Lakeland got a transfer QB

[nolebull813]

Not sure how good he is. He has offers but his team went 6-5 against a bad schedule. And he only had 21 tds. Some kids just get recruited for size. Was Tarpon that horrible that he was running for his life, had no running game and the D was Swiss cheese? He will probably play more good teams in August for Lakeland than he did for Tarpon the whole year 

[Longtime Observer]

3 hours ago, nolebull813 said:

Not sure how good he is. He has offers but his team went 6-5 against a bad schedule. And he only had 21 tds. Some kids just get recruited for size. Was Tarpon that horrible that he was running for his life, had no running game and the D was Swiss cheese? He will probably play more good teams in August for Lakeland than he did for Tarpon the whole year 

He was also the QB at Clearwater Academy in 2023. His prospects hinge greatly on what kind of OC Lakeland employs next year. Him with the same incompetence from last year will not produce much for Lakeland. Him plus a new, competent OC can be a big help, especially since there are a couple of huge 2028 WR prospects on the roster.

It can be said that the offensive debacle in the last three playoff games may have contributed to Kavloukis- and not the highest proflle QB from the city of Lakeland in many years- transferring in. Said highest profile QB can be found by searching the top QBs in the state for the class of 2026 on the on3 website. He lists Lakeland as his hometown, but is known as the star of a different school in a different city. We have to assume Lakeland lost any shot at him given this announcement.

[MarkECannon]

I’m assuming there will be a battle for the starting QB position.  Anybody know if he is good enough to be the starting QB this year or should he be the backup?  I just looked at his freshman highlights.  Not sure what his lowlights look like but he can throw the ball deep and across the middle accurately.

[Dr. D]

My favorite part of this move is the young man's honesty in his X announcement, "I have decided to attend Lakeland Senior High School this coming spring and fall".  Leaves a way out to go to yet another school in 2026 if things don't work out this year.  I don't blame the young man; he is just doing what the system allows; wish him the best. 

Now somebody convince me that this type of activity is good for Florida high school football at large.

[Longtime Observer]

9 hours ago, MarkECannon said:

I’m assuming there will be a battle for the starting QB position.  Anybody know if he is good enough to be the starting QB this year or should he be the backup?  I just looked at his freshman highlights.  Not sure what his lowlights look like but he can throw the ball deep and across the middle accurately.

He's a mid-level college prospect. The backup figures to be the JV QB from last season. This is because the previously presumed starter, who started 4 playoff games, transferred to Lake Wales. So, barring another even bigger transfer, the job is his to lose.

[Longtime Observer]

4 hours ago, Dr. D said:

My favorite part of this move is the young man's honesty in his X announcement, "I have decided to attend Lakeland Senior High School this coming spring and fall".  Leaves a way out to go to yet another school in 2026 if things don't work out this year.  I don't blame the young man; he is just doing what the system allows; wish him the best. 

Now somebody convince me that this type of activity is good for Florida high school football at large.

It's awful. But, it is the reality in both high school and college sports now. You'd be extremely hard-pressed to find serious, competent coaches who support it. Also, it seems no one in coaching has the slightest bit of ability to change it or lead a course correction. It's maddening IMO.

[nolebull813]

He got an SEC offer as a sophomore. He has to have some legitimacy to him. Lakeland needs to hurry up and announce they are heading to California to play DLS. That will attract some talent wanting to take that trip.

[Longtime Observer]

23 hours ago, nolebull813 said:

He got an SEC offer as a sophomore. He has to have some legitimacy to him. Lakeland needs to hurry up and announce they are heading to California to play DLS. That will attract some talent wanting to take that trip.

I gather the team and potential transfers already know about MNW, DLS etc. And I gather there have been many transfers as of yet unannounced. They apparently have hired an OC as well. I sense they prefer to operate outside of the media circus. Otherwise it's weird that all of this is set but not announced. The Twitter profile for the program has been suspended for a while now, and I'm not even sure anyone knows this lol.

[PinellasFB]

I got to see this QB in person this year.  He is legit and has a cannon.  Hi decision making in the games I watched was suspect but he has all the physical tools and is certainly a high ceiling prospect.  He had a D1 WR to throw to but his line was below average. 

So my question is how does a kid living in Tarpon Springs transfer to a school 50 miles away?  Don't even suggest his parents "moved" to Lakeland out of the blue either.  We know what's really going on with this kid who transfers every year.

[MarkECannon]

19 minutes ago, PinellasFB said:

I got to see this QB in person this year.  He is legit and has a cannon.  Hi decision making in the games I watched was suspect but he has all the physical tools and is certainly a high ceiling prospect.  He had a D1 WR to throw to but his line was below average. 

So my question is how does a kid living in Tarpon Springs transfer to a school 50 miles away?  Don't even suggest his parents "moved" to Lakeland out of the blue either.  We know what's really going on with this kid who transfers every year.

Lakeland still has that apartment where they list all their transfers as occupying.  Just kidding, just kidding 

[Nulli Secundus]

2 hours ago, MarkECannon said:

Lakeland still has that apartment where they list all their transfers as occupying.  Just kidding, just kidding 

Hey!  No bringing up NuJack

[Longtime Observer]

6 hours ago, PinellasFB said:

I got to see this QB in person this year.  He is legit and has a cannon.  Hi decision making in the games I watched was suspect but he has all the physical tools and is certainly a high ceiling prospect.  He had a D1 WR to throw to but his line was below average. 

So my question is how does a kid living in Tarpon Springs transfer to a school 50 miles away?  Don't even suggest his parents "moved" to Lakeland out of the blue either.  We know what's really going on with this kid who transfers every year.

In this era, families are seeking opportunities all over the place. The QB the previous two seasons came from Palmetto. This is happening with increasing frequency all over the place. The potential for NIL money presently or in the future means we are bascially dealing with professional players (who happen to be teenagers who may never accomplish anything beyond the high school level). What, exactly, distinguishes NIL benefits from "impermissible benefits" is about as opaque as possible. It may be the case that the only behaviors that may quaify as the latter only occur if someone is trying to set a player or school up. We've seen a total collapse of leadership at both the college and high school levels. IMO, this has ruined the game at both levels.

[THAT S--T WAS FUNNY]

12 minutes ago, Longtime Observer said:

In this era, families are seeking opportunities all over the place. The QB the previous two seasons came from Palmetto. This is happening with increasing frequency all over the place. The potential for NIL money presently or in the future means we are bascially dealing with professional players (who happen to be teenagers who may never accomplish anything beyond the high school level). What, exactly, distinguishes NIL benefits from "impermissible benefits" is about as opaque as possible. It may be the case that the only behaviors that may quaify as the latter only occur if someone is trying to set a player or school up. We've seen a total collapse of leadership at both the college and high school levels. IMO, this has ruined the game at both levels.

YEP

[PinellasFB]

So my follow up question to all of this is who cares enough about winning a championship to go out and buy players?  This is the part I don't get.  Anyone can buy enough players to win a championship.  I could spend $100K this fall and get PHU a title that they would never win otherwise.  Even if I had that kind of disposable cash lying around, it would ring hollow inside since I bought it.  I mean anyone can buy a championship if they really, really cared enough about it so how does one feel good about it?

Now having said that, I can see how perhaps you have a great team but are just missing one piece (QB at Lakeland?).  Buying one player to complete your team is perhaps something I can understand (don't confuse understand vs agree with).  

[Perspective]

On 2/23/2025 at 8:09 AM, PinellasFB said:

So my follow up question to all of this is who cares enough about winning a championship to go out and buy players?  This is the part I don't get.  Anyone can buy enough players to win a championship.  I could spend $100K this fall and get PHU a title that they would never win otherwise.  Even if I had that kind of disposable cash lying around, it would ring hollow inside since I bought it.  I mean anyone can buy a championship if they really, really cared enough about it so how does one feel good about it?

Now having said that, I can see how perhaps you have a great team but are just missing one piece (QB at Lakeland?).  Buying one player to complete your team is perhaps something I can understand (don't confuse understand vs agree with).  

So, since things appear to be a little slow right now, I'll bite.

A lot depends on what you mean by "buy players."   As I suspect most of us know, there are high schools in Florida that have provided compensation or some other form of benefits to athletes and/or their families to "convince" the athlete to attend their school instead of staying put and playing for their neighborhood public school.   Now that the state legislature has torn down the boundary line fences and allows school choice, and now that the FHSAA has  jumped on the NIL bandwagon, the things that happened in the shadows is now taking place in bright sunlight. 

Clearly, I could start naming schools that have participated in the process in the past and who appear to be participating in the process presently.  Many of those schools have posters on this site (based on posts and screen names).  Private schools provide "scholarships" to kids who, candidly, would not be able to afford the tuition at the school they attend, but, if we're being honest, would not otherwise have a realistic chance of gaining admission to these schools (or any interest in doing so).  Other schools (and let's be clear, when I say "schools," I'm casting a broad net and including coaches, athletic directors, schools administrators, alums and boosters) find/provide housing for coveted athletes -- although this practice seemingly is not as important now that kids can go to whatever school they choose, assuming there is adequate capacity.  Car dealerships owned by fervent boosters provide overpaid jobs to the parents of the kids so that the kid and one of his parents can live in the new city for less than a year.  Yeah, I know it sounds like an episode from Friday Night Lights, but it doesn't just happen in Southwest Texas . . . it happens in Southwest Florida, too.

Look, I understand the desire of families to put their kids in the best possible position to excel, develop and ultimately, earn a scholarship so that they can attend college -- especially when circumstances might otherwise prevent that were it not for the free ride.  That said, with almost all sports, but certainly for football, colleges can find the talent and there are multiple ways for standout players to be seen and recognized (including camps).  

So, in answer to your question, there are plenty of people out there -- coaches, administrators, and boosters -- who care enough about winning a state championship to put their jobs on the line or share a small token of their wealth to encourage the proverbial missing piece of the puzzle to play for "their" team.   It's the world we live in. 

[PinellasFB]

On 2/25/2025 at 3:39 PM, Perspective said:

Look, I understand the desire of families to put their kids in the best possible position to excel, develop and ultimately, earn a scholarship so that they can attend college -- especially when circumstances might otherwise prevent that were it not for the free ride.  That said, with almost all sports, but certainly for football, colleges can find the talent and there are multiple ways for standout players to be seen and recognized (including camps).  

This 100%.  If you are talented, you will be found and offered a scholly.  If you need to be discovered, just attend summer camps and you will be found.  Simple as that. You don't have to be part of an all-star team for this discovery.  Kids are getting some bad advice.  While I don't like what specialty schools like Rise Preparatory Academy represent (free agents for hire at any school with an hole to fill), I do agree with their advice to their kids which is to not chase titles but rather chase starting positions as early as you can to get varsity film as a freshman or sophomore.  This is how West Boca ended up with so many RPA-placed stars and turned their program around on a dime.

[Longtime Observer]

1 hour ago, PinellasFB said:

This 100%.  If you are talented, you will be found and offered a scholly.  If you need to be discovered, just attend summer camps and you will be found.  Simple as that. You don't have to be part of an all-star team for this discovery.  Kids are getting some bad advice.  While I don't like what specialty schools like Rise Preparatory Academy represent (free agents for hire at any school with an hole to fill), I do agree with their advice to their kids which is to not chase titles but rather chase starting positions as early as you can to get varsity film as a freshman or sophomore.  This is how West Boca ended up with so many RPA-placed stars and turned their program around on a dime.

A couple things to consider:

- many kids want to play in huge games and win, as that is much more exciting than playing meaningless games with no glory on the line. This applies even for those who don't seriously expect to play at the upper levels.

- many kids feel they are underrated (often they are wrong, obviously) and feel they need to prove themselves against elite teams/players. There is often a huge disparity in the quality of teams faced by "the usual suspects" and mediocre or small programs.

- Fame, mostly acquired through social media, and generally only available to those playing in major games getting a lot of attention, can enhance NIL opportunities and value. If, for example, Lakeland travels out to California to play a national power live on ESPN, that is going to present opportunities to kids that aren't available to, say, George Jenkins players facing Davenport in front of three dozen parents.

[swflfootball5]

I may be a bit ignorant to the transfer rules, so please excuse me for that, but I do not know if it so much buying players. We all know recruiting goes on, but to my understanding, schools do not have to offer jobs or rent out a residence in the school district anymore for a kid to go there with school choice. If a kid wants to go to a school in another school district, they just have to apply during the school choice window, and if there is a seat available at said school, they can get in. Now, at these schools, most available seats most likely go to athletes and we all know why. How schools fudge that or legitmize it, over a student who wants to go there purely for academic reasons, I have no idea. I will just bring it back to the recruiting aspect and possible NIL money. That is my understanding in how it works. Please feel free to enlighten me if I am wrong. 

[PinellasFB]

17 hours ago, Longtime Observer said:

A couple things to consider:

- many kids want to play in huge games and win, as that is much more exciting than playing meaningless games with no glory on the line. This applies even for those who don't seriously expect to play at the upper levels.

- many kids feel they are underrated (often they are wrong, obviously) and feel they need to prove themselves against elite teams/players. There is often a huge disparity in the quality of teams faced by "the usual suspects" and mediocre or small programs.

- Fame, mostly acquired through social media, and generally only available to those playing in major games getting a lot of attention, can enhance NIL opportunities and value. If, for example, Lakeland travels out to California to play a national power live on ESPN, that is going to present opportunities to kids that aren't available to, say, George Jenkins players facing Davenport in front of three dozen parents.

Yeah you make some valid points.  I can imagine it's much more exciting to play for a team with a high level schedule and exposure than a mid-tier team.  It's a shame though that the rich get richer while the poor get poorer in this era due to this. The traditionally great teams will always be great due to the talent-rich areas they typically draw from but 20+ years ago, even Lakeland would have to overcome a few holes in their roster in any given year.  Now they just fill holes with recruits as needed.  If they had an open division then I would not have such a problem with this.  Let them all play in their own tournament.