They sought a SPARQ rating that would catch someone?s eye. Nike performance guide indicates a score above 77 ? tested in speed, power, vertical jump, agility ? puts a player in the top 10 percent.
They didn?t have to look far to find the best score.
GlenOak sophomore running back Brionte Dunn ? already on every major college?s recruiting radar ? put up the best score. After going from the power ball throw, to the 40-yard time to the cone drill and ending with the vertical jump, Dunn?s SPARQ rating was 114.72.
A perfect score is 120.
Dunn?s 114.72 is the best rating turned in at any of the previous five Nike combines, which included stops in Hawaii, Miami, Mobile, Ala., Houston and Pittsburgh.
?This is important, because there are a lot of good players here,? Dunn said. ?It?s competitive, and I?m a competitor. I like competition. All I wanted was to do my best.?
Once the folks running the combine realized who Dunn was, ESPN cameras rolled footage of him.
Only since the football season ended has Dunn seriously been involved in an offseason weight program. GlenOak head coach Scott Garcia jokes with Dunn about his ?baby fat.?
That baby fat threw up 1,290 pounds in GlenOak?s lift-a-thon last weekend.
?These combines are important, because it keeps them in a football mind-set,? Garcia said. ?It?s one thing to be in the weight room working out, but this gives them something to look forward to. It?s a competition. It?s something they can measure themselves against.?
Many players, including Dunn, were disappointed with 40-yard times. This combine timed players the same way the NFL times college players at its scouting combine. It?s done with digital timers.
These are legitimate times. Few 40-yard times at the NFL Combine are lower than 4.35. Most are in the 4.4 to 4.5 range.
Dunn ran a 4.59, and that?s equivalent to a 4.4 with a hand timer.