Reaping the fruits of their labor: Nearly 500 Utah high school players net college scholarship

Kyle Collinsworth's parents have known for years that their son's outstanding abilities on the basketball floor would eventually lead to a free college education. With schools like USC, Stanford and Virginia knocking down his door, the Provo High point guard opted to cash in on his talents and play at BYU.

For the Collinsworth family, the time and money spent chauffeuring their son around to practices and games from an early age paid off in a big way.

The same can be said for nearly 500 other families in Utah.

After contacting every high school and college in the state, the Deseret News put together a list of the estimated 490 seniors from the 2010 graduating class who received an athletic scholarship. Of that number, 226 have signed with Division I programs and 202 are heading out of state.

For some, the payout isn't huge. Books might be their only freebies.

For others, like Alta soccer star Kealia Ohai and Weber tennis star Mary Anne MacFarlane, their talents landed them full rides to some of the biggest universities in the country.

Regardless of the dollar amount, with rising tuition costs and a struggling economy, 490 seniors have made their parents very proud.

"They work hard and you always hope they have the ability to accomplish what they like to accomplish, and he's worked hard since he was a little boy," said Jeff Collinsworth, Kyle's father. "Now he gets to continue to work hard and play at the next level."

Collinsworth is one of 264 boys from the 2010 graduating class who received a scholarship, compared to 226 girls.

With participation numbers that dwarf other sports, more than a third of the total boys scholarships went to football players.

Highlighted by Rickly Heimuli's signing with Oregon and Bronson Kaufusi staying close to home to attend BYU, 101 seniors earned college football scholarships — roughly 4.5 percent of the estimated 2,225 seniors who played high school football in Utah last fall.

Only 28 of the 101 are heading to Division I programs, 1.2 percent of the total participants.

Bingham coach Dave Peck has seen a steady rise the past few decades in the number of high school football players from Utah who are moving onto the next level.