Carmel Ind. LB staying patient

Brian East has good reasons to stay patient. The 6-foot-4 linebacker with a 3.7 G.P.A. has IVY league schools vying for his talents on and off the football field. His seventeen tackle performance in a 7-3 win over reigning state champion Center Grove has kept the in-state major programs in close contact. Either way, East is taking his time with recruiting, and satisfied with whatever develops.

"Recently, some IVY league schools have picked things up," East said. "Penn and Cornell have offered. Indiana and Purdue have talked to me. Those schools told me now that other prospects are starting to commit to various schools, that I am high on their boards. A lot of MAC schools have stayed in touch, especially Ohio and Akron. Vanderbilt, Michigan State, and Stanford have consistently been mailing me. Air Force offered back in the Spring, they still send stuff."

East said he still hears plenty from coach Billy Lynch at Indiana, and coach Mark Hagan at Purdue.

"Both schools are very interested in me as a player, and what I can do," East said. "They have commits from other linebackers, but after going to their camps, they way coach Hagan and Lynch have responded, both took the time to sit one on one with me, I have talked to both head coaches. Both staffs are coming to Carmel to catch a game and watch me. Whether or not something happens, they made it clear I am one of their guys, and they want to keep recruiting me."

If Purdue, Indiana, or another major college comes through with an offer, East knows he will have a tough decision to make, but one he is willing to be patient with.

"To be honest, I am looking hard at those IVY league schools. I know something might come from a big-time college program. But going to Penn, you go there and you graduate, and you are set for life. They have the number one business school, which is what I want to study. IVY League football is still great competition on the football field. I think I am going to wait until Christmas to decide what to do. By then, I will have made a few visits, I will have a good idea. With the grades I have, IVY League is something really consider. But at the same time, I would love to play Big Ten competition."

East said he has between 40 and 50 tackles over the first four games, as well as four sacks, two tackles for a loss, and a forced fumble. The Carmel Greyhounds, a major contender in Class 5A, have won three in a row since opening the season with a 7-3 loss to Class 4A favorite Indianapolis Cathedral.

"Losing is never fun," East said. "But you can find positives to build on when you lose. After dropping that first one, the way we did it, we just played hard, but we made mistakes that can be fixed. The rematch of last year's state title game against Center Grove was at our place. We could have played better actually, but we got it done in a pleasing fashion. We still have our goals of winning state an going undefeated in conference. We really feel we are getting better each week."