Yesterday we drove up to Granville, Ohio to attend a football recruiting event for Denison University. According to US News and World Reports it's ranked 53rd among tier one liberal arts colleges. It's especially known for its biological sciences and pre-med program. This is is probably the kiss of death, but I really like the coach and the school. Founded in 1831, its a remarkably well-maintained and clean school. The alumni seem to be very loyal to this tiny gem of a school. It has only 2,096 students, all of whom live on campus, and extensive resources. I was pleased to listen to Coach Fletcher talk at length about his approach to coaching and the ways he uses those school resources to make his athletes better students. The football team has a higher GPA than the student body average and the graduating quarterback is a Rhodes Scholar contender. We saw the school mid year. It wasn't all dressed up for graduation and still, it was "happily situated" in the side of a hill with amazing views of the valley below. It was designed by the same man who designed Central Park in New York, Wellsley and Stanford Universities. It just feels good when you're there.

Unlike other schools which bring in 80 freshman to their football team each year, expecting drop-outs, Fletcher only recruits roughly 25 students. He carefully picks those who can make a difference in his program and who will likely get accepted to the school. Unlike other schools, he doesn't get any admissions "slots" to fill with the players of his choice. Of the current graduating class, he recruited 23 players and 19 are still playing. That is an unheard of statistic and says a great deal about this particular coach. The two things that impressed me the most were that he gave us as parents access to his players to ask them anything we wanted without his coach staff watching over their answers. Secondly he gave us 45 minutes of access to himself to ask anything we wanted. Like the New Yorker he is, his answers were frank, truthful, and unvarnished.

If Kirk were admitted and accepts a place on the team, he would be the only freshman running back. It's also possible a friend from his current high school team could be his room mate, something that makes going off to college a little less intimidating. He's a good kid and also going pre-med. This mommy's opinion is that it's a good match for Kirk. I guess when the admissions and financial aid letters come, we'll find out if he thinks it's a good match for himself.