http://www.suburbanchicagonews.com/newss...S1.article

May 27, 2008

Quote:But one of the most intriguing stories in the group belongs to two-sport star Rashaan Melvin, who decided to be a preferred walk-on for the Northern Illinois University football team rather than accept full-ride opportunities at Concordia University in Minnesota, Carthage College or McKendree University.

For Melvin, who was all-conference and all-county in both football and basketball, it's all about the competition. He set his sites on the Division I level and would not be swayed.

"I wanted to play at a big program in front of big crowds against the best competition," said Melvin, a defensive back and wideout for Waukegan. "My plan is to work really hard, and by my senior year, I'll hopefully have an impact on the program."

He was told that he will likely be playing defensive back for the Huskies, and that he already has a reserved spot on the team, albeit not one of the 13 scholarships that new coach Jerry Kill awarded.

The decision to eschew athletic scholarships by lower-level universities was easier to make when he snagged every available grant, making the annual cost to attend NIU affordable.

Melvin waited until after the basketball season was finished in order to make his decision. In the meantime, he was being scouted and contacted by basketball coaches at Boston University (Division I) and Northern Kentucky (Division II) and had additional football feelers from Western Michigan, Western Illinois and Western Kentucky.

He said he was entertaining the prospect of trying out for the Northern Illinois basketball team, but would have to see how things went during the football season.

"Staying busy," he said, "has always helped me keep my grades up."

"I just want to thank all my coaches," said Melvin, singling out head football coach Pat Jennings and assistant football coach and assistant athletic director Nick Browder for their help in compiling and mailing highlight tapes of his performances.

"High school was a great time," said Melvin. "I was lucky to play and do good in both sports."

Now, it's time for an even bigger challenge.

Here's some info on Rashaan Melvin:

http://www.trainnlp.com/AAU/NLPplayers/0...elvin.html

Looks like he's a smart kid.

Sounds like this kid is intelligent, athletic, and motivated. This is the type of player I love to see succeed. Good luck to him winning a starting spot on the football team.

Um, ehhhhh, bump.

Ha.. 1:27 AM post. Well done.

(08-19-2011 11:32 AM)HuskieFan84 Wrote:  Ha.. 1:27 AM post. Well done.

It was either this or....nevermind.

Lmao. Seems we have good luck with preferred walk ons.

Bump.



Awesome that 4 years later, I am fully confident lining him up on FLORIDA STATE's #1 in a few weeks. Almost goosebump-inducing.

He's gotta stop grabbing guys. Or at least do it without getting caught. His positioning is good enough where he doesn't need to do that.

That last flag in the MACC he got caught. Ball wound up nowhere close to being near the receiver.

I like Melvin a lot, he's got great measureables and is great in coverage. However, he makes WAY TOO MANY bonehead plays. If he didn't get too physical with the ball in the air or try and make too many big plays he'd be an absolute monster, needs the right frame of mind and he could have a pro future going undrafted in the right scheme.

He tries to make too many big plays? What? When do you see him out of position or over pursuing?

Maybe he plays too physical from time to time, but there are worse problems to have.

Multiple times, CMU 92 yard touchdown is an excellent reference point. He gets himself in bad position from time to time when trying to get a pick, other times he doesn't even turn his head. I'm not saying he sucks, I'm saying he has TONS of upside but often gets in bad spots.

(12-09-2012 08:58 PM)thxjoenovak Wrote:  He's gotta stop grabbing guys. Or at least do it without getting caught. His positioning is good enough where he doesn't need to do that.

That last flag in the MACC he got caught. Ball wound up nowhere close to being near the receiver.

+1

He's a helluva lot better than the Hansboro boys