By Bruce Wood
Dartmouthsports.com
October 16, 2012
It's a pretty good bet that when players from New Orleans powerhouse St. Augustine High School were breaking off long gainers, blowing past dazed defensive backs and running down receivers at the Tulane football camp in the '90s, Tulane head coach Buddy Teevens was watching intently.
Check out the St. Augustine Wikipedia page and you'll see why. The site lists no fewer than 19 former Purple Knights who went on to play in the NFL, including former New England Patriots running back BenJarvus Green-Ellis. Tyrann Matheiu, the "Honey Badger," is another well-known product of St. Aug, which had no fewer than 14 players accept football scholarships a couple of years ago.
One of the Tulane campers from St. Augustine when Teevens was coaching in the Big Easy was a kid named Cortez Hankton. Although he was a good enough student to get recruiting letters from Brown and Columbia as a high school senior, the young receiver wasn't high on Tulane's radar. And Teevens, who was offensive coordinator and receivers coach for the Illini by the time Hankton started hearing from recruiters, never called.
Overlooked by BCS programs, Hankton headed 450 miles to Texas Southern, one of the Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HCBUs) in Houston. There he would go on to be a four-year starter, a two-year captain, the school record-holder for season and career receiving yards, and a third-team, Division I-AA All-America.
Cortez Hankton was accepted into the 2012 NFL and NCAA Coaches Academy, which took place in May in Dallas, Texas. Here is what he had to say about the program:
“The resources provided at the NFL and NCAA Coaches Academy were instrumental during my interview process at Dartmouth College. By interacting with veteran coaches and executives, I was able to utilize their experiences, which gave me an edge on how I presented my material and communicated with administration. I'm forever grateful to the NFL and NCAA Coaches Academy for providing me with the tools to obtain my first coaching job!”
-Cortez Hankton
To read the entire article, click here.
For more information about the NFL-NCAA Coaches Academy, click here.