Taylor Bell: July 2009 Archives

Randy Taylor made an impact in college recruiting for 30 years, as a recruiter and recruiting coordinator at UCLA, Illinois, Minnesota and Nevada-Las Vegas. As the chief organizer of UCLA's recruiting in 1999, he helped to sign the No. 1 class in the nation.

Now Taylor is the recruiting coordinator for Chicago-based National Collegiate Scouting Association. Since he walked away from college football, he has formed some riveting opinions about the recruiting process that should be of interest to the media, high school and college coaches, athletes and their parents and anyone interested in the game.

"The more I see how the early commitment is being used and abused," he said, "I would definitely want to establish an early signing day for football. It should be either at the end of June so prospects can go to camps and commit afterward and follow the spring evaluation period so college coaches can check out academics."

If it wasn't for the gentle nudging of Lee Ann Fedorowicz, her son likely would have committed to Ohio State or Iowa instead of Illinois. So Illini Nation should add her to its Christmas card list because Illini coach Ron Zook hadn't shown any interest in the nation's top-rated tight end until his mother became Illinois' biggest booster.

Johnsburg's C.J. Fiedorowicz wanted to join a football program that had a reputation for passing the ball. He didn't want to be a blocking tight end. He wanted to be a pass-catching tight end. Ohio State and Iowa were his favorites. He was waiting for Ohio State coach Jim Tressel to promise that he would be an important factor in the Buckeyes' offense. If he did, it appeared that Fiedorowicz would commit on the spot.

Then C.J.'s mother had another idea.

Proviso West's Kyle Prater, who has been elevated to the No. 4 ranking in the nation in Rivals' evaluations and is arguably one of the two or three leading wide receivers in the country, continues to waver on his college choice.

"I'm still trying to see what feels comfortable yet," Prater told me earlier this week. "It is more difficult than I thought it would be to make my decision. I want to make sure I won't have any regrets. I want to make some official visits so I probably will wait until after the season."

Even though Prater's close friend, Proviso East safety Corey Cooper, who long ago committed to Illinois, has publicly stated that he believes Prater will join him in Champaign, Prater isn't ready to announce his choice.

I just returned from a Florida vacation and was greeted by the sad news that Vergil Fletcher, the legendary Collinsville basketball coach, had died on the day prior to his 94th birthday. No other high school coach in Illinois had more of an impact on the game.

His record speaks for itself...794 victories in 36 years, a 32-year record of 747-171 at Collinsville before retiring in 1979, a winning percentage of .814, state championships in 1961 and 1965, second in 1957, third in 1978 and fourth in 1950, a record 14 state qualifiers, a home-court winning percentage of .870, a 283-34 record or winning percentage of .893 from 1960 to 1970, our high school All-Americans--Terry Bethel, Bogie Redmon, Rodger Bohnenstiehl and Tom Parker.

Most of all, Fletcher was a visionary. His definition of a great coach was "someone who can win when he doesn't have talent." His players always weren't the fastest or most athletic. When opponents tried to hold the ball, he introduced the zone press or ball press in the early 1950s. In the last 20 years of his career, he ran a triangle offense.

After demonstrating his new ball press at a clinic, former St. John's coach Lou Carnesecca said it wouldn't work in college. Then he began using it the following year. Later, UCLA coach John Wooden used it. Fletcher's 1965 state championship team set a state record for creating turnovers while averaging only five per game.