Jude Chamberlain
eSomethin Staff
Reed Gerken, a freshman in high school, played varsity football this year. Recently, the University of Miami of Ohio offered Gerken a full ride scholarship.
In a previous interview Gerken speculated that playing varsity football for four years may help him get offers but this one came sooner than he expected.
When asked what his reaction to getting this accomplishment Gerken said, “I was in shock but extremely humble about it. These are the types of moments you want to be the most humble about and I was just shocked and blessed.”
Geken said, “I just hope I don’t have an injury and can’t play for a season.”
Chris Purtee, Gerken’s teammate, says, “100 percent Varsity will help Reed get into the college of his dreams.”
Reed played in every varsity game this past season. So far his record on varsity is 8-4 but he has many years to keep playing.
Gerken was offered a chance that will become official at the end of Gerken’s sophomore year.
According to Next College Student Athlete NCSA, an organization that facilitates relationships between coaches and players, “For most Division I and Division II sports, coaches can start proactively reaching out to recruits June 15 after sophomore year or September 1 of junior year. However, many coaches—think Division I and some top-tier DII schools—will make scholarship offers to athletes as young as 7th and 8th grade.”
That quote explains that college coaches can make offers to athletes like Gerken but must wait until the students finish sophomore year to make official offers.
Gerken said that “it’s a full ride” and “ it’s a dream come true going D1 and playing football at the next level, and that was always the dream.”
Reed is very excited to go to college and continue his football career and maybe one day go pro.
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