He is only going to be a senior in high school, but Hamilton (Ohio) safety Adam Myers-White is already a hometown celebrity. Myers-White is respected by the community members of Hamilton, but is adored by the children of the Boys and Girls Club.
Myers-White is developing a strong relationship with UF assistant Dan Disch
Myers-White, once himself a staple at the Boys and Girls Club as a youngster, has been volunteering for the past two years and has become a mentor to the children who have attached themselves to the club.
“I play a lot of games all the time and run in the gym with them, I just interact with the kids,” Myers-White. “I beat them in ping pong every time. They can’t beat me.”
Myers-White has adapted to being a role model and is glad that he can give back to the club that made him the person he is today.
“Winning the state championship and being on television and being a well-known athlete, they look up to you doing the good things,” he said. “Every little thing you do they are always watching. You might not see them every time, but I never realized this until I went to my elementary school and talked to them and read to them. Their eyes were wide open.”
While Myers-White reaps the benefits of being a role model, he can also be very proud of the attention he is receiving from Division I-A college football programs. He is currently up to 26 offers with West Virginia and Tennessee being the two latest teams to have offered.
“Recruiting has calmed down a little bit right now since the coaches can’t call,” Myers-White said. “The coaches would come into the school every other day. I was going out of class and then going back to class. I would get calls everyday, sometimes it would be three or four and the next would be like six. Now I just call the coaches I want to talk to.”
Those coaches that Myers-White frequently talks to are Florida defensive backs coach Dan Disch, Ohio State defensive backs coach Mel Tucker, Purdue defensive backs coach Lou Anarumo, Tennessee offensive coordinator Randy Sanders and USC head coach Pete Carroll.
The reason he only talks to these five coaches is because these schools currently make up his top five:
Florida: “I like Florida because it is a nice area. The weather is nice as well and it also gives me a chance to get away from home.”
Tennessee: “It is like leaving home or going back home because my family is from Tennessee. So where they stay is not very far from Knoxville.”
Ohio State: “It is right in my backyard and I would be staying close to home.”
Purdue: “They have a great education plus it is not very far from home either.”
USC: “It is somewhere that has great tradition and a school that I can get away to.”
Myers-White said these are the schools he wants to take official visits to, but has not yet set up any of those visits. Some of the other major programs to have offered Myers-White are Duke, Maryland, Louisville, Stanford, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Kentucky, Vanderbilt, Tennessee, Boston College, Pittsburgh, Michigan, Michigan State and Wisconsin.
The first team to offer Myers-White was the home-state Buckeyes, and they have been recruiting him for some time.
“They wanted to offer me as a sophomore, but they couldn’t,” he said. “So as soon as my sophomore season was over, I went to their junior day and that is when they offered me.”
Myers-White, who runs the 40-yard dash in 4.5 seconds, is already feeling the heat to stay home and play for the Buckeyes, but he tries not to pay attention to what outside sources are telling him. In fact, he redirects the pressure and makes a life lesson out of the situation.
“It is a lot of pressure, but it was I want to do really,” he said. “I really don’t succumb to pressure. Pressure makes me better because you can’t do the wrong things because everyone is going to notice. It just makes you perfect your game. Everybody makes mistakes and if you are going to make a mistake, make it 100 percent.”
Myers-White has been a top-flight football recruit for some time and it was reflected when Rivals.com released its initial rankings. Myers-White was ranked a four-star athlete and the No. 42-ranked prospect in the country. He was also ranked the No. 2 safety prospect.
“I don’t even see myself like that because I have so much work to do,” he said. “That is just people talking to me. I feel I have to prove it to other people because they expect it out of me.”
As a junior, Myers-White had four interceptions, 70 tackles, two fumble recoveries, and one offensive touchdown (he only plays on offense during goal line situations).
He earned first-team All-Ohio, first-team All-Southwest District, first-team Cincinnati Inquirer, first-team All-County and first-team All-Conference, for both academics and football, as a junior. He has also been named a preseason All-American.
Myers-White’s GPA is a 3.7 and with a passing test score, he has already been deemed qualified by the NCAA clearinghouse, he said.
“They (academics) have to be top-notch all the time,” Myers-White said.
Academics are just one facet of a school that Myers-White is looking into.
“My major is going to be physical therapy probably, and when I visit a school it is just a certain type of feeling you get everywhere (reasons he will choose a school),” Myers-White said. “They are going to wine and dine you, but you just have to look beyond that stuff. It is not like that when you get there. I will talk to that players and see how they are. It is going to be relationships and just the feel of the area.”
Another area that is going to be crucial for Myers-White is his relationship with his position coach. Disch is one of the major reasons that UF is in the picture.
“If I can’t get along with my position coach that is the biggest key for me coaching-wise,” he said. “I haven’t talked with the head coach (Ron Zook) yet, but a lot of Hamilton coaches know that guy because I think he is from up here.”
If it weren’t for Disch giving Myers-White a call during the spring evaluation period, UF would have been a distant memory in Myers-White’s recruiting.
“One of the assistant coaches on my team was working a camp down there, and I guess word got out because everybody else got it,” Myers-White said. “Then one of their assistant coaches called me, but it wasn’t coach Disch. He really didn’t sound too interested, so then I figured they weren’t interested and I never called back. But when they were allowed to have a phone call, coach Disch called me. He is cool. You can tell he is a southern boy. He is down to earth and he tries to keep his language young so I like that.”
Myers-White doesn’t want to redshirt and wants to play as soon as possible when he hits the Division I-A scene.
