Lake Brantley's Hamrick to walk on at USF

[ChiTownBull]

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/sports/highschool/orl-hamrick1107jun11,0,7747307.story?coll=orl-sports-headlines-hs

The dream of playing for a Division I college football program comes with a risk for graduated Lake Brantley receiver Rhett Hamrick.

Hamrick, who graduated this spring, turned down scholarship offers from the Army and Jacksonville University so he could walk on to the University of South Florida this summer. He will report to summer school and team workouts June 27.

Should he make the team, he will not receive a scholarship. Hamrick said he would be eligible for financial assistance his sophomore season at USF.

It was one of the best options after interest from Division I programs such as Iowa and Wake Forest faded throughout Hamrick's final season with the Patriots.

Lake Brantley's triple-option offense didn't allow him many touches, but the 6-foot-6, 200-pound receiver had been an instrumental part of the team's success.

"I had been up [to USF] for a senior camp. As everything else was dying down, so was that," said Hamrick, who plans to major in business and finance. "I talked to the coach to see what they could do."

Hamrick caught 74 passes for 1,125 yards and 18 touchdowns during his junior and senior seasons at Lake Brantley. Last year's Patriots etched their name into Seminole County history and became the first from the county to reach a state football championship game. Lake Brantley ultimately fell to Miami Northwestern 34-14 in the Class 6A championship game.

Shannon J. Owens can be reached at sjowens@orlandosentinel.com.

[Greg Auman]

Dang. Just got that info this afternoon and thought it hadn't been reported. Pretty good get, as walk-ons go.

[KB]

Good luck to him.  I hope he makes it.

[E.T.]

Welcome to BULL nation !

[1Bullsfan]

It's hard to believe with that size....he's a walk-on. He could turn out to be our version of E. James and Ray Lewis of UM. FYI: Both were walk-ons there.

[E.T.]

... and Ray Lewis of UM. FYI: ... walk-ons there.

Ray Lewis was not a walk-on.

[Greg Auman]

Edgerrin James was a Parade All-American in high school at Immokalee. Pretty much the opposite of a walk-on.

[USFMikeB]

It's hard to believe with that size....he's a walk-on. He could turn out to be our version of E. James and Ray Lewis of UM. FYI: Both were walk-ons there.

:

[bulldad10]

This is certainly a good get as far as walk ons are concerned.  Lake Brantleys offense is not one to showcase the wide receivers for sure.  I have seen him play sice Pop Warner days and although he will not run away from anybody, he can run routes and has the smarts to adapt in any situation.

Good luck to him and welcome aboard!

[VeryBullish]

Maybe more like a Matt Lienart, since Lienart wasn't heavily recruited in high school. I don't even think Lienart was rated in high school.