Aleks Popovic’s football career was supposed to be brief.
Maybe a few days, or a week at the most.
Popovic had begged his parents for years to let him play with his neighborhood friends. “No matter how many times I asked if I could play, I was told ‘no’ countless times,” he said.
When he finally was allowed to try out at Lake Zurich as an incoming freshman, the cards were supposed to be stacked against him.
“My mom didn’t know it was a no-cut sport,” Popovic said. “She thought I wouldn’t make the team since I hadn’t played and Lake Zurich had such a good football program, or that I would never play.”
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She was wrong.
Three years later, Popovic is still playing football, and he’s thriving.
The 6-foot-3, 235-pound tight end/defensive end has attracted the attention of numerous college programs. He has scholarship offers from Dayton and Grand Valley State, and he has taken unofficial visits to Cornell, Holy Cross, Lehigh, Vanderbilt and Yale.
“I’ve always wondered about if starting late helped me,” Popovic said. “I wonder if I would’ve been better if I had played more years. But I played basketball, and those moments shaped me. I always had a strong work ethic and a big passion for football.
“My parents are happy that I’m working toward a scholarship. That’s a good thing. I’ll be able to continue playing football and get a good education in college. It’s a great feeling that all my hard work has paid off. I’m beyond grateful.”
Lake Zurich coach Ron Planz said Popovic has put in the work to make up for any lost time.
“When he came to me after his sophomore year and told me that he fell in love with the game and wanted to play at the next level, I laid out what he needed to do,” Planz said. “He didn’t bat an eye. He did everything, even through the pandemic. He found a way to put in the work. He’s an absolute diamond in the rough for whatever program he ends up at.”
Augillard ends recruitment: Zion-Benton graduate Amar Augillard finally has found a landing place.
After a lengthy recruiting process that stretched into the summer, the combo guard committed to Georgia Southern on Aug. 4.
Augillard’s recruitment had hit a snag during the coronavirus pandemic, when new NCAA rules led to a flood of players taking advantage of an extra year of eligibility or entering the transfer portal.
“It was the perfect storm,” Zion-Benton coach Bob Worthington said. “He’s an awesome kid with good grades. The kid did everything we asked of him. I’m so happy for him. But it was tough.
“We had several Zoom calls with schools, several situations where we were at the last hour. We had to wait to see if a senior was going to decide to stay or not, or even a junior, and then the transfer portal opened up. … It was great and terrible.”
The 6-foot-3 Augillard, a strong and physical inside-outside player, benefited from playing AAU in the spring and the summer. His multidimensional skills attracted a wide range of schools, Worthington said.
“Amar decided to do AAU for this past season because he was unsigned and his age was conducive to do that,” Worthington said. “He got a chance to play in some prestigious AAU tournaments. To his credit, he took care of the rest. He played so well in the summer.”
Worthington drew a parallel between Augillard, who averaged 28 points and 12 rebounds in his shortened senior season earlier this year, and Admiral Schofield, a Zion-Benton graduate who played at Tennessee and has NBA experience.
“I’m telling you, this is not the last people have heard of Amar Augillard, just like Admiral Schofield when he was coming out of high school and college,” Worthington said. “Amar’s the hardest worker I’ve had. He has great potential and already has a great support system.”
Thomas’ recruitment continues: Lake Forest junior guard Asa Thomas received a scholarship offer from Santa Clara this month.
Bob Narang is a freelance reporter for the News-Sun.