Something just doesn’t smell quite right in Wichita. And no, it’s not the wind shifting and bringing the waft of an occasional agricultural scent to the area.
Instead, it has to do with the recruitment of Kansas high school football players. Particularly, it has to do with a 5-foot-8, 350-pound physical trainer who roves the territory looking for the most fertile crop of football players. The man is Brian Butler, who is one of the new breeds of player representatives that have spread from the realm of college basketball recruiting to football.
For clarification purposes, I am not saying Butler is breaking any rules, but he is coming close to crossing an invisible ethical line.
Butler represents about 30 players across the state of Kansas. His name began to surface frequently in the past two years, mainly because he represented two of the most sought after players in the nation in Wichita East’s Arthur Brown and Bryce Brown.
He runs a Web site called potentialplayers.com, which is the name of his training organization. Butler even began charging readers a $9.99 monthly fee to read updates about running back Bryce Brown, who recently announced he will not make a college decision until March 12. However, the monthly charge didn’t last, and the Web site is once again free.
According to a recent New York Times article, Butler told Mulvane High School’s Huldon Tharp he had a scholarship offer from Miami to increase his recruitment and get his name out to college coaches. However, the offer was completely fabricated. Tharp signed a letter of intent last week to play college football at KU.
K-State coach Bill Snyder said player representatives are becoming a trend in football.
“I think maybe in some cases they are very meaningful people that are trying to help for the right reasons,” Snyder said last Wednesday. “I think a lot of it depends on what your motive is.
“I’ve seen it taking place virtually everywhere. It’s catching on everywhere.”
Butler even mentioned to the New York Times that he would consider having Bryce, who is the No. 1 player in the nation according to rivals.com, skip college to play in the Canadian Football League. Butler recently denied the report and said that will not happen.
I understand there is a certain amount of stress involved in the recruiting process for guys like Bryce and Arthur with the constant phone calls and text messages. But is it really necessary to pay someone $450 for recruiting consultations? I guess that’s for the parents to decide.
But Butler seems to be acting like an agent. And last time I checked, agents exist only in professional sports. There is no room for one at the high school level.
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