Sports

BHS seniors sign letters to play college football

February 7, 2011 9:00 am by Frances Dinkelspiel

Rashad Albert, Jacai Deneveu, and Jalen Rosales at table. Photos: Mark Coplan/BUSD.

The Berkeley High School library was jammed last week with people who came to watch three seniors sign commitments to play football in college.

Wednesday February 2 was National Signing Day, the first day a high school senior can sign a binding letter indicating he or she will play a sport in college. Three BHS students, all football players, had firm offers on Wednesday and another eight students expect to get offers. Rashad Albert (left in photo) has chosen to attend Sacramento State. Jacai Deneveu (center in photo) will attend Humboldt State and Jalen Rosales (right in photo) will attend the United States Military Academy at West Point to play for Army.

All three students had a 3.6 GPA average. Principal Pasquale Scuderi (with microphone) praised the students and then spoke about the importance of placing academics first. He noted that only a small number of college athletes make it to the pros. A much larger number do not finish their college education, he warned.

Families and friends watch signing ceremony at BHS.

See more photos here.

11 Comments

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  • Jane Tierney

    This headline caught me off-guard. I thought it meant senior citizens were signing up to play football. Neeeveer mind. : )

  • Name Withheld

    What a weird thing to want to watch.

    I notice some of the students in the photo are wearing headphones or busy on their cell phones. I wonder if their team mates were required to be there for the signing?

  • http://www.tktaylor.com Tracey Taylor

    Jane Tierney: We’ve changed the headline to make it clearer we are referring to BHS seniors — but we quite like the image of senior citizens playing college football!

  • Native Berkeleyan

    To “name withheld”: What’s with the negativity? This is truly wonderful event well worthy of celebration. Berkeley is proud of our young men and women whose athletic and academic successes have allowed them to be invited to play college level sports. With all the problems at BHS, its both exciting and heartwarming to have an opportunity to congratulate these kids on signing day, which you may think of as “weird”, but actually is a right of passage held on the same day in high schools across the land.

  • ladypants

    Hugely proud of these students – go BHS!

  • Name Withheld

    @ Native Berkeleyan ––– Sports programs spend huge amounts of money on a very small number of students, never make back their costs, and are a general drain on the system. If they were gotten rid of and that money was available for general student use, perhaps teachers wouldn’t have to keep buying school supplies for their students with their own salaries.

  • elmwood neighbor

    Name Withheld

    Close to 1/3 of BHS students participate in sports. Much of the funds that support athletics are raised by Berkeley Athletic Fund.

  • elmwood neighbor

    opps meant to add this link to BAF

    http://www.berkeleyhighathletics.org/info

  • Native Berkeleyan

    Berkeley High has over 1,000 student-athletes participating in over 60 teams in 28 sports. Many of those who don’t take part are passionate about dance, theater or one of many clubs. These kids maintain their grades, stay out of trouble and develop skills that they will carry for the rest of their lives. What do you want kids to do? Join gangs? Use drugs? The Berkeley athletic fund raises money independently of the school district, and most coaches earn minimal stipends averaging less than $2,000. The success of Berkeley High sports is one of the things that does add greatness to Berkeley. GO JACKETS!

  • Name Withheld

    @ Elmwood Neighbor ––– I am talking about college sports programs.

    @ Native Berkeleyan ––– Saying that the student’s options are split between either playing afterschool sports or joining a gang and doing drugs is so thoroughly idiotic that it does not deserve a real response.

  • DeNeveu

    If anybody responds to name withhell , they are as stupid and naive as he/she is. Jacai’s dad.