O'Leary drawing national interest
Originally Published: February 26, 2010
By JC Shurburtt
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O'Leary, the grandson of golfing legend Jack Nicklaus, first emerged on the national scene last March at the Miami Nike Football Training Camp in Coral Gables, Fla. During one-on-one drills, O'Leary caught everything that was thrown to him, reinforcing a big local reputation for having great hands.
O'Leary has started to collect scholarship offers. Florida, Florida State, Miami, Georgia, Ohio State, Tennessee, West Virginia, Boston College and others have stepped up with offers during the early stages of the process.
"If the ball gets near him, he's going to catch it," Daniels said. "He's got the best hands that I've seen in 20 years of coaching high school football. He's physical, he runs good routes and he's a competitor. I think he's got the chance to be one of the best players in the country."
There are family ties to two programs. Nick's father, Bill O'Leary, played at Georgia, while Nicklaus is an Ohio State alum. "I've always liked Georgia growing up," O'Leary said. "I liked Georgia and Ohio State. Now that I am being recruited and getting a lot of offers, I am open to everybody."
For now, O'Leary is finishing out a season in another sport before the focus shifts back to finding a college. "I am waiting until lacrosse season is over before I even think about it," he said. "We won state [in lacrosse] last year, but we aren't as good as we were last year. It's fun to go out there and hit people and stuff like that."
O'Leary is taking all of the attention in stride. "You've just got to keep your head on straight," O'Leary said. "I've got to keep playing the way I've been playing and get better."
As for Nicklaus, the Golden Bear is a fixture around Dwyer athletics. "I don't think he missed a game this season," Daniels said. "He was at our basketball game [Thursday night] to see [Brissett] play. The kids love him and he's a fan of the whole program here."
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