During the recruiting process coaches are constantly posing questions to high school prospects and trying to find information out about them. These questions may range from informal personal inquiries to more serious questions, such as how are your grades or have you had any off the field problems. That is just the way it has been, the coach asks the questions and the recruits comply giving the coach feedback about them. Well now one recruit is turning the tables on the system and is putting the pressure back on the coach and the school.

Wayne Lyons a free safety out of Fort Lauderdale, Fl., and his mother Gwen Bush have made a 50 question recruiting questionnaire that they have asked all schools who are interested in signing Wayne to fill out and return. Wayne and his mother got this idea from Wisconsin assistant coach Charlie Partridge, who said that 2010 Badgers signee James White had sent questions to coaches recruiting him. Wayne asked all coaches to return the questionnaire by June, 19, 2010 so that he will have a chance to review the schools answers over the summer.

Here are ten of the questions that are a part of Wayne’s questionnaire.

11. Does your school have an organized Parent-Support Group that is specific to football? All athletics?

12. What type of living accommodations do the football players have? Apartment, dorm, etc.

13. How far are the living quarters from the main location of the academic buildings? From the football facilities?

14. What time does the first class start at your school?

15. What time do the football players start their day during the season? Offseason?

16. Do you have a full-time physician assigned to your football program?

17. How many athletic trainers does your program have?

18. What are the procedures if athletes sustain non-athletic health issues?
Such as catching the flu, colds or other minor health issues.

19. What type of insurance is covered (if any) under Wayne's scholarship? i.e. health, eye, dental, etc...

20. If there is an emergency and Wayne needs to get home within a week's notice, are there any provisions available under his scholarship?

As you can see the questions involve many things besides strictly on the field related issues. It is not surprising though that Wayne Lyons is doing his homework though and checking into all these issues before he makes his decision. Wayne carries a 5.0 GPA and is on pace to be his class valedictorian at Dillard High School.

One ESPN analyst said that doing something like this could make a recruit seem high maintenance. In this case though I think coaches will be okay with doing a little paperwork to acquire Wayne’s services on the football field and in the locker room. In addition to dominating in the classroom, he also is one of the top prospects in the country. Wayne is rated as the 6th best free safety and 115th prospect overall in the class of 2011 by scout.com.

The thing I love most about this story is the “big picture” way of thinking by Wayne and his mother. It is easy to think that the only questions a prospect would want to ask a coach are questions regarding immediate playing time and television exposure. Instead Wayne wants to know what time the first class at school starts and what kind of insurance is covered under his scholarship. Hopefully other prospects follow Wayne and his mothers lead and do this in the future because it would help so many kids get definitive answers. So many times it easy to get caught up in the promises of a fast talking recruiter and then later forget what was promised or said and what wasn’t. These filled out questionnaires will certainly be helpful in deciding what school is the best fit for Wayne both on the field and off the field.