Kansas OL has potential

When Jason Grider was hired as the new coach at Royal Valley High School, a small school located in Hoyt, Kan., one of the first things he was told about was this freakish athlete that has the frame of a major Division I prospect.

That freakish athlete is 6-foot-7, 298-pound offensive tackle Jake Roepke.

But Grider quickly discovered that Roepke was hardly a guy that was a finished product and that he has a lot of work to do before he can be considered one of the elite kids in the state of Kansas.

"He still needs to work hard to be a Division I player," Grider said about Roepke. "He played at Valley Heights last year, because of an unique family situation, but he's been here at Royal Valley since the spring. He was a state qualifier and finisher in the shot and the discus. We're expecting a lot of big things from.

"Hopefully by him coming over here, this will be his coming out party. He hasn't done anything yet, but he's got tons of potential."

After camping this summer at Kansas and Missouri, Grider said it looks like schools are starting to warm up on him. Kansas State invited him to their summer camp, but Grider said when Roepke couldn't make it the Wildcat coaches weren't discouraged because "they knew what he could already do."

"One of the first things one of my assistants told me when I got here was about Jake," Grider said. "He told me that 'if this kid figures it out, it's not just D-I, it's Miami D-I.' He's got that much potential. I don't know if he's ever been forced to work hard. He's not dominated at this level yet, which he should be easily."

That could change this season. Grider is into his fourth day with the team in its summer team camp, and Roepke has been working hard in the weight room after he's done with his full-time summer job on a construction site.

"He's a real likable kid," Grider said. "He wants to do well. I don't know if he knows how to work as hard as he can with that talent, but he's making a lot of progress. If we can get him doing the right things and working hard at getting better, the sky's the limit for this kid. He can really move and when he does push himself, he can be dominating.

"He's the type of kid that if he works hard this season, could not just have one or so offers, he could have quite a few. But it's all up to him. We're going to coach him right and push him hard, but he has to want to do it."