblefield is considering Oregon State and Washington State but may choose to play basketball if he doesn’t play both.
The Huskies have commitments from nine of the 30 mentioned. Washington State has one, 290-pound center Calvin Armstrong of Centralia. Among the in-state Nuggets heading out of state, Penn State and Arizona State have landed two. Michigan, Oregon, Oregon State, BYU and Stanford have picked up one apiece.
Catching up
The Tri-Cities answer to Spokane Stars AAU girls basketball, the Triple Threat, is starting to make an impact.
There are six freshmen out of the program playing on high-school varsities, including one at point guard on what might be the best team in the state. Kennewick is undefeated and ranked second in the state with freshman Leilani Mitchell at point.
Bob Sandusky coaches the Triple Threat.
The Tri-City program only goes through junior high, so many of the best players join the Stars at the high school level.