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American Press
06-05-2025
- Sport
- American Press
Newcomers fitting in
Nyjah Fontenot gets a hug after her game-winning hit last Saturday against UIW. (Raymond Stewart/McNeese Athletics) With one swing, Gwinn Hill became the latest Cowgirl newcomer to come up big this season. Sunday in the bottom of the seventh, her game-winning home run sent McNeese State to the championship series and stamped Hill's name in the program's history books. It was the freshman's first career home run in just her 23rd at-bat. 'You could see how hard she worked and stayed with it even when she wasn't playing,' said McNeese head coach James Landreneau. 'You have to be ready when your moment comes.' Hill is just the latest in a host of first-year players to make big impacts on this McNeese roster. The Cowgirls won their record fourth straight Southland Conference regular-season title behind a bevy of newcomers. 'We have gotten many new players,' said Landreneau. 'They have come in here and contributed right away for us. We had a lot of holes to fill and they have done that.' Hill's home run highlighted some of those players. She drove in fellow freshman Sara Allen, who had tied the game with a perfect bunt. Allen was named a catcher on the all-SLC team. That made another freshman, pitcher Kadence Williams, the winner, Williams has started 22 games this season and is 11-7 with a 3.30 earned run average. Another freshman, right-hander Maddie Taylor, has been even better. She is 17-7 with a 3.35 ERA and was named the league's Pitcher of the Year. 'They both have come a long way this season in their poise and maturity,' said Landreneau. 'They have grown up through adversity and pressure. We have confidence in both of them.' No freshman has had a better season than Kassidy Chance, the infielder from Sam Houston Hill in Moss Bluff. Chance leads the Cowgirls in hitting at .392 and stolen bases with 18. Her 67 hits are just one off the lead. Chance won this year's Freshman of the Year honor by the league. 'Kassidy shows a lot of maturity as a hitter,' Landreau said. 'She makes adjustments almost every time up. She knows how to handle the bat.' Brylie Fontenot has also played in 55 of McNeese's 58 games, starting 50 of them as a true freshman. Not to be outdone, Nyjah Fontenot, a transfer from Arkansas, is hitting .391 and has 68 hits to lead the Cowgirls. The sophomore from Barbe High returned to Lake Charles after last season. 'All of our freshmen and new players have come in and really made a difference,' said senior shortstop Reese Reyna. 'We had confidence in them because we saw what they could do during the fall.' This team has experienced more than a few growing pains. During a tough preseason, they lost the lead twice to nationally ranked LSU and even dropped an early conference series at Lamar. 'Player development isn't always pretty,' said Landreneau. 'This has been fun to see the maturity. It has been special.' McNeese hopes the newcomers have one more big weekend ahead as they host Southeastern in the league's championship series. The winner gets a ticket to the NCAA Tournament. 'We don't shy away from it, we want to play in the NCAA,' said Landreneu. McNeese still has that chance thanks to the new kids on the block.
American Press
04-05-2025
- Sport
- American Press
Hall's blast sends Cowgirls to title series
Gwinn Hall is greeted at home plate by teammates after her walk-off home run Sunday. (Kirk Meche/Special to the American Press) Gwinn Hall saved her first for last. The little-used freshman came up with the biggest hit in the Cowgirls' biggest game Sunday. Hall blasted a two-run homer with one out in the bottom of the seventh to send McNeese to the Southland Conference's championship series. Hall's first career home run lifted the Cowgirls to a 3-1 victory over Incarnate Word at Joe Miller Field. The shot was McNeese's third straight walk-off win in the Lake Charles bracket. 'Yeah, I knew it was gone right away,' said Hall. 'I wasn't looking to hit a home run, I just wanted to get a hit and keep the game going.' With fellow freshman Sarah Allen on first, Hall ripped an 0-2 pitch from UIW ace Larissa Jacquez well over the fence in right-center. 'That pop has been showing up for her,' McNeese head coach James Landreneau said. 'Gwinn got her moment and made the most of it, and we all benefited.' The win moves McNeese (40-18), the top seed in the tournament, into the best-of-3 championship series against No. 2-seeded Southeastern starting Thursday night in Lake Charles. During the regular season, the Cowgirls took two of three from the Lady Lions (46-13) in Hammond. 'We are going to be tested. Southeastern is a very good team,' said Landreneau. 'We are going to have to be better.' The winning rally started by the usual big-game suspect, shortstop Reese Reyna. Her leadoff double in the seventh came after a 12-pitch fight with Jacquez (9-9). It was Reese's fourth double of this postseason. 'That was big for me to see,' said Hall. 'Every pitch she got, I was getting too. By the end, I felt I had been in the entire game.' Reese was bunted to third by Rylie Bouvier and then squeezed home thanks to Allen, who ended up on first with just the one out when UIW (29-21) first baseman Victoria Altamirano tried to get Reese out at the plate. 'Reese Reyna had an unbelievable at-bat to start that inning,' said Landreneau. Hall, who had a pinch-hit single in the bottom of the seventh on Saturday to start that winning rally against UIW and send the Cardinals into the elimination bracket. She had grounded out in the fifth as a pinch hitter but stayed in the game. 'We liked the swing she put on the ball and decided to leave her in,' said Landreneau. 'I'm glad we did.' Freshman right-hander Kandence Williams went the distance on the mound, giving up just one run on three hits while striking out two. She did allow three walks, all to Altamirano, the league's Player of the Year, and by design. 'Pitching around her was the best option,' said Williams. 'You want to attack all the other hitters if you do that.' Williams improved to 11-7 with the win. 'Kandence Williams was amazing today,' said Landreneau. 'This was a grind.' The Cardinals, who had to win twice on Sunday to advance, took a 1-0 lead in the fourth on Kennedy Hill's sacrifice fly to shallow left. Prasias Quintero, who led off the inning with a double, scored as Cowgirl Samantha Mundine was forced to dive to make the catch. 'I'm proud of the way we competed and found a way to win,' said Landreneau. The victory was McNeese's sixth straight and 17th in its last 18 games. The Cowgirls have won 40 straight at home against Southland foes. The Cowgirls will be looking to make their fourth trip to the NCAA Tournament in the last five seasons when they take on the Lions for the title.
American Press
30-04-2025
- Sport
- American Press
Landreneau, 5 players earn honors
James Landreneau won his fourth SLC Coach of the Year honor Wednesday. (Kirk Meche/Special to the American Press) After a historic run to their fourth straight Southland Conference regular season title, the Cowgirls earned the postseason honors on the eve of tournament play. Led by their head coach, five Cowgirls were rewarded for their seasons by the SLC on Wednesday when the league announced its All-conference squads. Head coach James Landreneau was named the league's Coach of the Year for the fourth time in his nine seasons leading the Cowgirls. He is also a repeat winner from last season, leading his young team to a 37-18 record, including 23-4 in league play. Right-hander Maddie Taylor earned both Pitcher and Freshman of the Year honors while posting a 16-7 record with a 3.68 earned run average. Joining Taylor on the first team are fellow freshmen Sarah Allen (catcher) and Kassidy Chance (utility). Allen hit .329 while Chance leads the team with a .400 average. Sophomore outfielder Samantha Mundine also earned first-team honors after hitting .375 and driving in 27 runs heading into Pod play, which opens Thursday at Joe Miller Field. Senior Reese Reyna and sophomore Nyjah Fontenot were selected to the second team at shortstop and outfield, respectively.. Reyna is hitting .308 with five homers and 29 RBIs. Fontenot, a redshirt sophomore who transferred from Arkansas, is hitting .394 with 37 RBIs. Ironically, perhaps McNeese's MVP this season, Jada Munoz, didn't make any team. The junior is second in the league in home runs with 14, one off the lead. She leads the conference in RBIs (53) and doubles (19) and is second in runs scored (51). Superlatives Player of the Year – Victoria Altamirano, UIW Coach of the Year – James Landreneau, McNeese Newcomer of the Year – Macie LaRue, Southeastern Freshman of the Year – Kassidy Chance, McNeese Hitter of the Year – Victoria Altamirano, UIW Pitcher of the Year – Maddie Taylor, McNeese First Team C – Sarah Allen, McNeese 1B – Victoria Altamirano, UIW 2B – Claire Sisco, Nicholls 3B – Maria Detillier, Southeastern SS – Chloe Magee, Southeastern OF – Shenita Tucker, Southeastern OF – Samantha Mundine, McNeese OF – AB Garcia, HCU DP – Veronica Harrison, Lamar UTL – Kassidy Chance, McNeese P – Macie LaRue, Southeastern P – Maddie Taylor, McNeese Second Team C – Adelynn Becerra, SFA 1B – Tatum Wright, East Texas A&M 2B – Ellie Vance, SFA 3B – Haylie Savage, HCU SS – Reese Reyna, McNeese OF – Reagan Heflin, Nicholls OF – Maddie Cason, East Texas A&M OF – Nyjah Fontenot, McNeese DP – Kyi'Marri Ester, SFA UTL – Molly VandenBout, Nicholls P – Larissa Jacquez, UIW P – Britney Lewinski, Southeastern All-Defensive Team C – Jaisy Caceres, UIW 1B – Cala Wilson, Lamar 2B – Claire Sisco, Nicholls 3B – Trinity Brandon, Lamar SS – Reese Reyna, McNeese LF – Maddy Bailey, HCU CF – Sophia Livers, Northwestern State RF – Reagan Heflin, Nicholls P – Maddie Taylor, McNeese
Fox News
23-04-2025
- Sport
- Fox News
How Cam Ward built his unshakable confidence: ‘He has a boulder on his shoulder'
In 2020, on his first day at the University of the Incarnate Word, Cam Ward walked into the office of head football coach Eric Morris and told him he was going to be his starting quarterback. Not eventually; that year, despite the fact that the Cardinals returned a freshman All-American passer who led the school to a conference championship the previous season. A zero-star recruit coming out of high school, Ward got up and left after delivering the message, shutting the door behind him. "I didn't say a word. … That was the whole conversation right there," Morris, now the head coach at North Texas, told FOX Sports. "This kid had never taken a shotgun snap when he said that to me." But he had time. Ward joined UIW — the only Division I program to offer him a scholarship — in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic, which postponed the Cardinals' season. He got more than four months of practice without game preparation. He became comfortable in the offense — so much so that when UIW scheduled Arkansas State for late November that year, Morris declared an open competition at quarterback between Ward and the incumbent for their scrimmage ahead of the game. Ward proceeded to play "lights out," according to Morris. "It was obviously a hard conversation for me to have with our freshman All-American that he wasn't going to start that game," he said. "But our whole team was [for Ward]. The most evident thing was that Cam was the best player on this football team. "Unfortunately, we were about to get on a plane for that game and our whole D-line was contact traced out for a positive COVID test and we didn't get to play," he continued. "But that was the first time for us as a coaching staff to say, 'Hey, this kid's different when he gets into his game mode.'" The NFL will soon learn for itself. The projected No. 1 overall selection, Ward brings his unshakable confidence to the professional ranks as a hopeful franchise quarterback. It came with him from little West Columbia, Texas, and through his long-winding, underdog journey — via FCS Incarnate Word, Washington State and Miami. It's obvious in his viral interactions with friend and training partner Shedeur Sanders, a fellow top quarterback prospect in this year's draft. It was abundantly clear at Miami's Pro Day in March, when he completed a pass and immediately looked over at the Tennessee Titans brass, telling them that he was "solidifying" his status as the No. 1 overall pick. The confidence is shaped by his journey, and by a mentality that won't let him rest. "I'm not worried about no spotlight," Ward said at the NFL Combine in February. "There was one time in my life where I wasn't in the spotlight. It's crazy to see how everything can change." 'He has a boulder on his shoulder' Recruiters wouldn't see the vision with Ward. Even though he played in Columbia High School's Wing-T offense, which limited his throwing opportunities, a heavy dosage of five-step drops were put in the playbook to take advantage of his skill set. "We didn't do the wide-open spread offense because, overall, our team was not set up that way. We didn't have those types of kids around him to run that type of offense," Brent Mascheck, Ward's high school coach, told FOX Sports. "We can't recruit guys to fit those [roles]. We got to play with the guys we got." Between Ward's junior and senior seasons, Columbia even held several days of 7-on-7 periods for college coaches to see his arm talent up close. SEC and Big 12 coaches sat on Mascheck's couch. But they all said Ward was too slow. They didn't like his body type. He was too heavy (as a senior, he weighed around 240 pounds). One SEC quarterbacks coach told Mascheck that he believed Ward would be a star, but said that the offensive coordinator and head coach didn't want him. Schools that said they'd come to watch him play never showed up. Others would tell Ward to come on a visit, but wouldn't give him the time of day in-person. "He has a boulder on his shoulder," Ward's mother, Patrice, told FOX Sports. "So many people giving him false hope." But when Ward went to camps that featured four- and five-star quarterbacks, he held his own. He saw that he was just as good, if not better, than them. That's all the validation he needed to stay confident. A family friend who trained Ward and his older siblings would remind them of their reality as athletes from West Columbia, a town of less than 4,000 people about 60 miles from Houston. "'You guys are from the country. Guys outside of Houston, outside of Highway 6 in Houston, nobody believes you guys can play. So when you get your chance on the stage, when the lights come on, you have to play,'" Ward's father, Calvin, recalled of the message. "And it was regardless of if it was football or basketball or baseball. "That's how his mentality [was shaped]," he continued. "'Nobody thinks I can play. Nobody thinks I'm good enough. But when I get to go against some of these city kids, they're about to find out.'" 'It's like Cam plays in slow motion …' Opponents found out at Miami, where he led three comeback wins after trailing by at least 10 points in the second half. He set program single-season records for passing yards (4,313) and touchdowns (39). He broke the Division I record (FCS and FBS) for career passing touchdowns. Behind the scenes, Ward was getting to the Hurricanes' football facility by 5:30 a.m. to watch film. Around 1 or 2 p.m., he'd run home to take care of his dog, get some food, return to the facility and stay there until 9 or 10 p.m. His preparation was nothing new. At Incarnate Word, Ward grew so immersed in the offense that Morris trusted him to make checks at the line of scrimmage as a freshman. In high school, during training sessions with longtime quarterbacks coach Steve Van Meter, Ward wanted to make throws to out routes and comebacks from the middle of the field and the far hash. For an additional challenge, Van Meter set up drills in which Ward rolled out of the pocket to either side. He'd have to side-arm balls back over the middle of the field, getting him in the habit of layering passes over would-be linebackers. As a child, he viewed misbehaving in class as a route to punishment. Bad conduct marks in school meant that he couldn't practice later with the Columbia High School girls' basketball team that his mother coached. For early morning workouts that meant driving to the north side of Houston, he'd wake his father up, telling him it was time to go. "It took us a long time as parents to learn, probably his second year at Washington State. We're like, 'Cameron is harder on himself than anybody can ever be,'" Calvin Ward told FOX Sports. "We honestly had to start approaching stuff in a different direction. … [It was,] 'I missed this read here.' 'OK, dude, you were 34-of-40 for 400-something yards and five touchdowns and y'all got the win.' [He's like,] 'Yeah, but I missed these two reads here.'" Ward's intense focus between the lines is in sharp contrast to who he is off the field. His former coaches describe his fun-loving, joking demeanor in the locker room pregame. But that demeanor would flip to a "killer instinct" come game time. Ward's evolution, according to Morris, has come in knowing when to lean into the different aspects of his personality. "I think he's grown a lot in the last four or five years," said Morris, who also coached Ward at Washington State as the Cougars' offensive coordinator. "And being able to know he's got to carry himself to a different standard. He is a silly kid at heart. He likes to have fun. He likes to joke around. But just understanding that he's going to carry a lot of weight within the organization and especially from a players' standpoint. And so I think he's learned how to separate the two things. I think it's probably helped that he's had to go and build new relationships with two new teams. "He was the Day 1 starter at Washington State. He had to win over a locker room. He was also a Day 1 starter in Miami. He had to win over a locker room. So I think a bunch of those things and experiences have allowed him to grow and really gotten him ready to be able to step into an NFL locker room now and be a leader of men." His smarts will help, too. In high school, defensive coordinator Earnest Pena was convinced that Ward knew the offense as well as the offensive coordinator. His linemen turned back to him pre-snap at the line of scrimmage for reminders of their responsibility in the play call. He told the Columbia coaches the vulnerabilities he saw in the opponent's defense. In college, he showed a knack for being able to recite what he'd just seen coverage-wise in the previous series and then propose tweaks and adjustments. His pocket presence developed at a young age — his time as a basketball player and throwing shot put and discus at Columbia gave him a strong foundation in spatial awareness. "It's like Cam plays in slow motion," Van Meter said, "and everybody else is running as fast as they can run." 'It'll work out' Calvin Ward couldn't lie. Reflecting on his son's difficult recruiting process — all the false hope and the dead ends and the phone calls and the cold reach-outs and the efforts to get offers that never materialized — he doesn't know that he'd do it all over again. "For any parent going through it," Calvin Ward said, "I would love to just give them the knowledge of how the process really is, because it's tough when you're from a small area." It was frustrating for Patrice Ward, too. All the work with trainers that went unrecognized. The college coaches who wouldn't seem to listen. Her son seemed unfazed, though. "Cameron was the one who said, 'Mama, don't say nothing else,'" Patrice said. "'It'll work out.' So I just told him, 'I'm going to leave it in God's hands.' "And that's what happened." Ben Arthur is an NFL reporter for FOX Sports. He previously worked for The Tennessean/USA TODAY Network, where he was the Titans beat writer for a year and a half. He covered the Seattle Seahawks for for three seasons (2018-20) prior to moving to Tennessee. You can follow Ben on Twitter at @benyarthur. Want great stories delivered right to your inbox? Create or log in to your FOX Sports account, and follow leagues, teams and players to receive a personalized newsletter daily!
Fox Sports
23-04-2025
- Sport
- Fox Sports
How Cam Ward built his unshakable confidence: ‘He has a boulder on his shoulder'
In 2020, on his first day at the University of the Incarnate Word, Cam Ward walked into the office of head football coach Eric Morris and told him he was going to be his starting quarterback. Not eventually; that year, despite the fact that the Cardinals returned a freshman All-American passer who led the school to a conference championship the previous season. A zero-star recruit coming out of high school, Ward got up and left after delivering the message, shutting the door behind him. "I didn't say a word. … That was the whole conversation right there," Morris, now the head coach at North Texas, told FOX Sports. "This kid had never taken a shotgun snap when he said that to me." But he had time. Ward joined UIW — the only Division I program to offer him a scholarship — in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic, which postponed the Cardinals' season. He got more than four months of practice without game preparation. He became comfortable in the offense — so much so that when UIW scheduled Arkansas State for late November that year, Morris declared an open competition at quarterback between Ward and the incumbent for their scrimmage ahead of the game. Ward proceeded to play "lights out," according to Morris. "It was obviously a hard conversation for me to have with our freshman All-American that he wasn't going to start that game," he said. "But our whole team was [for Ward]. The most evident thing was that Cam was the best player on this football team. "Unfortunately, we were about to get on a plane for that game and our whole D-line was contact traced out for a positive COVID test and we didn't get to play," he continued. "But that was the first time for us as a coaching staff to say, 'Hey, this kid's different when he gets into his game mode.'" The NFL will soon learn for itself. The projected No. 1 overall selection, Ward brings his unshakable confidence to the professional ranks as a hopeful franchise quarterback. It came with him from little West Columbia, Texas, and through his long-winding, underdog journey — via FCS Incarnate Word, Washington State and Miami. It's obvious in his viral interactions with friend and training partner Shedeur Sanders, a fellow top quarterback prospect in this year's draft. It was abundantly clear at Miami's Pro Day in March, when he completed a pass and immediately looked over at the Tennessee Titans brass, telling them that he was "solidifying" his status as the No. 1 overall pick. The confidence is shaped by his journey, and by a mentality that won't let him rest. "I'm not worried about no spotlight," Ward said at the NFL Combine in February. "There was one time in my life where I wasn't in the spotlight. It's crazy to see how everything can change." 'He has a boulder on his shoulder' Recruiters wouldn't see the vision with Ward. Even though he played in Columbia High School's Wing-T offense, which limited his throwing opportunities, a heavy dosage of five-step drops were put in the playbook to take advantage of his skill set. "We didn't do the wide-open spread offense because, overall, our team was not set up that way. We didn't have those types of kids around him to run that type of offense," Brent Mascheck, Ward's high school coach, told FOX Sports. "We can't recruit guys to fit those [roles]. We got to play with the guys we got." Between Ward's junior and senior seasons, Columbia even held several days of 7-on-7 periods for college coaches to see his arm talent up close. SEC and Big 12 coaches sat on Mascheck's couch. But they all said Ward was too slow. They didn't like his body type. He was too heavy (as a senior, he weighed around 240 pounds). One SEC quarterbacks coach told Mascheck that he believed Ward would be a star, but said that the offensive coordinator and head coach didn't want him. Schools that said they'd come to watch him play never showed up. Others would tell Ward to come on a visit, but wouldn't give him the time of day in-person. "He has a boulder on his shoulder," Ward's mother, Patrice, told FOX Sports. "So many people giving him false hope." But when Ward went to camps that featured four- and five-star quarterbacks, he held his own. He saw that he was just as good, if not better, than them. That's all the validation he needed to stay confident. A family friend who trained Ward and his older siblings would remind them of their reality as athletes from West Columbia, a town of less than 4,000 people about 60 miles from Houston. "'You guys are from the country. Guys outside of Houston, outside of Highway 6 in Houston, nobody believes you guys can play. So when you get your chance on the stage, when the lights come on, you have to play,'" Ward's father, Calvin, recalled of the message. "And it was regardless of if it was football or basketball or baseball. "That's how his mentality [was shaped]," he continued. "'Nobody thinks I can play. Nobody thinks I'm good enough. But when I get to go against some of these city kids, they're about to find out.'" 'It's like Cam plays in slow motion …' Opponents found out at Miami, where he led three comeback wins after trailing by at least 10 points in the second half. He set program single-season records for passing yards (4,313) and touchdowns (39). He broke the Division I record (FCS and FBS) for career passing touchdowns. Behind the scenes, Ward was getting to the Hurricanes' football facility by 5:30 a.m. to watch film. Around 1 or 2 p.m., he'd run home to take care of his dog, get some food, return to the facility and stay there until 9 or 10 p.m. His preparation was nothing new. At Incarnate Word, Ward grew so immersed in the offense that Morris trusted him to make checks at the line of scrimmage as a freshman. In high school, during training sessions with longtime quarterbacks coach Steve Van Meter, Ward wanted to make throws to out routes and comebacks from the middle of the field and the far hash. For an additional challenge, Van Meter set up drills in which Ward rolled out of the pocket to either side. He'd have to side-arm balls back over the middle of the field, getting him in the habit of layering passes over would-be linebackers. As a child, he viewed misbehaving in class as a route to punishment. Bad conduct marks in school meant that he couldn't practice later with the Columbia High School girls' basketball team that his mother coached. For early morning workouts that meant driving to the north side of Houston, he'd wake his father up, telling him it was time to go. "It took us a long time as parents to learn, probably his second year at Washington State. We're like, 'Cameron is harder on himself than anybody can ever be,'" Calvin Ward told FOX Sports. "We honestly had to start approaching stuff in a different direction. … [It was,] 'I missed this read here.' 'OK, dude, you were 34-of-40 for 400-something yards and five touchdowns and y'all got the win.' [He's like,] 'Yeah, but I missed these two reads here.'" Ward's intense focus between the lines is in sharp contrast to who he is off the field. His former coaches describe his fun-loving, joking demeanor in the locker room pregame. But that demeanor would flip to a "killer instinct" come game time. Ward's evolution, according to Morris, has come in knowing when to lean into the different aspects of his personality. "I think he's grown a lot in the last four or five years," said Morris, who also coached Ward at Washington State as the Cougars' offensive coordinator. "And being able to know he's got to carry himself to a different standard. He is a silly kid at heart. He likes to have fun. He likes to joke around. But just understanding that he's going to carry a lot of weight within the organization and especially from a players' standpoint. And so I think he's learned how to separate the two things. I think it's probably helped that he's had to go and build new relationships with two new teams. "He was the Day 1 starter at Washington State. He had to win over a locker room. He was also a Day 1 starter in Miami. He had to win over a locker room. So I think a bunch of those things and experiences have allowed him to grow and really gotten him ready to be able to step into an NFL locker room now and be a leader of men." His smarts will help, too. In high school, defensive coordinator Earnest Pena was convinced that Ward knew the offense as well as the offensive coordinator. His linemen turned back to him pre-snap at the line of scrimmage for reminders of their responsibility in the play call. He told the Columbia coaches the vulnerabilities he saw in the opponent's defense. In college, he showed a knack for being able to recite what he'd just seen coverage-wise in the previous series and then propose tweaks and adjustments. His pocket presence developed at a young age — his time as a basketball player and throwing shot put and discus at Columbia gave him a strong foundation in spatial awareness. "It's like Cam plays in slow motion," Van Meter said, "and everybody else is running as fast as they can run." 'It'll work out' Calvin Ward couldn't lie. Reflecting on his son's difficult recruiting process — all the false hope and the dead ends and the phone calls and the cold reach-outs and the efforts to get offers that never materialized — he doesn't know that he'd do it all over again. "For any parent going through it," Calvin Ward said, "I would love to just give them the knowledge of how the process really is, because it's tough when you're from a small area." It was frustrating for Patrice Ward, too. All the work with trainers that went unrecognized. The college coaches who wouldn't seem to listen. Her son seemed unfazed, though. "Cameron was the one who said, 'Mama, don't say nothing else,'" Patrice said. "'It'll work out.' So I just told him, 'I'm going to leave it in God's hands.' "And that's what happened." Ben Arthur is an NFL reporter for FOX Sports. He previously worked for The Tennessean/USA TODAY Network, where he was the Titans beat writer for a year and a half. He covered the Seattle Seahawks for for three seasons (2018-20) prior to moving to Tennessee. You can follow Ben on Twitter at @benyarthur . Want great stories delivered right to your inbox? 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