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Get Scouted Scouting CareersAaron Carter’s predicament brought back memories for National Scouting Report scout Jason Barber.
Carter, a 2016 NSR football prospect from Manila (Ark.) High School, had received little interest from college coaches despite rushing for 767 yards (9.5 yards per carry) at running back; amassing 91 tackles at defensive back; and earning second-team All-Conference honors his senior year.
About 20 years earlier, Barber received little interest from college coaches despite earning All-State quarterback honors at nearby Gosnell (Ark.) High School.
Barber and Carter formed an instant connection.
Carter, a speedy 5-foot-10, 170-pounder with a 4.0 grade-point average, reached out to Barber last November for recruiting help. He told Barber he had enrolled with another national recruiting organization that made him do all the work and didn’t provide him much support.
“I scouted him at a game,” said Barber, a resident of Jonesboro, Ark. “He was definitely a college athlete. I couldn’t believe he didn’t have any offers.”
Barber visited the Carter family with Larry Perrin, National Football Director for NSR. After interviewing the overlooked prospect, Barber told Carter’s parents it was rather late in the recruiting process and he couldn’t make any promises. Despite the warning, the Carters enrolled their son with NSR.
The decision paid off almost immediately.
Shortly after his NSR profile was posted online, Carter received interest from several colleges. He visited three of them — Hendrix College and Lyons College in Arkansas and Missouri Baptist University — before Christmas.
In late January, about a week before National Signing Day, Carter received an offer from Missouri Baptist, an NAIA school outside St. Louis, and committed. He likely will start off as a kicker returner, with a chance to play running back or defensive back, as a freshman.
“The family was very grateful to NSR,” Barber said. “They loved everything we did for Aaron in such a short period of time.”
Barber felt a great sense of satisfaction.
“I was super-excited to see a kid in desperate need of help carry on his desire to play college football,” Barber said. “He deserved to play at the next level, but had nothing.”
Barber, 39, said he was in the same predicament in the mid-1990s. After receiving no scholarship offers, he walked on at NCAA Division I Arkansas State in 1995. Although the 6-1, 190-pound quarterback worked his way up from No. 6 to No. 1 on the depth chart by the spring of 1996, he still received no money.
Realizing it would be difficult to start over five other quarterbacks on scholarship, Barber decided to transfer to the University of Arkansas at Monticello, a Division II school, where he played football and baseball.
“When I was in high school, I was in the same position as Aaron,” Barber said. “I knew exactly what he was going through. I was glad to help him get to where he wanted to be. It’s an awesome feeling to see a kid go to the next level and know you had a part in it.”
National Scouting Report is dedicated to finding scholarship opportunities for athletes who possess the talent, desire, and motivation to compete at the collegiate level. We’ve helped connect thousands of athletes with their perfect college.
Great story!! Wish I had know about NSR when my son Drake was in school. Thankfully we are now enrolled with my class of 2018 Lineman Riley Rainwater.