ST. LOUIS – John Beckham speaks with slight fatigue in his voice, an exhausting courtship almost over. Next Wednesday, his adopted son and blue-chip wide receiver, Dorial Green-Beckham, will make his college choice within a final group that includes Alabama, Arkansas, Missouri, Oklahoma and Texas. With it, a new challenge for the player who is considered among many to be the nation’s top recruit will begin.
The past week included more evidence that Green-Beckham’s talent is in demand. Last Wednesday, Missouri coach Gary Pinkel arrived in Springfield, Mo., via helicopter to visit the Hillcrest High School star. A day later, Green-Beckham scored 23 points to lead the Hornets to victory in the first round of a basketball tournament in suburban St. Louis, only to leave a short time later to make an official visit at Arkansas.
And before the trip to Fayetteville, Beckham answered questions about if the Crimson Tide had been dropped from consideration. His son’s choices, he assured, remain unchanged.
“I think we’re just glad that it’s almost over,” Beckham says with a laugh Tuesday morning. “The end is in sight.”
The end of the recruiting process provides a chance for some within the athletic community at Hillcrest to look back on Green-Beckham's impact and consider his potential. They see him as someone who will adapt to a major-college football lifestyle because of his calm demeanor and what he has overcome to reach this point. Still, his choice on Signing Day represents a new beginning for him as well as those who have watched a rise that has led to comparisons to current NFL wide receivers A.J. Green and Julio Jones.
For Beckham, Hillcrest’s football coach, the next phase will be a welcomed change. Campus visits will end. Questions about the future will end. So will the uncertainty.
After Feb. 1, there will be a new focus: Green-Beckham will work to meet the promise others see in him.
“Wherever he goes, someone has an opinion on where he ought to go,” Beckham says. “Or he’s asked, ‘Where are you going to go?’ He’s ready for it to be over with.”
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He’s ready for the next level. That’s what some within the athletic community at Hillcrest say about Green-Beckham's ability. Attention surrounding his talent has been building since late in the summer, when more throughout the nation learned the story of how he and his brother Darnell moved in with Beckham and his wife, Tracy, when Green-Beckham was in seventh grade. Before then, Darnell and Dorial split time living with relatives, their struggling single mother, and within foster and group homes.
Beckham recalls the future star as timid in earlier years under his care. But by his sophomore season, Green-Beckham developed a more outgoing personality that marked his maturity.
“He has completely changed as an individual,” says Beckham, who, along with his wife, officially adopted the two boys in December 2009. “We’ve just kind of seen him transform himself and grow up into a young man. It has been a lot of fun.”
With personal growth, Green-Beckham developed on the field as well. He established himself as one of the nation’s elite prospects before his senior season. He continued to impress this past fall, catching 119 passes for 2,233 yards and 24 touchdowns. His 6,353 career receiving yards set a national record. Numerous organizations named him their player of the year.
Because of his high profile, prestigious programs showed interest. In addition to his final choices, schools such as Auburn, Florida, LSU, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Oklahoma State and USC made contact. For his part, Green-Beckham has said he wants to stay close to home.
Next Wednesday, when he announces his selection at Hillcrest, Green-Beckham’s work will be rewarded. He will be mentioned as someone who provides instant impact for the program of his choice.
Missouri and Arkansas seem to have the most to gain from signing Green-Beckham. For Missouri, he could, like Jeremy Maclin and Blaine Gabbert in past years, represent another top talent that Pinkel secured within the Show-Me State. For Arkansas, he could represent a key player whom Coach Bobby Petrino needs to surpass LSU and Alabama to win the SEC West.
“He’s the type of guy that takes you from being a good program to a great program,” says Brandon Huffman, national recruiting analyst for Scout.com. “He attracts other players down the line. It makes your quarterback recruiting next year easier, because you get to tell a quarterback, ‘Hey, do you want to throw to one of the best receivers to ever come out of high school?’”
But beyond Green-Beckham's national attention – beyond his 4.47 40-yard time and a Scout.com profile description that begins, “All of the athletic tools a coach looks for in a wide receiver prospect” – some at Hillcrest will take away different memories from their time with him.
Athletic director Darrell Johnson believes the star wide receiver will remember where he came from. He knows Green-Beckham will face a learning curve in his new life, like trying to discover a balance between football and classroom demands.
But to Johnson, lessons learned from the Beckham family will be remembered, and because of them, Green-Beckham will thrive.
“You wonder where this will go,” Johnson says. “I’m just interested to see what level he reaches, because physically, he’s got all the tools. Academically, he’s got all the tools. Socially, he has all the tools. You know what it takes – but to watch somebody go through the process from step one all the way to the end, it’s going to be interesting to watch, because I believe that he will make it.”
So does John Schaefer, Green-Beckham’s basketball coach at Hillcrest. There was a time in the final minutes of the 2010 Class 5 championship game against Oakville at Mizzou Arena when Schaefer challenged his team earn a stop on defense. At the time, he also urged his players to score to cut into a slight deficit.
Soon after, Green-Beckham blocked a layup attempt in a fastbreak. He gathered the rebound and passed the ball to begin a possession that resulted in Hillcrest gaining the lead. The Hornets ended up winning by five points.
Green-Beckham finished with 10 points, five rebounds and two blocked shots in the last four minutes, 17 seconds to help his team earn its first state championship since a Class 4A title in 1984. To Schaefer, the moment served as an example of his star’s composure under pressure.
“He has the talent to do whatever he wants,” says Schaefer, who is in his fourth year coaching Green-Beckham. “When he gets to that next level, is he going to have the work ethic to do it? I think so. You have to realize an athlete like that doesn’t have to push themselves in high school. They can go through the motions and still be better than most people. I think that’s one thing he’ll have to learn to do when he gets to that next level where everybody is his size and speed.
“As long as he is injury-free and does the right things, he’ll go as high as he wants. He can play on Sundays, no doubt.”
Perhaps one year. But, for now, Beckham is focused on his son’s college future.
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Beckham can’t recall a single moment when his son began to evolve from the shy seventh-grade boy with an uncertain future into the person he is today. Like Green-
Beckham’s journey itself, the progress was gradual, but the result has brought joy to his adopted parents’ lives.
Beckham knows next fall will be a new experience. He has no individual goals in mind, like wanting to see his son earn more than 1,000 yards receiving each year. Now, he only hopes Green-Beckham remains happy and healthy and maybe one day earns a chance to live an NFL dream.
“John and Tracy Beckham are two very fine people,” Johnson says. “I think their relationship with Dorial has transferred into him growing up to be a fine young man.”
There will be tests to come, though. As a coach, Beckham understands this. Perhaps his son will experience a moment early in his college career when he sees veteran teammates run crisp routes or make athletic catches and feel overwhelmed.
At first, Beckham knows, doubt will set in. Then questions will come: Will I make it? Am I good enough? And do I belong here?
“My experience has been that when kids go to the next level – no matter how successful they were previously – they still have some doubts of their ability,” Beckham says. “It’s just kind of natural. Once (Green-Beckham) feels like he belongs – it may happen really early for him, it may happen in summer camp, it may happen in the first few games – once he has that moment where he says, ‘Hey, I belong here. I’m good enough to play here,’ I think that will be the turning point for him.”
A life that has had many turning points will experience another. Soon, Green-Beckham will make his college choice. He will excite one fan base and leave others disappointed. His courtship will end, and the work will begin anew.
Through it all, those at Hillcrest who watched Green-Beckham grow will follow his progress with the same pride they felt nurturing his rise.
“Me and my wife,” Beckham says, “have been blessed to be able to witness that.”
