In
the summer, 1985, when Jason Wilkie was a freshman in high
school, he co-authored the first edition of “The High School
Football Player.” USA
Today published a very positive article on our approach to
college athletic recruiting.
In the fall, 1985, at the
request of some student-athletes at Jason's high school, we began
conducting ˝ day workshops for college-bound student-athletes
and their parents on the college football recruiting process.
This continued during Jason’s years in college and beyond.
In 1988, Jason received his
football scholarship and began his football career at Central
Michigan University after being rejected by four other universities
with all the frustration and depression that rejection brings.
It turned out to be the best place for him to play and
provided great involvement with an athletic director and the NCAA.
In 1991, Jason received an
invitation to make a ˝ hour presentation to a presidential commission
of twenty presidents entitled the Knight Commission on Intercollegiate
Athletics. They met in Washington, D.C. and invited athletic
directors, coaches and seven All-American athletes or Olympians
to speak. In addition, they invited Jason Wilkie, who was
a reserve defensive tackle at the time, to speak. The Director
of the Commission told a Detroit Free Press reporter that Jason
was invited because of his expertise on college athletic recruiting
reflected in the booklet he wrote and the workshops that he has
conducted.
In 1992, Jason is invited
to be a member of the NCAA's relatively new Student-Athlete Advisory
Committee meeting quarterly to initiate as well as react to potential
changes in NCAA legislation and rules as they affect student-athletes.
Jason served on this committee and several special committees
for the next five years.
In 1992, Jason and Bill Wilkie
wrote the college-bound workbook for students as well as a complete
55 page parent manual entitled "Empowering Teens ." They
began conducting workshops in Michigan that same year.
In 2001, the Wilkie’s introduced
a new WWW site that provides an "e" workbook for student-athletes,
college-bound students and a "College Financing" manual
for parents. Formerly, this information had only been available
through the regional workshops that they offered personally since
1985.
In 2002, the
Miami Herald quoted Bill Wilkie extensively
on the issue of elite athletes and their decision processes just
before signing. See article: "Recruiters
Put a Blitz on Kids."
In 2002, the Wilkies introduced
a third www site on
Empowering Teens focusing on finding purpose and reducing aimlessness
for the high school student.