Hot Prospect list

Why did we create the Kicking World Hot Prospect List?

For Students: To help specialists get recognized and validated for their abilities and to streamline the college recruitment process.
For Colleges: To provide a reliable source for college football teams to discover legitimate specialists for their program.

How are students chosen for the Kicking World Hot Prospect List?

The minimum criteria to even be considered is that Hot Prospects must have attended at least (1) Kicking World camp and/or at least (2) Private Lessons in one year. No one makes the list unless we see them in person and can personally vouch for their kicking, punting or snapping abilities. Prospects are nominated collectively by the Kicking World staff and Coach Brent makes the final decision on who makes the list. While we see over 1,500 students a year, we only list the best of the best (typically our top 3-5% of specialists). We also list ‘On the Cusp’ prospects which typically includes our top 6-9% of students, who are on the verge of becoming full-fledged Hot Prospects.

What are LEVELS?

We assign a specific level to each prospect that correlates to what level of a college football team we feel their skills most accurately align with. Levels are expressed by NCAA College Football divisions of D1, D2, and D3. We only list D1 and D2 level specialists on our Hot Prospect List. We also list select students as ‘OTC’ for On the Cusp which means they on the verge of becoming full-fledged Hot Prospects, and we’re just waiting for them to put on the finishing touches.

Why don’t you RANK Prospects?

Many camp providers do rankings and we find it extremely difficult, if not impossible to say who would be a #1 kicker vs. #2, etc. Rankings of students are incomplete because they are based on only the students that particular camp provider has seen. So how does one company accurately say one kicker is “the #1 kicker in the country”? The star ranking system is not always an accurate representation of each student’s true ability. It seems that most anyone can receive a 3.5 or 4 star level even without true collegiate prospect ability. This unfortunately saturates college football recruiting lists and makes it difficult for college football coaches to evaluate who the true ‘college recruits’ are. We’ve seen first hand how the kicker star rankings many times create an inflated sense of ability and ego for both the student and parent. This puts them on a path of self-focus and their star ranking instead of maximizing their technique & fundamentals and being the best teammate they can be.

We’ve also discovered that the integrity of some of the ranking lists is not solely based on ability & performance, but in many situations, favoritism comes into play in form of how often you train with that provider, etc. which influences your ranking negatively or positively. As well, students who only attended one camp in middle school for example, and never went to that camp again, but after committing to a major college football team somehow they magically re-appear near the top of that company’s ranking list after the fact.

There are so many students across the world and no one coach sees EVERYONE. So hearing that someone is ranked ___ in the country in our opinion does not hold much weight. We instead choose to provide an assessment of the prospect’s ability and assign them a level based on their performance. However, we do list our Hot Prospect List in an order of Class Year and Best to least best.

What are the factors considered in choosing the Kicking World Hot Prospect List?

We hand pick specialists for our list who demonstrate they have what it takes to play at the next level. Several factors we consider are as follows:

In-Game Statistics
Camp Performance
Winning a Camp Competition
Private Lesson Performance
Track Record of Performance
Consistency
Foot to Ball Contact
Ball Flight
Accuracy
Distance
Hang-Time
Attitude
Hustle
Having a Duplicable Process
Mental Toughness
How you handle Pressure

How is a prospect’s ‘LEVEL’ i.e. (D1, D2, D3) determined?

Your level is determined by your kicking, punting or snapping metrics in conjunction with the factors discussed earlier. What we mean by ‘metrics’ is your accuracy/hang-time/distance for kickers & punters and your accuracy/times/build for snappers. A combination of your metrics from your games played, camp performances and private lesson training are used in calculating your level. We only list D1 and D2 level specialists on our Hot Prospect List.

We also have a level of ‘OTC’ which stands for On the Cusp. OTC students are on the verge of becoming full-fledged Hot Prospects but have some homework to complete first – such as a little more consistency, better ball rotation/flight, or adding hang-time on kickoffs, etc.

Some prospects do not have a ‘LEVEL’ and ‘COLLEGE’ listed, why is that?

We typically assign a Levl to Junior and Senior year prospects, i.e. ‘Upper Classmen’ only. We feel that in 10^th grade or less, a prospect’s true potential has not been reached yet and it would not be completely accurate to assess a level so early. However, we may sometimes assign a Level to standout sophomores & freshmen who clearly exhibit D1 ability! If an underclassman makes our Hot Prospect List, it means we expect big things from that student and they should be on your radar. We also list some students as ‘OTC’ for On the Cusp which means they on the verge of becoming full-fledged Hot Prospects, and we’re just waiting for them to put on the finishing touches. A College is listed when a student has committed to that school.

Can my assessed Level ever change?

Absolutely! Based on your performance at camps, lessons, in games as well as your track record over the long haul, your level may go up or down. Your level has nothing to do with how much money you spend in training with us. Your level is assessed throughout the year based on performance. Prospects may be added or removed to the Hot Prospect List at any time.

Summary

We put our heart and soul into what we do at Kicking World and do our very best at accurately assessing each prospect’s skills based on in-person performance at our camps and lessons. There will be times where a student severely under-performs or dramatically over-performs compared to their actual ability and we may not get an accurate reading of their true level, or overlook talented prospects because they had a bad day. You will be rated based on your performance.

The most accurate way to get assessed at your true level is to have a track record of performance over the long haul and show your consistency at multiple camps, private lessons, and in-game statistics.

Making our list is a very prestigious honor that you should celebrate and share with everyone you know. If you make the #KickingWorld #HotProspectList, we believe wholeheartedly that you have what it takes to play at the next level.

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View Past Prospects

View PRO Prospects

Class	Level	Name	Pos	ST	School	Coach's Comments	College
© Copyright Kicking World, LLC
2021	D1	Nick Hernandez	K/P	TX	Ronald Reagan HS	Nick has improved dramatically in the last year and now hits a big kickoff as well he has evolved into a dynamite punter. His field goal trajectory is excellent and he has a smooth follow-through. He made 7 consecutive FGs...	Undecided
2021	D1	Ewan Johnson	K/P	TN	South Doyle HS	Ewan had a strong showing at our 2019 National Showcase, particularly on field goals. He strikes the ball consistently well. Statistically, he had a great in-game season earning multiple honors for All-Region and District kicker. As he grows and improves...	Undecided
2021	D1	Jack Meyer	K/P	WI	Chippewa Falls HS	Jack has a HUGE leg and he made such an impression on us at his first KW appearance in June 2020 that we fast-tracked him to the Hot Prospect List. He’s got a great attitude, is coachable, personable, and is...	Undecided
2021	D1	Cole Hollingsworth	K/P	TN	Ravenwood HS	Cole had an impressive Day 1 kickoff charting showing at our 2019 National Showcase finishing #1 Overall amongst a very competitive field of nearly 60 campers. He also won Golden Boot at our Nashville 1-Day camp this summer. The junior...	Undecided
2021	D1	Garrett Stiles	K	TX	Seguin HS	Garrett made his mark at our 2019 Austin Father’s Day weekend event and followed it up showing steady improvement in private lessons hitting consistent kickoffs averaging 3.8 seconds of hang time, even reaching the range of 4.0 seconds a few...	Undecided
2021	D1	Brodie Eisenbraun	K/P	SD	Sturgis HS	Brodie tore it up at his inaugural KW showing at our 2019 Minneapolis camp. He won the field goal elimination competition and finished in the top 2 for kickoffs with a nice sized, competitive camp. He earned an invite to...	Undecided
2021	D1	Adam Young	K/P	KS	Olathe South HS	Adam has a lot of potential as a kicker and has improved his field goal ball flight/rotation and power immensely in the last year since our 2019 National Showcase. He’s now showing a big leg and an excellent ball flight...	Undecided
2021	D1	Connor Mantelli	K/P	CO	Douglas County HS	Connor has been attending Kicking World camps for 3 years and has really started to blossom this senior year. At his last two Denver appearances (June 2020 and October 2020) he hit some monster punts and kickoffs and excelled on...	Undecided
2021	D1	Chance Gagnon	K/P	FL	William T. Dywer HS	Chance entered Kicking World strong with a ‘Triple Threat’ accomplishment by winning all 3 events – field goals, kickoffs, and punts at our March 2019 Orlando, FL camp. In early spring students are usually just getting back into the swing...	Undecided
2021	D1	Christian Payne	K/P	TX	Klein Forest HS	Christian has a MASSIVE leg. At our July 2020 event in Houston he won the FG competition with a 60 YARDER. Since that event he’s made massive strides in his form smoothness and looks like a very polished kicker who...	Undecided
2021	D2	Jorge Figueroa	K/P	NM	Las Cruces HS	Jorge has shown glimmers of wow kicking over the last 2 years, and this year’s Showcase and the weeks following the big event he turned it up a few notches. He finished in a 5-Way tie for Runner-up in our...	Undecided
2021	OTC	Parker Janky	K/P	NE	Grand Island Northwest HS	Parker showed to be a solid kicker at our May 2020 OKC event and it was the first time I’ve seen him. While in the 1-Day format I didn’t get as comprehensive of a read as I’d like, I do...	Undecided
2021	OTC	Oscar Ayala	K/P	OK	Jay HS	Oscar hit some bomb punts and kickoffs at our earlier spring May 2020 OKC event and it was the first time I saw him. He’s on the path to being on the Kicking World Hot Prospect as a punter/kickoff guy...	Undecided
2021	OTC	George Chrissafis	K/P	NJ	Notre Dame HS	George has been working hard at earning a spot on our List and he put it all together at his recent showing at our July 2020 Toms River, NJ camp. While George still does hit some field goals that have...	Undecided
2021	OTC	CJ Kolodziey	K/P	NJ	East Longmeadow HS	CJ made a good impression on us at our 2020 Northern Virginia camp. He later followed it up with solid video proof of his improvement and consistency. CJ will be attending our 2020 National Showcase on December 5-6 in Austin...	Undecided
2021	OTC	Atticus Sappington	P	OR	Central Catholic HS	Atticus showed he can hit consistent, big punts. He was the Overall Punt winner of our 2020 Seattle, WA camp this summer which put him at #5 on the leaderboard for best Punter performance this camp season. He’s sent me...	Undecided
2021	OTC	Francis Do-Tong	P	WA	O'Dea HS	Francis did really well at our 2020 Seattle, WA camp this summer and has followed it up with solid video of him punting. When he really gets a hold of them he can absolutely bomb punts. He’s shown me documented...	Undecided
2022	D1	Robert Gunn III	K/P	FL	Pinellas Park HS	Robert is ready to rock and roll for FBS football. As an incoming Junior he made a clean sweep again winning all 3 events (FG/KO/P) at our July 25, 2020 Atlanta, GA camp. In his first game this 2020 season...	Undecided
2022	D1	Will Stone	K/P	TX	Regents School of Austin	Will has been training with me locally via private lessons for 3 years now and has grown immensely as a kicker/punter and physically as a young man. He gets very quick lift on his field goals and has a high,...	Undecided
2022	D1	Buck Buchanan	K/P	TX	Marshall HS	Buck grew a ton since his sophomore year and is almost unrecognizable now. He’s mature, physically fit, and a lot taller/muscular. He has a big leg and hits an excellent flight on his field goals and kickoffs. He was one...	Undecided
2022	D2	Cole Segraves	K/P	KS	Maize HS	Cole improved quite a bit since his 2019 National Showcase appearance. I gave him homework to complete which included improving his field goal ball flight and adding a little more hang-time to his kickoffs, which is accomplished. On May 30...	Undecided
2022	D2	Andrew Nelson	K/P	SD	O'Gorman HS	Andrew is a lefty with good kicking and punting ability. He fared very well at both of his first two appearances with Kicking World in March and June 2020 and really turned up his kickoffs and punts in his most...	Undecided
2022	D2	Tony Wang	K	CA	San Juan Hills HS	Tony has a big leg and only started kicking as a freshman, so he has a lot of upside. His field goals get up quickly and he hits some pretty deep kickoffs. He’ll need to get his kickoff hang times...	Undecided
2022	D2	Charlie Weinrich	K/P	KS	Blue Valley HS	Charlie has shown me a lot of follow-through in completing various video homework assignments and getting things to me in a timely manner. Since his first KW camp showing in July 2019 to more recently in the spring of 2020...	Undecided
2022	D2	Jonathan Spurlock	K/P	TX	Bastrop HS	Jonathan has improved immensely in the last year and I’m excited to get him on our List after having trained with KW at our camps and through lessons with me for over 2 years now. He has a big FG/KO...	Undecided
2022	OTC	Matthew Gibbons	K/P	TX	Brandeis HS	Matthew is an OTC Hot Prospect who is primarily a punter, but also does well on kickoffs. He’s been working hard on his fundamentals and has shown great improvement in his ability to hit consistent directional punts in the 4.0-4.3...	Undecided
2022	OTC	Emanuel Aguilar	K	KS	Cimarron HS	Emanuel Aguilar had a great showing at our June 2020 KC camp, earning the Golden Boot as the overall field goal winner with a 60 yard kick! He’s having a solid season thus far this Junior year and I look...	Undecided
2022	OTC	Aaron Krinsky	K/P	CO	Pueblo County HS	Aaron has improved immensely in his last 2 camp seasons of training with Kicking World while I’ve been in town for our camps in Denver. He’s having a good season on both PAT/FG and is crushing kickoffs and punts too....	Undecided
2022	OTC	Mark Sayegh	K/P	TX	Texas HS	Mark is a real pleasure to coach – he is extremely coachable, attentive, pays attention to the details, and has improved drastically since we started working together over 3 years ago. He’s fighting for the starting job at perennial powerhouse...	Undecided
2022	OTC	Alex Gregg	K/P	KS	Olathe East HS	Alex had a solid showing at our June 2020 KC camp hitting 8 consecutive field goals through 55 yards in the FG Competition. He has a good leg and shows a good attitude. I didn’t get a thorough enough read...	Undecided
2023	OTC	Sam Stone	K	TX	St Michael's Catholic Academy	Sam Stone just earned his spot on the Kicking World Hot Prospect List and his profile is coming soon…	Undecided
2023	OTC	John Michael Crooks	K/P	OK	Oklahoma Christian School	John Michael had a solid showing at our May 2020 OKC camp. Unfortunately, he got injured half-way through this season and is healing up and won’t make this year’s National Showcase. But based on how his season stats and in-game...	Undecided
2023	OTC	Reese Lopez	K	NH	Merrimack HS	Reese is a big boy with a big leg! He’s improved immensely since attending his first KW camp last spring as a freshman. Now as a sophomore he’s gotten more athletic and smoothed out his form. He hits a beautiful...	Undecided
2023	OTC	Dax Iverson	K	UT	Fremont HS	Dax Iverson has a monster leg and tied our all-time camp FG record with a 65 yarder at our October 2020 Denver camp. He hit 7 consecutive kicks from 30 yards through 50 yards the same day. While there was...	Undecided
2023	OTC	Aiden Nañez	K	TX	O'Connor HS	Aiden has shown a pretty big leg at our camps and a private lesson with me this 2020 season. He’s got a little bit of form polishing to do, but overall shows a lot of potential, and should evolve into...	Undecided
2023	OTC	Braxtyn Green	K	FL	Suwannee HS	Braxtyn has made a solid impact on me and the staff at his 2 appearances this 2020 camp season, both in March in Orlando and then again in July in Atlanta. He was the overall (younger group) winner of both...	Undecided
2023	OTC	Aidan Battle	K	KS	Atchison HS	Aidan had a terrific outing at our June 2020 Kansas City camp where he was crushing field goals from 50 yards and in and showed a pretty big kickoff leg as an incoming sophomore. Aidan has kept me up to...	Undecided
2023	OTC	Caden Smith	K/P	CO	Legend HS	Caden is a young sophomore who has a TON of potential. I’ve evaluated him at 3 different camps over the last 2 camp seasons, and he and his dad drove out from Denver to Austin for 3 days of training...	Undecided
2024	OTC	Clayton Amaya	K/P	TX	Smithson Valley HS	Clayton, as an incoming HS freshman has shown really well at our 2020 camps and even won a few events, hanging with kids two grade years above him. Most recently in mid-August, he’s been able to hit 50-55 yard field...	Undecided
2024	OTC	Benjamin Bell	K/P	CO	Rock Canyon HS	Benjamin Bell just earned his spot on the Kicking World Hot Prospect List and his profile is coming soon…	Undecided
2024	OTC	Alex Allemang	K	KS	Emporia HS	Alex Allemang just earned his spot on the Kicking World Hot Prospect List and his profile is coming soon…	Undecided
2024	OTC	Nicholas Angerstein	K	TX	Sacred Heart Catholic School	Nicholas has a big leg as a HS freshman and really got my attention at our September 2020 Austin camp. He hit 8 consecutive field goals including a 55 yarder during the FG competition finishing near the top of the...	Undecided
2024	OTC	Jake Walter	K/P	OH	Hilliard Bradley HS	Jake is a big-legged HS freshman who shows a lot of promise. He had a good showing at his first KW camp appearance in the summer of 2020. Since then he’s improved a ton and has had a great freshman...	Undecided
2024	OTC	Martin Connington	K/P	ID	Bishop Kelly HS	Martin has a booming punting leg! He had an excellent showing at his first KW camp appearance in July 2020 in Seattle. Since then he’s shown even further improved punting ability as well kicking. He’s been invited and is registered...	Undecided
2025	OTC	Daniel Jackson	K/P	MN	Zion Lutheran School	Daniel is the first 8th grader to earn a spot on our Hot Prospect List and one of very few ever to earn a National Showcase invite at only 13 years old! He’s way ahead of his age both as...	Undecided