Why is Dudek snubbed?
with 492 yards.
Many WPIAL players have run for big yardage, but against Class 1A opponents. Armstrong, a merger of Ford City and Kittanning high schools, is in its second year and plays 5A.
• If it’s speed colleges are looking for, consider that Dudek won the WPIAL Class 3A 100-meter dash in the spring with a time of 10.88 seconds. At the same meet, Clairton’s Wade ran the 100 in 11.13 seconds and Beaver’s Darius Wise 10.99. Wade has scholarship offers from schools across the country for defensive back and Wise has a few FBS offers.
Dudek has run the 40-yard dash below 4.5 a few times and ran a 4.43 this summer.
• If it’s size colleges want, consider Dudek’s 5-foot-10, 190-pound frame.
• If it’s versatility and athletic ability colleges want, consider Dudek also is a standout defensive back. In the spring, Dudek ran track and also played outfielder on the Armstrong baseball team, and led the team in hitting.
• If it’s grades, consider Dudek has a 4.4 grade-point average.
“It is a little tough to figure out [Dudek’s recruitment] just from the fact of when you look at his measurables,” Armstrong coach Frank Fabian said.
Thomas Jefferson defeated Armstrong in the first round of last year’s WPIAL playoffs and Dudek had only 39 yards rushing. But Thomas Jefferson’s Bill Cherpak, one of the winningest coaches in WPIAL history, thinks highly of Dudek’s talents.
“There’s nothing the kid can’t do,” said Cherpak. “I think a lot of big schools should be drooling over him. How about the MAC [MidAmerican Conference] schools? It’s amazing how close-minded some people are.”
Chris Eiswerth is the coach at South Williamsport High and said Dudek’s story sounds strikingly similar to that of Dominick Bragalone, who ran for 4,704 yards two seasons ago. It is the second-best single-season yardage total in U.S. high school football history. But Bragalone never got one major-college scholarship offer. Bragalone was 5-11, 210 pounds and showed lots of speed.
“[Dudek] is the same story,” said Eiswerth. “It was hard to figure out with Dom, too. Just nobody would offer him, but things have worked out for him.”
Bragalone is a sophomore at Lehigh (FCS school) and rushed for more than 1,000 yards as a freshman.
Joe Butler has run Metro Index Scouting service in Pittsburgh for more than three decades and said, “Am I surprised [Dudek] doesn’t have any offers yet from big schools? A little bit, just because he’s having such a great year and he’s productive against good teams. But I think after Thanksgiving when colleges can evaluate more thoroughly, those offers might come.”
When discussing Dudek’s recruiting, there is a subject that, rightly or wrongly, often gets brought up privately. There is a perception with fans and even high school coaches that there is a bias against white halfbacks in major-college recruiting. Whether that bias exists or not, the perception is there.
“College coaches are like anybody. They don't want to get fired,” Butler said. “They are looking to win football games. I don't think [race] is a factor in this.”
Dudek did not want to comment on the matter, other than to say he wonders about it. A handful of high school coaches contacted for this story did not want to comment on the record, but said they believe there is definitely a bias against white running backs in recruiting.
“Is it one of those things that’s done deliberately? Probably not,” said Cherpak. “But I can tell you that there have been times that a college coach has called me over the years to ask about a player and one of the questions they ask is, ‘What color is he?’ So what does that tell you?
“The thing is, and I tell our players this, that it will take only one college coach to fall in love with you and offer. Do I think it will happen with Dudek? I think somebody has to notice the amazing things he’s doing.”