Every year at this time, there are a number of seniors who are not set on their collegiate future.

With the first National Signing Day in the rearview mirror, and some student/athletes getting ready to leave for college next week, there are still so many without a place to go next year and into the future.

With the coaching convention coming up next week, there will be some avenues for high school and college coaches to get together, showing film and transcripts. There will also be a few small college recruiting fairs and the Orange Bowl event that brings so many schools to come south to see athletes and watch film. But the reality of recruiting today is the uncertainty of college recruiting.

Because of the transfer portal and NIL deals being worked on, there is now a logjam – where prospects used to fit in – and are now forced to take offers that are now putting a financial strain on families.

While there are still programs that work with athletes and their families to lower tuition prices and other expenses, the door is closing faster than in the past.

For years, we have reached out seniors to see if we can assist in the recruiting process. This year we have already put out over 100 prospects statewide – with colleges and universities starting to respond, but not the volume as in the past.

Today, we will bring you five more Class of 2024 prospects who are still looking for a place to get an education and continue playing football.

These Miami-Dade and Broward County athletes represent a small number of the hundreds and hundreds who are still out there.

Kristian Bailey, WR/P, 5-11, 165, Hollywood Hills. When you are looking for a college prospect these competitive days, you want someone who is versatile, makes plays and gets it done in the classroom. As the Spartans continued to grow and build for the future, here was a player who gave the team leadership and production.

TAPE: https://www.hudl.com/profile/16383802/Kristian-Bailey

Clayton Cannon II, WR/CB, 5-9, 170, Coconut Creek Monarch. While it’s inevitable that this oversight won’t last, the very thought that one of the most productive slot/defensive backs in south Florida would even be out there right now without something concrete. Talk about athletic and football bloodlines, this is a difference maker – and as soon as some comes up with a package to get him on their campus, there will be a number of colleges that completely whiffed here.

TAPE: https://www.hudl.com/profile/15263300/Clayton-Cannon-II

Dylan Celeide, LB, 5-11, 200, Miami Lakes Barbara Goleman. For the past two years all this quality student/athlete has done is work hard and do what he needed to grab the spotlight. A true playmaker on the field and carried a 3.2 weighted GPA/ 4.1 unweighted GPA 1030 SAT. 

TAPE: https://www.hudl.com/video/3/15176321/655140e20660b50598ac85fb

Ammon Dampeer, DT, 6-1, 280, Hialeah American. Another of those under-the-radar prospects who made a lasting impression for a team that made the playoffs. A playmaker that will fit several college defenses. His 3.7 GPA work in the classroom also will open some doors as well.

TAPE: https://www.hudl.com/video/3/21020921/654c606b2ab16704241d7965

Justynn Fundora, QB, 5-6, 145, Miami Braddock. While his size may not bowl you over his production and ability to play the game helped to put this quality team into the GMAC Independent title game. He has also made himself more of an attraction with a 4.4 GPA and graduating out of the Cambridge Magnet Program.

TAPE: https://www.hudl.com/profile/16692122/justynn-fundora

MIAMI-DADE/BROWARD INFORMATION YEAR-ROUND. https://larryblustein.com/

For the past 53 years, we have spent plenty of time on football fields throughout the country. From games to practices, camps, combines and 7-on-7 events, we remain steadfast to promote all south Florida’s high school football prospects. Follow us on Facebook (Larry Blustein) Instagram (@OurBoyBlu) and Twitter (@larryblustein). Contact us at: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. 

 Hello Miami-Dade, Broward, Palm Beach, The Keys, Collier, Lee, Martin, Indian River, Highlands, Hendry and all of the areas that make up south, southwest and the treasure coast.

The football exposure event that you have been waiting for is coming to your area – and for those who are looking to jump on the radar screen and put it out there for colleges and universities throughout the country to see.

For the past three years, Prep Redzone has been providing a forum for young football prospects across the country.

With stops in Naples and at IMG Academy in Bradenton, the logistics for the east coast and southern areas of Florida has not provided an opportunity for these future college football players to showcase their skills. That will change on Sunday, January 21, 2024.

Holiday Park, in the heart of Fort Lauderdale, will be the place to be for three hours of instruction and major exposure.

If you have followed Prep Redzone Florida throughout the course of a year, you already know that NOBODY in the Sunshine State comes close to providing daily exposure than the website and social media does.

“We have put people on the map that no football fan had ever heard about,” said Analyst Shannon Jordan. “No matter where it is in this state, we have provided the team and player exposure.”

From player rankings to team and state exposure, college coaches have flocked to this website for their recruiting information, and that’s why this stop in Fort Lauderdale is so vital.   

The Prep Redzone Stock Up Showcase is a great opportunity for high school football prospects to get exposure in front of college coaches, Prep Redzone scouts, and other media outlets. Testing results will be recorded for colleges across the country to access following the event. It is open to athletes from 2018-2024!

With Prep Redzone scouts in attendance, dedicated to highlighting top performers, players will receive unparalleled coverage before, during, and after the event on PrepRedzone.com and social media.

PrepRedzone.com is an approved scouting service in accordance with NCAA bylaws, policies, and procedures. College football coaches from all divisions (Division 1 - NAIA) are permitted to subscribe.

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THE EVENT

After check-in, athletes will have a professional headshot taken for identification and will have their height/weight recorded. From there, the showcase is broken into three portions: testing, position-specific drills, and 1-on-1 competition. Testing will include the 40-yard dash (hand-timed), pro shuttle (hand-timed), L Drill (hand-timed), and broad jump. 

SESSION BREAKDOWN

Check-in: 11:00 am-12:00 pm

Testing and Drills: 12:00 pm-3:00 pm

Coverage and photos of the event will be available in the days after the event on PrepRedzone.com and primarily on https://prepredzone.com/florida/

“This is a huge opportunity for athletes from Pensacola to Key West to jump on the recruiting radar with people who cover the game and state throughout the year,” said Recruiting Analyst Drew Johnson. “We cover camps, combines, 7-on-7 events, spring football, summer football and the entire season. That is something that very few can do.”

College coaches across the country continue to make Prep Redzone Florida their first stop every day to read profiles, team and recruiting information and get recruiting information.

Sign Up At: https://events.prepredzone.com/e/946/register/stock-up-showcase-florida

USE COUPON CODE: BlusteinStockUp2023

You Can Contact Larry Blustein with prospect or team information at: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Old School Athletics Is No Longer The Trend

Sorry to break it to the high school and college football purists, but the landscape of building programs in Miami-Dade and Broward, and across the country has changed.

While transferring schools is nothing new, the rate that it’s happening certainly is – and there is no end in sight. Over 300 in the two counties last year, and 270 the year before.

The days of playing at your local schools are truly over, unless your school happens to be private or a public school that has enough desks to fill in this age of open enrollment.

Back in the day, families moved into a community because the schools were good, and when you moved into that district, you would attend the same elementary, junior and senior high as everyone else did, and while it still holds true in some small circles, the objective is to attend the school that offers many avenues of education – while providing balance with championship-level athletic programs.

While it happens in all sports, the mass exodus in football gets much of the publicity, not only locally, but nationally as well. Zack Poff, National Football Editor for Max Preps sees the transfers coming at a record pace and knows that two or three new faces can chance to direction of a football program fast.

“Just in the short time I have been ranking teams and players, things have changed so much,” he explained. “Athletes are jumping from one program to a winning school because of the obvious – more exposure.”

While the saying that if you are good, college coaches will find you still holds true, it’s easier to be found when you are on a national stage each week.

THE BLAME GAME

It’s easy to point your finger at a coach, athletic director or the administration at any school for the influx of transfers, but that blame game is society itself. You cannot blame a coach for not wanting to get better, and you certainly cannot lay the blame on the athlete or the parent, who has to come up with the money for college if their son/daughter doesn’t get a scholarship.

Forget about the loser’s lament of loyalty. It holds no water, especially when you look at the next level, and college coaches are not only having to recruit incoming classes, but their current team to ensure they won’t grab a lucrative Name, Image & Likeness (NIL) deal that will benefit them somewhere else.

Even the powerhouses in all collegiate sports are starting to feel the once “little” guy pulling at their coattails, and are now competing for the same athletes that once made these programs superior. It’s all about the dollar – as it should be.

I have long been an advocate to say that college athletes get paid for the revenue they assist in bringing into any college or university, but this has far exceeded putting some spending money in their pocket to be able to enjoy the social life of their collegiate experience. Making $2 and $3 million is not what any of us had in mind, but the deals are only getting larger, and the NCAA is too weak to step in now. Nobody would listen, and the lawsuits would fly. The NCAA is quick to say you can't buy a sandwhich for a potential recruit if you are a booster or put restrictions on a head coach from going out to recruit during the spring, but putting a limit on how much can be paid out to an amateur athlete, it's a whole different story.

When you are a Chaminade-Madonna (8 straight trips to state), St. Thomas Aquinas (5 straight state titles) and Miami Central (state champions 4 of the past 5 years), the only way to stay on top is to reload and not rebuild. That’s why every day, you are seeing these 15-minute of fames graphics filling the screens of every social media avenue. If you are the beneficiary of those prospects coming to your school, you simply look at them and smile. If those recruits are taken from your program, you feel otherwise.

The one thing that stinks this transfer portal process in college is when you leave a school to attend another, you should have to sit out a year - and it will change some thinking quickly!

Also, at the high school level, student/athletes are leaving in the middle of a season and playing somewhere else with the weak excuse that they are relocating. What that will create is a super team – where players who are out of playoff contention by week 5 or 6 will make moves to schools who are very much in the playoff hunt, in the sense loading up.

While the landscape continues to change, many public-school programs – in all sports – are fighting an uphill battle. Only Parkland Douglas, a public school, and the baseball program, dominate every year with several national titles. But the Eagles are indeed the exception to the reality.

While transfers are currently happening in all sports, it’s football that grabs the spotlight – with numerous players making the move during the holidays and hundreds more following over the next six months.

Colleges coaches, although are frustrated with the direction of the high school athletes, simply have no valid argument – when they are living in the ultimate glass house.

Back when we started 54 years ago, transfers were basically nonexistent, but through the years things have changed and slowly but surely, we have arrived at a place that nobody ever felt we would get to.

While many coaches will tell you that winning has replaced developing – others will argue the point by saying a talented team will provide enough competition to learn, mature and improve.

Whatever direction things are going, the conversation – on both sides – will be talked about over several cold beverages next week at the National Coaches’ Convention.

MIAMI-DADE/BROWARD INFORMATION YEAR-ROUND. https://larryblustein.com/

For the past 53 years, we have spent plenty of time on football fields throughout the country. From games to practices, camps, combines and 7-on-7 events, we remain steadfast to promote all south Florida’s high school football prospects. Follow us on Facebook (Larry Blustein) Instagram (@OurBoyBlu) and Twitter (@larryblustein). Contact us at: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

After losing the Sunshine State Athletic Conference championship game to Oviedo Master’s Academy, Coach Ehren Wallhoff and his Fort Lauderdale Westminster Academy football team looked ahead to the 2024 season.

After posting a 9-2 season, the Lions realized that several key players wouldn’t be back, it was time to concentrate on an underclass that was talented, but for the most part, lacked experience.

If this program is to remain at the top, it will be up to those rising seniors, juniors, sophomores and incoming freshmen to step up.

With several positions to fill, the off season will be vital to the success of this coming season as well as into the future.

The Lions will need to get some performance and leadership from 2025 prospects such as Marcus Baker (LB/RB), Ashaun Cross (DT/OG), Harrison Gant (RB/LB), Sean Harms (DT), Zach Rock (CB), Joey Siciliano (OG), Jeremiah Sinvil (OG) and linebacker Michael Varga (LB).

UPPER CLASS PROSPECTS WILL BE NEEDED

While the rising seniors in 2025 will be the prospects that carry this team – on and off the field, it’s those rising juniors, sophomores and freshmen who will set the table.

Class of 2026 prospects include Amari Deer (WR/CB/S), Grayson Klatman (LS), Nick Kostelidis (OLB), Luke Sauer (OLB), Jack Scott, OT/DE) and one of the state’s best athletes in Dwayne Wimbley Jr. (WR/DE).

The Class of 2027 had talent that also gave this program a push. Players like Nate Accius (CB), Luis Baker (OLB), Giovanni Boeri (OT), Hudson Gant (OL, 5-11, 200), Trey Hollandsworth (LB), D.J. Pierce (Athlete) and versatile (QB/DE) Gabe Walsh. Even rising freshman (2028) free safety Andre Jones will be needed as well.

MIAMI-DADE/BROWARD INFORMATION YEAR-ROUND. https://larryblustein.com/

For the past 53 years, we have spent plenty of time on football fields throughout the country. From games to practices, camps, combines and 7-on-7 events, we remain steadfast to promote all south Florida’s high school football prospects. Follow us on Facebook (Larry Blustein) Instagram (@OurBoyBlu) and Twitter (@larryblustein). Contact us at: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..