Son of football great helping students get recruited

Heather Cory

Sitting in his office, Joe Unitas, the son of NFL football player Johnny Unitas, is a local representative for Student Athlete Showcase, a national company that has helped more than 1,000 high school students get recruited to college. Unitas is a former University of South Carolina football and lacrosse player.

By Christopher Drexel (contact)

Friday, Oct. 31, 2008 | midnight

Despite having Pro Football Hall of Fame quarterback Johnny Unitas as a father, Summerlin resident Joe Unitas wasn't happy with the way he was recruited as a high school athlete.

While attending a small private school in Maryland, Unitas, 34, was a four-year starter at quarterback and a two-year starter for the school's nationally-ranked lacrosse team.

"Between football and lacrosse, 10 schools recruited me and some of those went away," Unitas said. "So when it came down to making my decision, it was between three schools, none of which were offering me any money."

Determined to play both sports in college, Unitas attended Division III Ohio Wesleyan University. When it was clear his athletic career would not take the same trajectory as his father, Unitas knew he still wanted to remain in sports, so he changed his major to sports business.

Ohio Wesleyan didn't carry the major, so Unitas transferred to South Carolina, where he walked on the football team and graduated in his field of choice in 1998.

The fact Unitas felt he should have had more college options when he graduated high school is one of the reasons he is in the field he is now.

Unitas serves as the business development director for Student Athlete Showcase, a national organization that helps high school athletes get recruited.

Since relocating to Summerlin from his native Maryland this summer, Unitas has opened the company's third office — the others being in Arizona and Colorado — in Las Vegas.

"What I've found since I've been here is a lot of student athletes in this area go unnoticed for whatever reason it may be," Unitas said.

Unitas said the showcase helps athletes who may not necessarily be blue chip recruits, but still have the academic and athletic ability, a college scholarship.

In the five years he's worked for the company, Unitas said 1,000 athletes nationwide have completed its program, with 95 percent being recruited and 75 percent receiving scholarship money.

"With the current economic crunch, a lot of these student loans that were out there have gone away," Unitas said. "Athletics puts them in a better position to get in the school and or a scholarship opportunity whether it be academic money or athletic money or a combination of both."

For every customer it serves, the showcase creates an individual profile that includes athletic information including stats, honors and coaching testimonials, as well as academic information including transcripts and contact information.

The profiles are packaged together on a Web site and e-mailed to every college coach across the country the athlete could qualify for.

"The student athlete may have a few letters or a phone call from a coach, but they need to understand if they're starting with four or five contacts in the beginning of the process, that's not enough," Unitas said.

Christopher Drexel can be reached at 990-8929 or christopher.drexel@hbcpub.com.