By Ron Haramia Pilot Sports
(Note: This is the first of a two-part story. Part 2 will be in tomorrow’s Pilot News.)
PLYMOUTH — It has been a very busy summer for Blaine Schafer to say the least. Weight-lifting sessions and practices with his football and basketball teammates is nothing new for the Plymouth High School senior-to-be. But what is — and what has taken up a large chunk of time, miles, and gas money — has been the college recruiting trips and camps.
The 6-foot-6, 265-pound (for now) standout lineman for the Rockies is being heavily recruited, with a number of NCAA Division I schools in the picture. If Schafer goes Div. I, it would only be the third time for a PHS football player in the past 30 years according to local sources. (Pete Buchanan - Notre Dame, Mike Kershner - Western Michigan were the other two.)
It is an exciting time for the Schafer family, but also very hectic. A large portion of the month of June was spent on the road, with heavy doses of fast food restaurants, motels and frequents hits to the Website Mapquest.
“It has been crazy at times, but overall, it has been great,” said Schafer, who will anchor the Rockies offensive line this fall.
“Coaches (Mike) Kershner and (John) Barron, plus my parents, have been a huge help. We traveled over 2,000 miles and went to six schools during one week-and-a-half stretch.”

“Stretch” seems to be a key word in the whole recruiting process. There is the stretch of time where the colleges hold camps to evaluate prospective players, the stretch of time when phone calls from college coaches are allowed, the time when only texting is allowed (the NCAA is currently looking into closing this loophole), the long stretches of pavement to get to the football camps, and of course, the time needed to stretch the limbs before working out for someone who may control your athletic and academic life for the next four or five years.
Some of the colleges that have shown interest in Schafer’s services include Ball State, Bowling Green State University, Central Michigan, Illinois, Indiana, Purdue, Iowa, Case Western Reserve, Stanford, Michigan, Michigan State, Hanover, Indiana State, University of Colorado, University of Cincinnati, Wabash College, Western Michigan, University of Wyoming, and Butler University.
The nice thing about all of the interest is that at least one full-ride athletic scholarship offer should manifest itself. (Schafer has three standing offers at press time.) One of the difficult things, though, is going through the information process: How far away is the school? What are the chances for early playing time? What is the campus like? What are the academic offerings? And so forth.
“It’s a challenge, but I want to play college football and get a scholarship,” added Schafer. “To continue playing a game I love and to basically get a free master’s degree would be great.”
Great? Yes. Easy decision? No.
Ball State, Western Michigan and Bowling Green have all made scholarship offers. But with more than one option available — and still others as possibilities — the actual decision will be difficult.
“I don’t want to wait too long (to choose),” Schafer continued. “I’d love to go to any of the three that have offered. There is no favorite right now, but I want to decide near the start of the (high school) season.”
The timing of selecting can be tricky. Illinois and Indiana want to see game films of Schafer’s first two games this season. Bowling Green has offered 15 scholarships for the incoming class of 2008, but has only five spots available.
Something else Schafer is well aware of is playing time. At the Big 10 schools, he will most likely be redshirted his freshman year and would be lucky to see playing time by his junior season. He may have to redshirt at a smaller school too, but there is a good chance of getting on the field earlier.
And although football is the central figure in all of this, ultimately, the academic offerings are vital.
“Everywhere we go, they mention business and education,” Schafer shared about what is said in regards to academics. “Before football came into the picture, I was thinking about business or teaching anyway.”
“Overall, after attending football camps in four states and 2,400 miles, it has been a great experience for Blaine,” said Brent Schafer, Blaine’s dad and summer chauffeur. “Our goal was to give him some choices. He has those now. Three great schools want him to play football and in exchange, he will have a full-ride, five-year scholarship, and an opportunity to play D1 football. It is likely that Blaine will get more offers this fall. The offers he already received are very early. Many schools have not done much offering yet.
“It has been a great summer so far for Blaine and I hope it will be a great fall for the Rockies!”
Fortunately for Schafer, he has had a large support system through the whole process, including his parents, grandparents, older brother Drew (Plymouth HS 2004), and his coaches. But with that support system also comes some unbiased advice.
Drew is a student at Ball State and has been trying to persuade his brother to head to Muncie. Coach Kershner made the trip up to Western Michigan’s camp with the Schafer’s and has made his case for the Broncos.
Tomorrow we get a behind-the-scenes look at the campus/camp visits.