New University of Washington receiver commit, despite his accomplishments, had been flying under the recruiting radar since the end of his record-setting junior season. But during the off-season he’s stood out at several camps and was discovered by Huskies’ receivers coach Kevin Cummings who offered him a scholarship July 1.
He committed to the coaching staff 13 days later.
“They’ve given me a lot of comparisons (to players they’ve coached) but told me never mind that and to just be me,” he recalled of his first conversation with UW receivers coach Kevin Cummings. “I gotta remember that I’m ‘old school’ type of player: beat the defender off the line of scrimmage, run clean routes, don’t drop the ball.”
At a shade under 6-3 and 195 pounds he’s of the new breed of bigger receivers, he’s also a student of the game.
“I study offenses and defenses. I can process a lot of information before I line up for the play,” he continued. “The coaches said that they saw that and they can build a plan for me and my development. I mean, I feel like I can come in pretty polished, but they also think they can do a lot more and get me on the right track for ‘the league’.”
He noted the success that Washington has had putting bigger receivers into the league including the Chicago Bears’ rookie receiver Rome Odunze.
“They see me as a guy who’s a very sure route runner, and they agree I can catch any ball thrown my way and I also see me when I get the open field,” he said. “I think their goal is to make me even better in those areas and get the best they can out of me in terms of getting an open field given the ball my hands.”
Those nuances are his focus during the off-season, if there really is one for an elite high school athlete. Since the end of his junior campaign he’s been stacking layers of polish to his game through cleaning up small things that the Husky coaches have talked about.
Just like a musician playing his songs on the road, Blaise is aware of the crowd and the moment, but he has “been there, done that” so many times that he’s able to stay on script.
“I’ve been in a position a lot of times where it is coming down to me. I’ve gotten used to at this point. I go in every situation knowing that I’ve worked for it, and prepared for this situation,” he said. “Every single time it’s a clutch moment. I feel like I’m very confident. I just go up to the line thinking ‘you’re the shit. Make sure that you execute and you just do what you do what you’ve been practicing’ and it’s pretty easy.
He’s not being brash, arrogant, or cocky he’s exuding the confidence that has come from emulating the man he admires most. And, like a good hit song there are a lot of sequences that build up for the crescendo.
“I know the games on the line. It’s all come down to this and I control my emotions,” he told RealDawg. “Whenever I walk up to I can always repeat the same words to myself you know like I stand by when I’m playing. I try to go flow flow flow like stay the flow stay chill. I try to remind myself and every single moment.
His confidence also comes from repetition–or the chorus of a hit song.
“It’s muscle memory. You’ve practiced it 1000 times. You call this exact same catch this exact same scenario the same route 1000 times,” he said that it helps regulate his heart beat, as well and staying in the rhythm of the moment. “I say ‘flow’ to stay in the flow and stay relaxed because if you hype yourself up too much you get psyched out and you’re gonna perform worse than you did if you were relaxed.”
That repetition has given him the reputation as a consistent big-play threat. As a junior he was named to the North Suburban Football Conference first team as a receiver and defensive back. He turned 40-percent of his receptions into touchdowns. He helped LHS to a 9-2 record overall and a victory over Libertyville’s biggest rival, Warren Township, 35-28.
With the game on the line, and 90 yards from a win came through for the Wildcats.
“We hadn’t beaten Warren in 7 year. We did sugar huddle (quick huddle then hurry to line to prevent the defense from making substitutions or adjusting). I had one-on-one and we were in go or pro option,” he recalled. “It was something like 24-24. We just ran to the line. I know this is my play; it was one-on-one. It was loud–loud as hell. But I got the ball–the crowd was going crazy and I was gone. I ran for an 80, 90 yard touchdown to win the game. That kind of put a stamp on my Libertyville career to be honest. It was at Libertyville and it was fun to see our place go crazy.”
And the college football scouts took notice, right?
Nope.
“I loved that play because it had everything going on in it,” he recalled.
He led the “Land of Lincoln” state in receiving yards and TDs. In fact, his 24 receiving TDs is seventh all-time in the state. But somehow at the end of his junior season even after being named first time All State in Illinois, his offer sheet didn’t reflect his accomplishments.
Akron, Toledo, Kent State, Western Michigan, Costal Carolina. All respected schools, but LaVista at 6-2.5 and 200 pounds, LaVista had a Power 4 frame and a Power 4 resume. Power 4 Northwestern, 30 minutes south of Libertyville missed out, despite his 3.9 GPA.
Fortunately, for the University of Washington, receivers coach Kevin Cummings caught wind of the ChiTown show-stealing receiver. Despite growing up in the northwestern Libertyville, LaVista decided to challenge himself one more time and play on an even bigger stage at Lincoln Way-East, southwest of the Windy City.
