The guy who wasn't big enough to make an impact on Gaither's football team in 1994 realized he didn't stand out when it mattered a whole lot more.
Three years ago, Derek Williams sat in Durant's stands and brainstormed what would become Sunshine Preps. Next thing Williams knew, he was sending videotapes crammed with Florida football players to colleges.
But was he really reaching them?
``I had a lot of coaches tell me this is good stuff,'' Williams said, ``but a lot of times they'll get a tape and they'll watch it one time, and it's hard to pick up where it left off or often times if they're not sure what's on the tape they're not going to spend the time popping the tape in to see what it is.''
Sunshine Preps used the feedback to evolve into what Williams envisions as the future of high school recruiting.
Through sunshinepreps.net, players can have their highlight clips posted in a directory. For free. And coaches can view the directory of highlight clips. For free.
``My golden rule is I will never, ever charge a kid for what I do,'' said Williams, who spent about $1,500 the first year and estimates a $700 cost this year. ``There's no way. If I ever make money it will be either through the college coaches or through advertising or something. Absolutely never will I charge a kid for what I do.''
`Absolutely True'
Free is the key word with high school coaches, a naturally skeptical group because of services trying to make money off their players. But Williams has been able to establish himself as one of the good guys.
Because Williams comes to coaches to get film and does the editing himself, former Freedom coach Jarrett Laws said he had no problem working with Sunshine Preps.
It didn't take long for Law to become a believer.
``Anything positive you can write about Derek is absolutely true,'' Laws said. ``If I were a kid going through the recruiting process, if there was anyone I was going to trust, it would be Derek.''
Middleton coach Harry Hubbard said Sunshine Preps helped not just his current players but future ones as well.
Because the school is only entering its third year, it was not listed on some college coaches' registries. Several coaches told Hubbard they learned of the school through Sunshine Preps.
``I think it's a great idea,'' Hubbard said. ``A lot of kids I've known through the years in Hillsborough County have been looked over because scouts didn't know of them. If it's free, then every kid who thinks he can play ball should get every opportunity to be seen.''
Williams, who works full- time in finance, said he will put a clip on his Web site if a recruit looks like he has a chance to find a place to play. .
And the most unique part about Williams' site is many of the players featured have no idea.
When Williams searches through game tape, if he sees a player who impresses him, he will place a clip on the site.
``I can guarantee you more than half of the kids on the site, they have no idea those clips are even up there,'' he said.
Devine Intervention
Sunshine Preps' biggest fervor came from a clip Williams pulled on his own.
While watching North Fort Myers' 2003 season highlight tape sent by one of the coaches, Williams came across a sensational running back.
Knowing the Red Knights didn't have any 2004 top prospects, Williams scoured the list of 2005 prospects looking for No. 7.
``This kid was as good as anything I've ever seen,'' he thought to himself. ``Where is he?''
The coach had a reasonable explanation: ``That kid's not on the list because he's a freshman.''
Williams shared his amazement and a link with floridavarsity.com message board readers.
Clips otherwise are not viewable to the public.
``That thing got spread around the Internet like wildfire,'' he said.
``I had 20,000 hits on my Web site.''
It even spread to ESPN.com writer Bruce Feldman, who wrote a story on the phenomenon.
Running back Noel Devine's legend, once confined to southwest Florida, reached college message boards across the country, with Web posters already hoping their schools' coaches would offer a scholarship.
All of it was linked to Sunshine Preps.
``It makes for a good story, but the No. 1 and really the only goal for this is to help kids get scholarships,'' Williams said. ``Everything else after that is what it is. I'm just along for the ride. This is already starting to become the premier recruiting tool for college coaches.
``It's blown up, but it's not even close. I want every high school in the state to know that my service is out there for them to use. Slowly but surely it will get there. When that happens it's going to eliminate a lot of the garbage that goes on.''
It also might create a whole new era in recruiting.
``It's kind of a win-win situation all the way around,'' Williams said. ``The kids get helped out and the college recruiters, it helps them out quite a bit. And I have a good time.''
