teachers, technology mix it up - InMaricopa.com

24m SPORTS InMaricopa.com
March 2012
STUDENT ATHLETE SPOTLIgHT
Running back Randel
Barber makes the grade
BY WAYNE BLOCK
It was obvious throughout the football
season that Maricopa High School
running back Randel Barber was a
special talent and had a great chance of
earning a college scholarship.
The only real question was whether
he could qualify academically.
What he accomplished in the
classroom during the first semester
of his senior year, lifting his grades to
the point where he eventually signed
a scholarship to attend Minot (N.D.)
State, is the reason he has been chosen
the InMaricopa Spotlight Athlete .
Barber’s 1,384 rushing yards and
23 touchdowns were well documented
and witnessed by thousands of fans.
It is effort in the classroom, though,
that determines an athlete’s true future,
and Barber, while he may have learned
the lesson later than most, rose to his
full potential last semester.
For athletes to qualify for a
scholarship at an NCAA Division I or
II school they must be certified by the
NCAA Clearinghouse.
That group examines each athlete’s
academic record, trying to predict
whether he or she will be able to handle
college-level work and remain eligible.
Barber seemed on the verge of
not receiving certification by the
Pete HerZog
randel barber’s work in the classroom lifted him
to scholarship-eligible status.
clearinghouse.
Knowing his college future was on
the line, he went to work.
“I’ve seen him grow so much as a
person and as an athlete and a leader of
our program,” Cory Nenaber, Maricopa
head football coach, said.
“He took four online classes last
semester, on top of a full load in school,
to be able to raise his GPA. It’s such a
tribute to him, the work that he did on
his own and to get it done by Christmas,
which was his goal,” Nenaber said.
Barber registered for the online
classes in the middle of September,
completed his work before the holidays
and had a 3.5 GPA.
“That showed what he really
wanted, and how badly he wanted it,”
Nenaber said.
The soft-spoken Barber
understands the opportunity that his
hard academic work has given him,
and he seems ready for the challenge of
being a student athlete at the collegiate
level.
“At first I didn’t think I would be
able to do it,” he said. “I’m just grateful
that I had the chance, and was able to
pull it off.”
He said he knows college will be
more difficult than high school, but he
is ready.
“I think so. I just have to work hard
and do the assignments,” he said.
He plans to major in criminal
justice and work in the juvenile justice
system.