Every spring and summer, Ray Lizzi would pile New York City high-school football players into a van and drive them to camps down the East Coast and in the Midwest. And every spring and summer, like clockwork, the van would get more and more packed — until Lizzi couldn’t fit anyone else.
“I just can’t take everybody,” the Erasmus Hall assistant coach said. “I figured out a way to bring the attention to us.”
The idea that Lizzi had years ago has taken shape and Saturday the frist annual Future Phenom Showcase will make its debut at Erasmus Hall’s newly renovated Sid Luckman Field on MacDonald Avenue and Avenue M in Brooklyn.
He expects more than 100 football players from the city, tri-state area and East Coast to come down and participate in drills. Their 40-yard dash and shuttle times will be recorded, they’ll work with coaches and former players from the area and will even get a visit from former NFL player Roman Oben.
“I just wanted to showcase what we have in this part of the country, you see these showcases going on anywhere else,” Lizzi said. “I said why can’t we have one here? It’s the biggest city in the country, the world.”
Erasmus Hall rising senior Wayne Morgan, one of the top players in New York City, said he laughed at Lizzi the first time he heard the idea. He didn’t think something like this was plausible inside the five boroughs. But now the defensive back, who has offers from Michigan, Rutgers, Alabama, Penn State, Notre Dame, UConn and Syracuse, among others, is excited about being there Saturday.
“Usually Brooklyn kids don’t go out to combines,” Morgan said. “It’s a lot to travel. I’m lucky to have coaches that travel to bring me to these camps. A lot of these other coaches don’t.”
Also expected to be at the event are city standouts like Tottenville’s Brandon Barnes and Kenny Coughlin, Campus Magnet’s James Driver and Kareem Turnage, Erasmus Hall’s Shaquell Jackson, Jefferson’s Michael Abanikanda and Christ the King’s Kalief Joyner. Pennsylvania stars A.J. Long and Fred Santarelli and New Jersey’s Ryan Brodie will also be in attendance.
“Anything that can get us exposure is good,” Campus Magnet coach Eric Barnett said. “Nobody wants to offer a kid unless they go to their camps. These guys are inner-city kids. They can’t afford to go to all these camps.”
While college coaches are not allowed to attend due to NCAA rules, there will be a host of scouting services present and all the statistics taken will be emailed directly to every college program – Division I, Division I-AA, Division II and Division III – after the event.
“If you get a kid that’s under the radar and he pops, this kid had a great day, then it’s gonna help,” one Division I assistant said. “I think it’s gonna help the under-the-radar guys. If they do something good, it’ll get out.”
That’s what Lizzi wants. Too many kids from the city are overlooked for whatever reason. He’s hoping that the Future Phenom Showcase will only grow in the years to come.
“I’d like this to be a big deal that everyone can take serious and have credibility,” Lizzi said. “It’s all about marketing and showcasing these kids. That’s the goal.”