Whitehaven High School

Recruits hit the road to earn offers

Bivins is on the road anywhere from seven to 12 hours a day, making deliveries mostly to towns within two-and-a-half hours of Gainesville. Oftentimes, he works the midnight-to-noon shift.

"He's usually pretty wiped out when he gets home," said Bivins' son, Chris Bivins Jr. "He'll usually tell us not to bother him, and then he'll close the door."

The last thing the elder Bivins wants to do is drive when he's not on the clock. But during the past two years, he has been in the car a ton on weekends. That's because his son, a rising senior at Gainesville High, is a high-quality cornerback recruit. Also, Chris' twin sister, Kayla, is a standout volleyball player.

The elder Bivins, who describes himself as being lower-middle class, has shuttled his son from Atlanta to Miami (and many points in between) to boost his profile, better his chances of earning more scholarship offers and allow him to get a good look at a variety of college campuses.

Admittedly, the extra driving "puts a lot of stress on your body," Bivins said.

Not to mention his wallet.

The trips not only have sapped Bivins of energy and taken a big chunk out of his off time, but have cost a small fortune.

"During the last two years, I know for sure I've spent over $10,000," Bivins said.

Recruiting has evolved dramatically in recent years. The utilization of social networking by college coaches and prospects comes to mind, but according to many the rise in the number of unofficial visits being taken by prospects is of equal noteworthiness.

"Nowadays, [college coaches] really want you to come to their camp and campuses to solidify an offer," said Memphis (Tenn.) Whitehaven coach Rodney Saulsberry. "They want to see you on campus with their coaches, which means you've got to visit more schools."

That, of course, means more travel, more money spent, more time invested in the process.

Ed Printz, father of standout 2013 quarterback Eddie Printz of Marietta (Ga.) Lassiter, said he began taking his son to visit colleges when he was a sixth-grader so his child could get a feel for the environment. At last check, the younger Printz had visited 26 schools, some as far as 10 hours (drive) from home. On most of those visits, father has accompanied son, pulling him away from his job.

"If I don't work, I don't make money," said Printz, who owns an Internet-based company. "That's the biggest issue for me, being able to still accommodate my customers. I take a laptop. I recently had to buy one of those iPads. I'm using that a lot more now.

Whitehaven High School evacuated after white powdery substance is ...

Whitehaven High School in Memphis was evacuated Wednesday after a student discovered a soda can with a white powdery substance inside it.

Officials said students at the school were sent home after the device was found inside Building D on the school's campus.

The campus was evacuated when school officials determined the substance was suspicious in nature.

Memphis Police and Memphis Firefighters were called to the school to recover the device, which they said was non-explosive. 

The white powdery substance was determined to be a non-dairy creamer.

The building where the soda can was found was deemed to be safe a short time later.

Officials said classes would resume on schedule at the school Thursday.

The incident happened between 12:00 p.m. and 1:00 p.m. Wednesday.

The following information statement was released by Memphis City Schools:

Wednesday, November 28, 2007

"Earlier today, a student at Whitehaven High School found a suspicious object inside one of the school's buildings. This student alertly contacted MCS security and school administrators, and the Memphis Police Department was called immediately to investigate. As a safety precaution, all students and staff were evacuated from the building while MPD officers were inside.
During the investigation, officers discovered a suspicious substance inside the object that will require further testing by Hazardous Materials inspectors. As a result, no students or staff members were allowed back into the building. We are now awaiting confirmation from MPD to be absolutely sure the building is safe to continue learning tomorrow.

No students were injured during this investigation, and every step was taken to ensure order and safety among students while police inspected the school. Due to a lack of confirmed information at the time of this investigation, parent communications had to be delayed. However, a ParentLink phone message is being distributed to all parents of Whitehaven High School to inform them of all known details regarding this situation."

The following is a draft of the ParentLink phone message that is being distributed to parents of White Station High School:

"Hello.