Jamal Merrell

If they're a late bloomer, more so at the end of their junior year, colleges should be interested.

And senior year, they'll start getting offers or verbal offers to take their visits.

But if they're not known or don't get no...

college looks by the time the end of their junior year, that window is closed.

We knew people that went before us.

So we kind of mirrored what they did.

We knew we were good athletes and my dad understood the college atmosphere.

So he was like, all right, we're going.

And back then it wasn't no social media.

So it was more so, all right, what colleges came before us in Delaware?

It was like Rutgers, UConn, Maryland, Louisville, West Virginia, and then South Carolina and North Carolina.

That was it.

So at the same time, my dad was like, all right, we're going to go to sport combines at the time, Nike combines at the time.

And we went to all of them.

There was a lot of them at Baltimore Ravens Stadium, a lot of them at Eagle Stadium.

And we just traveled, went to all the camps.

And then we would go talk to college coaches like you got to put yourself out there, even if it's a parent.

You got to shake hands.

Oh, here's my kid, number 16, whatever.

And put your kid out there because if you're just standing back like my kid will do everything, kids don't know what they don't know.