Schools waiting on tape from Pritchard

Fort Dodge (Iowa) Iowa Central Community College linebacker Anthony Pritchard boasts 4.6 speed, a 430-pound bench press and a 530-pound squat. Now he just needs to get his game tape circulated amongst college coaching staffs so he can field scholarship offers.

"It's been pretty slow for the first part of the season, but now things are starting to pick up a little," Pritchard said. "The schools that have talked to me are usually looking for a boost on defense and someone to come in and play right away. A lot of schools have been saying that about me and my style of play.

"At this stage I am considering all my options and we'll just kind of see where it goes. I talked to my coach about it and he said there are a ton of schools interested. He thinks because I am not a semester guy, those offers are going to be coming later."

A dozen or more schools have requested game tape on Pritchard, and among them are Missouri, Kansas, Kansas State, Minnesota, Iowa, Iowa State, UNI, TCU, NC State, Middle Tennessee State, Akron and Louisville. Two of those schools have been in close contact this fall.

"I've talked to Iowa and UNI and both of them seem to have pretty high interest," Pritchard said. "They both really need linebackers and since I am not a semester guy – I'll be here the whole year – they'll keep evaluating me over the year. They actually saw me out of high school, so they know quite a bit about me."

Pritchard played out his prep career at West Des Moines Valley High School in Iowa. Now he has built himself up to 6-2 and 240 pounds and could project to either of the linebacker positions at the Division 1 level.

"I would probably stay at linebacker is what (college coaches) are saying. I haven't heard anything about defensive line," Pritchard said. "Right now I play inside linebacker, but we're often flexed out as an outside backer because 90 percent of the teams we play are in the spread offense. My speed in the open field and ability to strike in the open field could land me at an outside backer position. It just depends (on the team).

One reason Pritchard's recruitment could have gotten off to a slow start this fall is because he missed several games with an injury. In the three games he has played for Iowa Central C.C. this year, though, he amassed 44 total tackles.