SALT LAKE CITY — Jazey Drecksel has only one regret about his high school football career.
“I wish I would have started earlier,” said the 6-foot-6 270-pound offensive lineman, who is one of nearly 800 Utah high school students whose athletic skill will help earn them a college education. “(Cyprus football coaches) pulled me aside (before my junior year), and said, ‘Hey, just come try out, play for a year, and if you don’t like it, you don’t have to come back.'”
Drecksel said he’d played Little League sports but wasn’t enamored.
“I just felt like it wasn’t my thing,” said the Cyprus graduate who will play for Snow College on a football scholarship this fall. “But once I saw the changes they made with our team, it was a whole different atmosphere.”
In a word, it was the camaraderie the sport offered, and Drecksel, who was already an honor student, said it changed his high school experience.
“I had like four close friends before football,” he said. “It helped change my whole perspective on high school.”
Recruiting players like Drecksel from the halls of Cyprus hasn’t just bolstered the Pirates’ football program, it’s changed the expectations of the players far beyond the field. Five players earned football scholarships — the largest group in recent history.
“A few years ago kids were discussing what (high school) they were going to (transfer) to,” said Smith. “In a matter of a few years, we’re sending six kids alone to play college football.”
As the school celebrated nine athletic scholarships, including a record number of football offers, the message was that investing in the right things can offer opportunities.
In the last eight years, the Deseret News has worked with Utah high schools and colleges to assemble a complete list of student-athletes who earned college scholarships. This year’s 800 is the most in the eight-year history of the effort. In 2016, about 720 student-athletes reported receiving college scholarships, and that’s the only other year Utah preps broke 700.
The addition of men’s and women’s soccer to the sports offered by USU Eastern in Price may be one reason for the boost by accounting for 30 of the scholarships.
While the number of scholarships is a high for student-athletes, those who earned athletic scholarships are just a fraction of the seniors who participated in high school activities. Last year, 66,437 students participated in athletics sponsored by the Utah High School Activities Association. Of those, an estimated 17,938 were seniors. That means just 4.43 percent of high school athletes earned college scholarships last year.
It didn’t feel real the first time. But it was very exciting to know I’m starting a new chapter in my soccer career. ... I’ve always wanted to play college soccer. – Nixie Hernandez
Some schools didn’t report any scholarships, while others had several. Bingham topped the list with 31 scholarships.
Girls received 412 scholarships, while boys accepted 384. Interestingly, more than 38,000 boys participated in high school sports, while slightly more than 28,000 girls competed in sanctioned sports.
Of those who earned scholarships, 438 will be continuing their playing careers at Utah colleges or universities, like Tennessee Pututau, an East High football player who chose Utah over several other schools, including Washington and BYU.
But then there are 358 student athletes who did what Lehi quarterback Cammon Cooper did in choosing an out-of-state school. Cooper will play for Washington State this fall.
About 293, like Desert Hills’ Penei Sewell, the state's top football recruit, will head to major universities, while another 503 accepted offers like Drecksel’s.
For the boys, the bulk of the scholarships came in football with 153, including 48 Div. I. For the girls, the most scholarships were offered in soccer with 127, including 37 Div. I offers.
Cottonwood’s Nixie Hernandez was one of those young women who will pay for college with her soccer skills. For the 5-foot-6 midfield/forward, the opportunity is something she dreamed about since elementary school.
“It didn’t feel real the first time,” she said of committing to play for Weber State, where she hopes to pursue a career in nursing. “But it was very exciting to know I’m starting a new chapter in my soccer career. ... I’ve always wanted to play college soccer.”
This year, 55 girls and 46 boys will continue their educations thanks to their running skills, as 101 earned scholarships in cross-country and/or track.
Both Hernandez and Drecksel had advice for student-athletes just starting their prep careers.
“Work hard in school,” Drecksel said. “That’s a big thing coaches look at because it shows your work ethic.”
Hernandez’s advice echoed those sentiments of investing as much in the classroom as one does on the field.
“Work hard and try to find as many scholarships as you can,” she said. “Just get your name out there as much as you can, email coaches, and just work as hard as you can because hard work always defeats talent.”