Austria’s ‘4-Star Recruit’ Maxi Hradecny Visiting Major American Universities
Defensive lineman Maxi Hradecny from Vienna, Austria is heading to the United States to visit a number of major American colleges in November. All are interested in signing the promising 19-year-old lineman for an American football scholarship.
Hradecny, who has played for one of Europe’s top American football clubs, the Vienna Vikings since he was nine years old, and is an anchor on the U19 Austrian national team, found out about Europe’s Elite, after reading about Tibo Debaillie, a young Belgian lineman who is now headed to Towson University.
He jumped on a plane of his own accord and flew to Germany to visit Europe’s Elite and Brandon Collier, co-founder of the organization.
Collier was impressed with Hradecny both in terms of skills and measurements. The 6’3″, 312 lbs Austrian put up eye popping numbers for a player his size including bench pressing 225 lbs 25 times, and in his position drills he displayed a high level of coaching and learning according to Collier.
“When we did position drills, the first thing I noticed was his advance knowledge he received from the coaching in Vienna. He had the best technique I have seen from a European and he knows the game. I was very impressed with Maxi. He and a teammate jumped on a plane to come see me in Germany so this shows his commitment.”
Although there are a number of European–born players playing college football in the United States, they have had to take the long hard road to get there. This is now changing for the better. Europe’s Elite is among the growing number of organizations dedicated solely to finding these players and using its contacts to help them get to premier US schools.
Chris Calaycay, head coach of the Vienna Vikings and the Austrian U19 national team:
“Max Hradecny has been developing with the Vikings and our youth program and has always been one of the most talented kids. He was a multiple time U-19 National Team player for Austria. What is most impressive about Max is that he has realized how talented he is and is taking advantage of the gifts that he has. We have had a lot of talented defensive linemen come through our program and the opportunities to play in the US are starting to open up more and more. I really hope that colleges take a look at Max.”
After watching Hradecny, Collier got on the phone, calling nearly 40 colleges. He found plenty of interest and will be taking Hradecny on a tour of campuses in November. They will be making stops at Ohio State, Michigan, Penn State, Indiana, UMASS, Albany, Temple, Purdue, Miami and Florida State, among others.
According to Collier, after viewing film of Hradecny, a number of these coaches rate him as a 4 star recruit. To get an idea of what this means, check out this SB Nation article about the chances of being able to earn a football scholarship in the United States. According to the writer, the overall proportion of high school players who will play NCAA Division I football is 2.5% of all the 310,500 high school players playing American football in the United States.
At least six coaches have said they are only waiting for Hradecny’s academic standings to clear so they can offer him a scholarship.
Europe’s Elite is holding its next camp this weekend, October 22 in Darmstadt, Germany.
Check out Maxi Hradecny’s 2016 highlights playing for the Vienna Vikings.
