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published: Friday, November 20, 2009

East Ridge honors signees

East Ridge honors signees

School officials hold ceremony to celebrate student-athletes' success in earning scholarships

FRANK JOLLEY

Staff Writer

CLERMONT -- Students at East Ridge High School learned Thursday about the values of hard work in the classroom and in the sports arena.

Six of the school's student-athletes became shining examples of the core principles of high school when they celebrated signing national letters of intent or announcing verbal commitments to state colleges.

Baseball players Devon Workman and Dillan Zimmerman signed with Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton and Florida Southern College in Lakeland, respectively. Alex Arellano verbally committed to Lake-Sumter Community College and said he will sign with the school in January.

Girls basketball players Selina Archer and Kim Smith signed with the University of Miami in Coral Gables and Florida Atlantic, respectively, and boys basketball player Stephen Forbes signed with Stetson University in DeLand.

Teammates, friends, and family members of each signee were invited to the ceremonies in the school auditorium.

"Watching our student-athletes reach their goals and move on to the next level never gets old," boys basketball coach Mike Clutter said. "I've been coaching for 42 years and I still get a thrill whenever one of our student-athletes succeed. It means they did what had to be done in the classroom and on the basketball court, or the baseball field.

"One of the first things a college coach will ask me when they start looking at one of our players is 'What is his grade point average?' or 'Has he taken his SATs or ACTs?' When I can tell a college coach we have a student-athlete with a 3.0 GPA, it makes the recruiting process go smoother."

Each of the signees backed-up Clutter's boast that student-athletes at East Ridge are expected to set an example for the rest of the student body.

While many of the signees admitted to harboring dreams of playing professionally when their college careers are over, each said their first priority to to obtain a college degree. Many also indicated a desire to return to the high-school level after their playing days are over to coach and help young student-athletes achieve their dreams.

"I've wanted to be a coach for a long time," Smith said. "My father began coaching me when I was 6-years-old and I want to be the same kind of positive influence. The best way for me to do that is to become a teacher and a coach. I want to help other student-athletes achieve their dreams just like I have."

Workman, who verbally committed to FAU in December, said he felt it was important to sign before his senior season. That way, he said, it will be easier to "relax and just worry about playing baseball."

East Ridge baseball coach David Bultema agreed with Workman. He believes his trio of signees will perform better without the pressures of worrying about college coaches looking over their shoulders.

"Baseball is hard enough to play without players having to think about how a strikeout or a rough outing on the (pitcher's) mound will affect their standing with college coaches," Bultema said. "Now, with their college decisions out of the way, they only have to worry about maintaining their academic standing and helping their high-school teams win in their final season. The recruiting process isn't always fun, but by signing early and getting it out of the way, their senior years in high school can still be fun."

For Archer, who verbally committed to Miami more than two years ago, the wait until she was permitted to sign her national letter of intent at 7 a.m. Wednesday was nearly too much to endure.

"I signed and sent my paperwork in at 7:02 a.m.," Archer said. "I didn't sleep much Tuesday night and woke up several times just looking at the clock. I couldn't wait to sign. Miami was the first to offer me a scholarship and I had been looking forward to signing from the time I decided that's where I wanted to go to college.

"I wanted to get an education and it's hard to beat having a degree from the University of Miami. That's why I always worked hard in the classroom and on the basketball court.

"This is how it pays off."