Avery Urban led the Hoisington High School football team in tackles last season with 67, including 41 unassisted.
Now the middle linebacker, who started on defense as a sophomore, will be traveling to Foxboro, Mass., for the Blue-Grey National Super Combine at the New England Patriots’ field house training complex.
The combine, which will be held on Saturday with a welcome dinner on Friday night, will include 200 high school prospects from 36 states that were selected based on their performance at a regional combine, as well as their performance during the 2011 high school season.
“I didn’t even know about this combine stuff until this year,” Urban said. “My coaches told me about it, and I got an invite in the mail. I went, and now I’m going to New England.”
At the national combine, players will be selected to compete in the first Blue-Grey National All-Star Game, which will be held on January 12, 2013, at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa Bay, Fla.
Urban went to the Blue-Grey Heartland Football Combine on April 28-29 at the Kansas City Chiefs’ training facilities at Missouri Western University in St. Joseph, Mo.
Urban said that he ran a 40 in 4.82 seconds, got a time of 4.74 in the box shuttle and had 15 reps in the 185-pound bench press.
The box shuttle has the athlete run five yards in one direction, then turn around and run 10 yards in the opposite direction. Finally, the athlete turns and runs the five yards back to the starting point.
“I knew I did good, but I didn’t know I did that good,” Urban said. “Mostly, I was just shocked when I found out I got invited to the national combine.”
Urban said that it has always been one of his goals to play at the college level.
“I feel kind of nervous, but pretty excited, too,” Urban said. “I have always wanted to play for Kansas State. I’m glad I have this opportunity to maybe make that happen.”
That goal is exactly what Hoisington head coach Jason Ingram was looking to fuel when he suggested the combine.
“We had four or five kids go to the Missouri combine,” Ingram said. “It’s good for the kids to have an interest in playing at the next level. They can go to these combines and receive coaching from others. They can get their names out there for local college coaches. It’s a good experience for them.”
While Ingram said that Urban has a lot of skill, he was a little surprised by the invitation to the national combine.
“I was not expecting that, but he has a lot of talent and a lot of drive,” Ingram said. “He must have impressed some people in Missouri. His work ethic and intensity on the field is amazing. He played a big role for us last season.”