As athletes make the transition from middle school into high school, more and more due to the power of the media and the Internet, not only does the level of competition increase exponentially, but the expectations and hype for the next big thing becomes almost overpowering.

A prime example of this is Garfield freshman Anthony Wroten Jr., who has been ranked with the nation’s elite since he has been in the 6th grade. While most of us just think these rankings and hype at such a young age is absolutely absurd, big name colleges are using it as a tool to get a head start on netting the next big thing. A basketball player named Taylor King gave a verbal intent on intending USC after being offered a scholarship as an eight grader, but now attends Duke.

Although most young athletes are able to ignore the allure of the national spotlight and the heavy recruiting that follows until committing either their junior or senior year, many have been pulled down by groupies or just putting trust in the wrong people. However, the great recruiting wheel continues to turn and as Garfield continues to provide D-1 talent, colleges continue to call. Here are two prominent Garfield stars in their own right, and the inside scoop on who is courting them.

ANTHONY WROTEN JR. (Tone Tone): I would like to start off by saying, yes the hype is real. As a first hand testament to his brilliance each and every single practice, I can confidently agree with all of the experts out there that Tony is the #1 freshmen in the nation.

Whether it’s passing, rebounding, scoring, or getting it done on the defense end, Tony already has excelled to one of the top players in the state. However, local Washington basketball fans are not the only people who have suddenly been caught up in the hype of the freshmen phenom. Even months before Wroten had played a single official high school game, colleges had been knocking at the doors of Garfield on a weekly basis. At conditioning which is held after school for a couple of weeks in preparation about a month before the start of the season, local schools such as UW, Gonzaga, and Oregon State, had begin coming just to watch Tony run up and down the floor. This was quickly followed in the next couple of weeks by assistant coaches from UCLA and visits by schools as far away as Georgia, Tennessee and North Carolina.

Even now during the season, letters continue to pour in from Syracuse, USC, and invitations for the Junior National team. However, when asked what he thinks about all the national attention, all I get is a big smile and a laugh. But that’s Tony for you, just taking it one day at a time and making sure to count his blessings.

DEANDRE COLEMAN (Biggie): At 6 – 5 and 280, it’s really easy to see why Deandre goes by the alias Biggie. It’s also easy to see why Biggie has recently garnered national attention and is now ranked in the top 100 players in his class, and #5 at Defensive Tackle. In fact, after being named to first team KingCo 4A as a sophomore and junior, Biggie has been receiving 20 – 30 letters a week from a myriad of schools like UW, Oregon, Texas A&M, LSU, USC, Arizona, Colorado, and Arizona State just to name a few.

“I’ve gotten so many letters, that I don’t even open all of them anymore and I just keep them in big boxes in my house,” said Coleman. His athleticism was recently just put on showcase at the yearly U.S. Army combine which took place in San Antonio. Out of 500 of the top football players in the nation, Biggie placed top 30 after recording a 5.1 forty time, benching 315 lbs., and squatting 535 lbs. Despite all of the attention, Biggie manages to remain down to earth.

“I just try to keep my mind set on my upcoming senior season, and put what school I’m going to attend away until the right time comes to make the right decision,” says Coleman.

He’s just a big guy on a big mission to put Garfield football back in the playoffs, and I just feel bad for whoever is going to get in his way on the field, namely the KingCo’s offensive linemen and quarterbacks.