St. Thomas Aquinas High School (Fla.) has set the bar for high school football not only in the state of Florida, but the country as well. Over the past few years, the school has had the opportunity to appear on ESPN in the fall.
Those displays on national television have done nothing but help the student-athletes at St. Thomas Aquinas; Tyler Drake, a linebacker, really seems to have benefited from such exposure.
The linebacker’s motor is evident at every point in a game, and he says that is his best attribute. “I never quit on the play. I always give it my all.”
That says enough as to why some great programs are hot on his trail.
While the rising senior has yet to number his schools, Drake says he has a top three that stand out, in no order.
“Kentucky, Yale, and Air Force are my top three teams right now. I’m also interested in Iowa,” he said.
Despite the three teams all going in opposite directions with what their school and program stand for, Drake believes he has good ties to both and they could all be a good fit.
“Kentucky was my first big offer,” said the 6-foot-2 defensive stopper. “I have seen the campus and the facilities, and it all lines up with what I am looking for.”
Tee Martin has been recruiting Drake for sometime and while it is the dead period right now, he assured that the coaching staff stays in regular contact.
People could say Yale may have an upper hand in Drake’s recruitment because of family.
“My brother plays for Yale, so I get to see the coaches and players interact a lot more because of him,” Drake explained. “They have a very good coaching staff and they always want to compete.”
He also added that “being one of the top universities in the country doesn’t hurt either.”
But Air Force seems to be the more intriguing route at this point. Not only are they one of the top teams in the Mountain West Conference, but the school opens a lot of doors for the future.
“As for Air Force, I like the opportunities that they present outside of college. I’ve always been interested in the military and I would be honored to serve my country,” Drake said passionately. “Your life is set if you can survive what those guys go through. It’s so competitive.”
Drake also has his priorities set as to what he is looking for in a school and football program right now.
“I want to go to a decent college that I know is the right fit. I want to love where I’m at and what I’m doing, but I also want the coaching staff to care about the well-being of their players,” he began. “But I’d also love to represent an incredible school with nice facilities.”
Drake has no timetable for a decision quite yet, but if he doesn’t pick Kentucky, he won’t be making a bad decision.
An education from Yale is very prestigious for any human-being, yet very rare because of the grade of academics one has to endure.
And one cannot say enough about representing the red, white, and blue and protecting our country.
Drake has some very interesting decisions to make, but there looks to be no wrong decision to this point.
Follow Garrett Tucker on Twitter [URL=”https://twitter.com/#%21/GTuckersports”]@GTuckersports[/URL] for more info on Kentucky recruiting.
