O’Neil Blake Football - Football Scholarship

O’Neil Blake is a graduate student at Lenoir-Rhyne University in North Carolina, where he is enrolled in the school’s MBA program. He completed his undergraduate studies there, and for three years was the starting cornerback on the school’s football team.
                                  

He was born in St. Elizabeth, Jamaica, in the Southwest part of that island nation, and lived there for the first fourteen years of his life. When he first came to the United States in the summer of 2007 he lived in Florida. “I attended Osceola High School in Kissimmee, Florida from 2007 to 2010,” he recalls. “While attending Osceola High School, I lettered in three sports: football, soccer, and Track and Field.” He was especially good at football, where he lined up as a cornerback. “I made the first team All-Orange Bell Conference football team my senior year (2010). I was also awarded the Attacking Player of the Year in soccer the same year.”

He won a scholarship to play football at Glenville State College in West Virginia. He sat out his first year of eligibility, and after his second year decided to transfer to a school that offered a better education, along with a quality football program, and wasn’t too far from his home. “The school I felt confident about after doing my research to make sure the school met all the required stipulations I was looking for was Lenoir-Rhyne University.”

O'Neil Blake Football played LRU football for three years, and graduated Magna Cum Laude in the spring of 2014. He entered the school’s MBA program the following fall, and also served as a graduate assistant to the football team.
Sources:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Elizabeth_Parish
https://www.linkedin.com/in/o-neil-blake-1600388a?trk=hp-identity-photo

O’Neil Blake Football - Division II All American

O’Neil Blake lettered in three sports as a high school student, and was good enough to win a football scholarship to Glenville State College, where he was one of the team’s cornerbacks.
“I spent two years at Glenville State College,” he recalls. “I was red-shirted my first year wile attending Glenville...however that same year I was awarded Scout Team Defensive Player of the Year.” Being red-shirted means he was a member of the team but did not play in any games, thus protecting his eligibility status as a freshman.

After two years he transferred to Lenoir-Rhyne University in North Carolina because he felt it offered superior academics. But he also played football, and was an NCAA Division II All-American in 2014. He graduated Magna Cum Laude with a degree in Sociology and today is in the school’s MBA program as a graduate student. But he keeps in touch with football as the team’s Cornerbacks Coach.
As he knows from first-hand experience, playing cornerback is one of the most demanding positions in football. It requires a player to be fast, and possess the ability to anticipate what the offense is going to do. Football teams need skilled pass defenders, but what makes it so hard is that wide receivers know where their pass routes are going to take them, while the cornerback does not. A good cornerback loves the challenge of covering a receiver, one-on-one.

O’Neil Blake Football is on track to complete the MBA program in May of 2016, and so is looking ahead to life after football. He is concentrating on Health Care Administration.
Sources:https://www.linkedin.com/in/o-neil-blake-1600388a?trk=hp-identity-photo
http://www.livestrong.com/article/82402-better-cornerback/