West Aurora quarterback Mason Atkins figured the time was right, along with the school and especially its coaching staff, so he made the call.
Nearing the end of his junior year, Atkins announced May 9 he was committing to a scholarship offer he had received in mid-March from Ball State, a Mid-American Conference program.
“Definitely at that position, I had to make a decision soon with these offers going away, with other quarterbacks committing and with the offers that I had,” Atkins said.
He held about a dozen offers from Football Bowl Subdivision or Football Championship Subdivision programs. But Atkins also felt the impact that the transfer portal has had on recruiting, particularly for incoming freshmen.
“A lot of coaches are just going to the portal straightaway, getting an older guy to come in instead of getting a high school guy,” Atkins said. “It takes out recruiting for me. It’s weird. It sucks for me now, but then when you’re in college, it could be great for you depending on how it all plays out.
“It’s a whole different world and a little weird. I’m just focused on having a good senior season, having a good college career and seeing where it takes me.”
Toledo, Eastern Michigan, Cornell, North Dakota and Central Arkansas were among his offers, but this winter, Atkins said he really connected with the new staff at Ball State headed by coach Mike Uremovich, a Providence graduate, and offensive coordinator Craig Harmon.
Both worked together when Uremovich, whose last stop was Butler, was head coach at St. Francis in Joliet. Harmon and Uremovich have worked together at both Northern Illinois and Temple.
“I really loved coach Harmon and coach U, and the relationship I built with those guys is really great,” Atkins said. “They called me a ton. Coach Harmon came out to a baseball game and I’ve thrown in front of him multiple times.
“I think it really just came down to that connection I built with the coaching staff.”
According to West Aurora coach Nate Eimer, Atkins is the first West Aurora quarterback to receive a Division I scholarship since 1983 graduate Jim Bennett went to Illinois.
Will Tammaru, a 2020 grad, also played for Dayton, a nonscholarship FCS program.
Eimer can find the recruiting process frustrating.
“I really exhaust it and make sure Mason has all the information he needs,” Eimer said. “It’s crazy to me how many program now will literally tell you, ‘We’re just not taking a (2026 at QB).’
“You talk about the FBS, there are 134 programs and FCS has 129. I looked it up, and there are 16,000 schools that play high school football in this country.”
Eimer is stunned that top programs are turning away from high school prospects like Atkins, who started most of West Aurora’s games as a sophomore and all of them last season, leading the Blackhawks (10-1) to the second round of the Class 8A playoffs.
Last fall, the 6-foot-3, 205-pound Atkins completed 72% (123 of 172) of his passes for 1,667 yards and 32 touchdowns with no interceptions. He ran for 214 yards and seven TDs to earn the Upstate Eight West’s offensive player of the year. He also was academic all-state with a 4.7 GPA.
National talent scout Tom Lemming calls Atkins “one of the better quarterback prospects in the Midwest.” In baseball, Atkins plays center field and is hitting .406 for West Aurora (25-4).
Both sports have kept Atkins busy, dotted with numerous throwing sessions in the Blackhawks’ fieldhouse and at several camps, the latest coming May 1 at a college football evaluation day staged by coaches Sean Drendel (Naperville North) and Ryan Crissey (Glenbard South).
“It’s the best thing for high school athletes for recruiting that I’ve been a part of,” Eimer said. “Our guys were in front of 50-plus coaches. All my kids were able to interact with coaches and it’s free.”
