Young Start for Hart

There is no doubt the start of the recruiting process for athletes has begun to inch sooner and sooner over the years. There may not be a better example of this in South Florida than the early attention Glades Day running back Kelvin Taylor, a 2013 prospect, is getting from college coaches across the nation.

The major concern is the attention the prospects receive at such a young age, and are they able to handle it all. At Cardinal Gibbons, lineman Bobby Hart has no choice but to take on the recruiting process at an early age. The 2011 prospect is only 14 years old heading into his junior season, and will not turn 15 until shortly before his Kick-Off Classic game this fall. Therefore, Hart will be at the tender age of 16 when fall camp opens during his freshman year of college.

“I have great parents and they will play a major part in the recruiting process,” said Hart. “Starting this young, it’s better for me. I just think it can help me being this young, it just will be a good thing for me to experience.”

The 6-foot-4, 265-pound Hart talked about the prospects of him living on a college campus at such a young age that he will still have restrictions on his driver’s license.

“It will be all right, I’ve always been the young kid,” said Hart. “It’s nothing I can’t handle. . . As far as the college life, I feel that I will be able to handle it well with the background I grew up with. My parents and how they raised me, I know the difference between right and wrong and I’ll be able to do very well in college.”

This past weekend Hart jumped head first into the recruiting process, by attending Florida’s Friday Night Lights, a camp that features many of the top prospects in the nation each year. At the camp Hart worked out at offensive tackle, a position he picked up this past May during spring football.

“Our offensive line (at Cardinal Gibbons) was one of our weak points and I told coach it was anything for the team. I was willing to do anything to make the team better. It was a great transition with me playing basketball and soccer at a young age I have fairly good footwork to start off with. The coaching staff has made me better.”

Hart discussed how he performed during the camp against some of the top prospects in attendance.

“The competition was very good. During drive blocking I did alright, I won a couple and stalemated a couple times. Pass blocking I did fairly well, I got beat one time. I went against some top competition. The D-end from Hialeah (Corey Lemonier), I stopped him.”

Hart’s performance at the camp caught the attention of the Florida coaching staff, including the offensive coordinator Steve Addazio.

“The coaching staff gave me a couple points, they said they would be talking to me,” said Hart.

Hart will play both offensive and defensive line this fall for Gibbons, but the move to offensive line this past spring looks like it paid off for Hart early on.