As players competed in the Inaugural Under Armour Miami Dolphins Dade vs. Broward All-Star football game last Friday night at Traz Powell Stadium in Miami, the though of where players were going to college next year remained fresh on everyone’s mind.

With less than a month before that important decision is made, athletes are scrambling to get last minute visits planned and making sure that when Feb. 2 rolls around that there will indeed be a place to go and get an education and play football. 

As some have already made that important decision, others are sending out film and hoping that they will be able to land one of those coveted scholarships.

What athletes are finding out is that being from Florida, especially Southern Florida, where there will be somewhere in the neighborhood of 260 D1 scholarships awarded, could be a curse. Too many quality players, and frankly not enough scholarships to go around.

As the athletes battled in the 24-2 loss to the Dade County teams, former D1AA caliber players along with D2, D3 and junior college hopefuls were facing a brick wall when it comes to landing that scholarship that used to be automatic.

Charles Fishbein, who runs Elite Scouting Services has his finger on the pulse of the action more than any other person who places and promotes athletes.

Unlike most recruiting services and fan sites who concentrate on mostly D1 players, Fishbein and his team are responsible for spotting every level of talent, which makes him perhaps the most important and versatile of all those who are in this business.

“Spitting D1 talent is easy, and for the most part, most of those young men put themselves out there,” said Fishbein. “While there are dozens of fan websites who concentrate on D1 players only, our job is lookout for every player out there.”

Elite Scouting Services has indeed been responsible for sending players to community college programs as well as D2 and D3 schools.

This year, the BCAA is loaded with all types of talent. As most will not sign on Feb. 2, the annual recruiting fair for small colleges is huge, and we will give everyone details on that event which is slated for next month.

The BCAA is very fortunate to have tremendous talent out there, and here is a current list of athletes who have already made their minds up:

BOWLING GREEN FALCONS
Johnny Joseph, DB, 5-8, 170, St. Thomas Aquinas

BUFFALO BULLS
Reggie McKnight, WR, 6-0, 170, Hollywood Hills

CENTRAL MICHIGAN CHIPPEWAS
Denzel Wimberly, RB, 5-10, 190, Cardinal Gibbons

DUKE BLUE DEVILS
Timothy Burton, DB, 5-10, 170, Cardinal Gibbons

FAU OWLS
Daniel Donnelly, OL, 6-4, 290, Monarch
William Dukes, WR, 6-3, 175, Dillard
Conard Johnson, LB, 5-11, 205, Ely

FIU GOLDEN PANTHERS
Corey Tindal, DB, 5-10, 165, Boyd Anderson

FLORIDA STATE SEMINOLES
Rashad Greene, WR, 6-0, 170, St. Thomas Aquinas
Bobby Hart, OL, 6-5, 295, St. Thomas Aquinas
Nile Lawrence-Stample, DT, 6-1, 295, Nova

HARVARD CRIMSON
Seitu Smith, DB/WR, 5-10, 180, Deerfield Beach

ILLINOIS FIGHTING ILLINI
Justin Duvernois, P, 5-10, 180, St. Thomas Aquinas
Nick North, DB, 6-1, 185, McArthur

IOWA HAWKEYES
Jake Rudock, QB, 6-3, 180, St. Thomas Aquinas

MIAMI HURRICANES
Phillip Dorsett, WR, 5-9, 175, St. Thomas Aquinas

OHIO STATE BUCKEYES
Jeremy Cash, S, 6-1, 195, Plantation
Ryan Shazier, LB, 6-2, 210, Plantation

SOUTH FLORIDA BULLS
Clavion Nelson, DE, 6-4, 230, South Broward

SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA TROJANS
Kent Turene, LB, 6-3, 225, Boyd Anderson

STANFORD CARDINAL
Wayne Lyons, S, 6-1, 190, Dillard

TEXAS A&M AGGIES
Shaun Ward, DE, 6-2, 225, Boyd Anderson

TOLEDO ROCKETS
Vlad Emilien, S, 6-0, 200, Plantation (Michigan transfer)

VANDERBILT COMMODORES
Courtney Bynes, WR, 5-10, 160, Boyd Anderson

WAKE FOREST DEMON DEACONS
Allen Ramsey, DB, 6-0, 175, Dillard
Orville Reynolds, RB, 5-7, 180, Douglas

WESTERN KENTUCKY HILLTOPERS
Jerome Howard, LB, 6-0, 200, Plantation

You can reach Larry Blustein via e-mail at Floridakids1@hotmail.com. Blustein is the co-host of the High School Gridiron Show each Wednesday night from 9-10 on WQAM (560 AM) or www.wqam.com.

You can also follow us on Twitter at: www.twitter.com/larryblustein