40-Year Plan Important For Elite 2022 Defensive Back
It may still be early on in the 2022 recruiting cycle, but the top players in that class are starting to emerge. Recruits have yet to enter into their upperclass years in high school, and college coaches still can’t have full contact with prospects of interest. However, that isn’t stopping Chatsworth (Calif.) Sierra Canyon 2022 athlete Kamari Ramsey and his family from understanding what is important and taking a diligent approach toward his recruitment.
Recently, I was able to sit down and speak with Stacy Ramsey, Kamari’s father, for some perspective on Kamari’s background and what has shaped the young man he is today.
“Kamari is very humble, he keeps to himself, and he is laid back,” Mr. Ramsey said of his son. “He has an old-spirit, an old-soul, reminiscent of his grandfather. He leads by example more than his words. Kamari is self-motivated. I don’t have to lead him, he is hungry and driven and very mature for his age.”
At only 15 years old, Kamari already has many of the nation’s best programs after him. To go along with Notre Dame he already has offers from programs like Ohio State, Michigan, Oregon, Penn State, Texas, USC, Washington and several others.
Choosing to attend Sierra Canyon was a strategic decision by Kamari and his family, and that has played to his favor a ton already.
“We couldn’t have chosen a better school than Sierra Canyon to prepare both academically and on the football field,” mentioned Mr. Ramsey. “Choosing Sierra Canyon wasn’t strictly a football decision. It was a great education, good coaching and we knew the 2021 and 2022 recruiting classes would be able to do some great things on the field.
“But it was ultimately a great fit for Kamari. We want to duplicate that in choosing a college program,” he continued. “The biggest factor is a school that is going to be able to get him ready for the next level, which is football and also the 40-year plan.
“At the end of the day, we know he is going to have to hang up his cleats at some point, we want a school that can best prepare him for a career, not a job, but a career.”
Standing at an already 6-0 and nearly 200 pounds, and just finishing his sophomore year, some might assume Kamari would be due for a position change at the next level. That is not in the plans for Kamari and his family.
He has been training for this since he was a young kid, and his body type and athleticism is a testament to the hard work he put in for a long time. That frame also proves why he has been so good, so early on during his high school career.
“The college coaches we talk to view him as a safety at that level,” stated the elder Ramsey. “His greatest attribute is his football mind, his football IQ, but he has great hips and footwork for the position. He has an older brother that played football throughout high school, and I coached him from a young age.
“Football is something our family has known his entire life,” Ramsey continued. “This is an era where everyone holds their kids back, and I have nothing against that … and I remember I was thinking of holding Kamari back, but he has the size and he is mature for his age, so holding him back wouldn’t have made sense. I actually bumped up Kamari during youth football to play with the older kids, and that only helped his game mature even further. He had to fight and work hard for everything, and that has shaped who he is today.”
One of those older kids Kamari played with was fellow Chatsworth (Calif.) Sierra Canyon defensive back D.J. Harvey, and the Ramsey and Harvey families have been very close for as long as Kamari and DJ have been alive. Harvey also holds an offer from Notre Dame, and playing college at the next level is something the two have talked about.
“D.J. is my godson,” Harvey explained. “They grew up together. They played youth football and everything together. All of Kamari’s memories, D.J. is a part of them. Our families are extremely close.
“They think it would be great to play at the same school,” continued Ramsey. “We watched them grow up from the time they were babies, to their first year of football, to now.”
While playing at the collegiate level together would be great, Ramsey is adamant that both boys will make the best decision for them. Ramsey and the rest of his family will play an active role in his son’s recruitment, but ultimately the decision will be Kamari’s to make and distance isn’t something they are worried about.
“We are obviously going to give our advice. We will sit down as a family and talk about everything, but it will be his decision in the end,” Ramsey said of Kamari’s college decision. “We will guide and provide him with the best resources, but we will not pressure him into anything. Staying close to home, we would have easier access to him, but that doesn’t mean it’s the best situation for him and we don’t want to compromise that for conveniency.”
Notre Dame’s student-athlete diversity is actually something that intrigues the family, and they’ve taken note that Notre Dame attracts students from all across the country.
“That speaks volumes to their program. That means they recruit the entire country,” Ramsey explained. “That speaks very highly of them. Notre Dame is a very prestigious university, very prestigious. It is truly just a blessing for him to get the recognition.”
Ramsey admits that the process has been faster than expected, but that won’t keep the family from keeping a slow and decisive approach. Gaining an appreciation for the programs is something Stacy finds important for his son to gain.
“(Kamari) is taking his time. We are all new to this process,” said his father. “We are like sponges, just trying to absorb everything and enjoy the process. Kamari told me he knew that he would work hard and that the offers would come eventually, but he wasn’t expecting everything so quickly. He didn’t anticipate that.
“Most of the offers have been a surprise, because we typically haven’t had much contact with the program’s before the offer,” continued Ramsey. “Whenever he gets an offer I like to go over the history of each program with him, because he doesn’t really know. He doesn’t understand the tradition yet, or what Notre Dame represents. The alumni … he doesn’t even grasp the rivalry between USC and Notre Dame.
“He is starting to gain some knowledge of it, but prior to the offer, he didn’t really know that these are some of the greatest programs in college football history. So, he hasn’t even been able to wrap his mind around it all yet.”
Kamari and his family aren’t really close to narrowing anything down, but they do have a list of schools sticking out and have been able to communicate via zoom with some schools as well.
“The schools sticking out so far are Ohio State, obviously Notre Dame, USC, Washington, Cal, Oregon and Arizona State,” Ramsey said. “We have only been able to visit USC so far, and that was for a camp, but we’ve done zoom meetings USC and Ohio State and I have spoken with the coaches from Arizona State and Virginia Tech. Those are the schools that are sticking out in regards to staying in contact a good amount.”
Notre Dame is taking the 2022 process slow and that lines up with the Ramsey family in terms of their progression through the recruiting process as well.
Kamari will graduate high school at 17 years old, but probably one of the more mature prospects in his class. 247Sports already lists him as the No. 63 overall recruit in the class and No. 6 athlete, and his maturity mixed with his athletic ability a Kyle Hamilton type impact early on in college is something that shouldn’t surprise.
A true student of the game with the athletic ability to match, and if chatting with his dad for around 30 minutes is any indication he is an even better person.
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