A year ago, Robert Heller enjoyed one fine college football season when, as a freshman at Division III Waynesburg University, he set NCAA freshmen rushing records in yards (2,176) and touchdowns (26). He averaged nearly 200 rushing yards per game.
This year, Texas University junior quarterback Colt McCoy is having a Heisman Trophy-type year. Through 11 games, McCoy has thrown for 3,134 yards, 30 touchdowns and completed an astronomical 77.2 percent of his passes.
Not only are Heller and McCoy fine football players, both look like they could be separated at birth.
60 comments:
Is it true that Heller dropped out at Waynesburg? Any idea what his plans are?
The last time I spoke with Heller, he was still enrolled at Waynesburg. That was over a month ago.
My hunch is he'll be playing somewhere else next fall.
Heller supposively has dropped out of school...Rumor has it he is trying to transfer either into a higher classification or a better d-3 program such as mount union
I hope Heller sticks it out at Waynesburg. He is maybe the best player they've ever had and clearly would've made a huge difference had he played for them this year. The difficult thing about going to a "Mount Union" type program is that they have 7-8 RB's that are all studs. Heller may get lost in the shuffle at a place like that--- especially because there are no roster limits (Mount Union regularly has over 200 players on their football team). If Heller doesn't stick it out at Waynesburg, I'd like to see him transfer to an up and coming program like Westminster.
Don Herrmann - 234 career receptions and 16 TDs in NFL, was the best player Waynesburg ever had. You also could make a case for Harry Theofiledes and a few others.
I think Bean will make the right choice. He could have played at Miami of Ohio. I remember when we were having basketball tryouts our senior year, he was visiting there. He should have went to Miami.
The reason he didnt go Division 1 or Division 2 is because his SAT score wasnt high enough. I really dont think there is anyone else that out there that wants him. I heard that Waynesburg had a team vote to keep him on the team and they voted him off the team.
Heller is a great athlete but he wearing out his welcome.
My prediction is that Heller never plays college football again. There is a better chance you will seem playing with the Riverats than you will for a college team.
whoa whoa whoa. Robert Heller may be a lot of things, but he is no jerk. This is a guy that you are more likely to find volunteering at a soup kitchen on Thanksgiving instead of selfishly indulging on Turkey, yams, and stuffing!
Ok so maybe he isn't the best student, but that is no reason to make up rumors about the W-burg football team voting to not let him play with them. It seems that there are several people on here that insist on rooting against anyone and everything that is good about washington county sports. What's next? Are you going to say that Mike Hull is really a 40 year old man and that gives him special powers on the gridiron?
Rumors??? I have heard from several sources that he was voted off the team.
I wish him all the best. I think is fantastic athlete. However, I think there are some issues he needs to resolve. He is losing time fast. You must remember he went to Prep school first so technically this would be his Junior year if he went to college straight from high school.
Also, I would like to add... I think Heller is the best player to ever play at Waynesburg. If Mt. Union would allow him to play for them he would be their best RB. There are no way 7 or 8 kids like Robert Heller. He is hands down the best running back in division 3. The problem is Mt Union doesnt need Heller to be successful. I would really have liked to see him go to Slippery Rock like he was supposed to out of college. I think he would have done really well there against some legitimate competition.
If he played all 4 years at Waynesburg he would reach 10,000 yards.
Courtney.... I am a Bean Heller fan believe it or not but I really think he is going to need some luck for another coach to take him right now.
"Are you going to say that Mike Hull is really a 40 year old man and that gives him special powers on the gridiron?" that is so random hahaha
LOL
OK... Bean is a good person, but I would take it to the bank that he would not volunteer at a soup kitchen.
haha bad, considering in a princeton review book, waynesburg doesnt even announce its middle 50% range for sats
Why do you guys need to hate on Heller and Waynesburg? Waynesburg may not be Princeton but it is a university that gives an opportunity to 1500 students to get an advanced degree. By criticizing Waynesburg, you are criticizing the students that go to school there. If you take the current crop of students at Waynesburg and look back on them in 10 years, I'm sure you'll find that some are successful and some are not. The same can be said about other local colleges, along with elite ones like Princeton, Dartmouth, Stanford, etc.
As for Heller, he may not be the sharpest tool in the shed, but who cares? When he was at Waynesburg he was a student-athlete. That means he passed enough classes to be eligible to play football. Wherever he ends up, the same rules will apply-- pass enough classes to play football. Obviously Waynesburg isn't known as an esteemed academic institution, but it does provide the students there with an outlet to further themselves. As for Heller, I'd like to see him get straight A's, but it is his life and I think the "dumb as a board" poster needs to get one of those.
I think that is totally out of line saying he is dumb. His test scores were not high enough for a D-1 or D-2 level which is why he didnt go to Slippery Rock. However, that doesnt give you the right to rip him or Waynesburg University.
Robert Heller can be as successful as he wants to be. It just depends if he wants to still be a student athlete. I hope for his sake he does. He was one of the finest athletes I have seen in the Mon Valley. I followed him from his younger days with the Finleyville Bears up through the ranks at Ringgold High School.
As fas as work ethic goes you wont find anyone who trains as hard as he does.
Bean dont give up on your dreams....
Mike...
It really amazes me what people post on here. I am glad you delete posts who put virtually no thought into them.
Thanks. Love the site.
If you do not 'have the test scores' for Division I or II, then you surely don't at Division III.
That's to suggest that a school like Cal or Slippery Rock have higher expectations than a W&J. That's ridiculous.
Now, Waynesburg I have heard is a bit of a joke academically, but if Heller couldn't cut it at a D I school, he wouldn't at Waynesburg.
He has talent, but not to play at a Division I level. Division II and III doesn't offer much separation between the two.
The posts that have been deleted can be found at d3football.com-there Heller's behavior and smarts are discussed by people that went to school with him or were his teammates.
The posts that were deleted were unsolicited, direct attacks on someone.
Maybe d3football.com does not have any standards, but the Varsity Letters does.
And a couple anons ago,
Thanks for the complement. Keep reading. Tell your friends.
ANON: Did you really just say?
"He has talent, but not to play at a Division I level. Division II and III doesn't offer much separation between the two. "
Robert Heller was originally recruited by numerous Divison I schools. He def has the skill set to play Divion I.
Next MIKE, correcet me if I am wrong here but there is a huge difference between division II and III talent level. Cal U Football would beat W&J by 45 points in footbal.
Divison II is allowed to offer scholarhips so why would an athlete who can play for free go to Division III school and pay thousands of dollars.
You are just not making sense with your comments now.
Just list a few of Hellers athletic attributes:
5'10" 205 LBs
4.4 40 Yard Dash
30 Reps with 225
And we all know he can play football by what he has done in his career so far.
It is well document already that Heller didnt have the SAT scores to go a Division I or II school so we dont need to revisit that. Also, I know he is intelligent. I believe its more about him wanting to do well in the class room.
I agree that there is a difference between Division II and Division III football.
Has anyone heard if the NCAA is going to let Heller use this past year as a medical redshirt???
Anon: I appreciate Heller's stats. If someone asked you what Heller had for lunch, would you tell them? Or just breathe on them?
Cal U would beat W&J, but if you put them in the PSAC under the same conditions and guidelines, how would they do?
Would they beat Millersville? How about Mercyhurst and Gannon? Lock Haven perhaps? Have you seen some of the Divsion II programs that are mid to below bottom of the PSAC for example?
Also, there are plenty of people that take advantage of grant money at the Division III level that were able to pay less money than playing for a Division II program. Some have bypassed D II for III programs because at the end of the day, were able to go for less money. Or maybe an academic opportunity that was more advantageous to that particular student athlete.
I don't know of the academic standards at Waynesburg, but if he didn't have the grades to go Division I, that doesn't make him eligible to go Division III. There are schools at that level that actually have higher academic standards.
Heller is a good talent, but like another anon said, he may not even start at a program like Mount Union or other Division III powers.
At the end of the day, if 'he doesn't want to do well' in the classroom, he probably isn't worth discussing any further.
Well burghboy as u post on d3football.com as...
I gave you his stats because you have no idea what you’re talking about Heller not having D 1 talent. I guarantee you he does. You really have a hard time debating with someone without bashing them.
Now onto your academic issue:
The difference between division 1,2,3 is the SAT scores and credits you need to obtain to be eligible.
It is so easy to debate with someone who does little or no research. Please read the following and notice the differences.
For Division 1 you need the following:
Graduate from high school;
Complete these 14 core courses:
4 years of English
2 years of math (algebra 1 or higher)
2 years of natural or physical science (including one year of lab science if offered by your high school)
1 extra year of English, math or natural or physical science
2 years of social science
3 years of extra core courses (from any category above, or foreign language, nondoctrinal religion or philosophy);
Earn a minimum required grade-point average in your corecourses; and
Earn a combined SAT or ACT sum score that matches your corecourse grade-point average on the test score sliding scale on this page (for example, a 2.400 core-course grade-point average needs an 860 SAT).
For Division 2 you need:
Graduate from high school;
Complete these 14 core courses:
3 years of English
2 years of math (algebra 1 or higher)
2 years of natural or physical science (including one year of lab science if offered by your high school)
2 extra years of English, math or natural or physical science
2 years of social science
3 years of extra core courses (from any category above, or foreign language, nondoctrinal religion or philosophy);
Earn a 2.000 grade-point average or better in your core courses; and
Earn a combined SAT score of 820 or an ACT sum score of 68.
For Division 3 you need:
Division III does not use the NCAA Eligibility Center. Contact your Division III college regarding its policies on admission, financial aid, practice and competition.
Basically Division III has their own standards they can pretty much allow whoever they want into their college. Even W&J has been known to let a few kids in who they normally wouldnt accept with a lower SAT score.
But my main point as you can see Division 1 is the hardest to qualify for academically.
Lastly, if someone tells you they are going to to a division 3 school just because of the academics over a a division 1 school that is hard to believe. Why wouldnt they just go to the IVY league or a school like Bucknell.
You also make no sense about W&J having the same guidelines as CAL U. That was the whole point though a division 3 school would not beat a division 1 school. If they could offer scholarships and funding the same way they would be division 2 and be able to compete.
Your debating skills are lackluster. I am not trying to bash anyone here but just state the facts.
Sorry I made a typo I meant to say there is no way a division 3 school would beat a division 2 school.
I didn't know we were 'debating', but I'm happy to join in with someone that merely uses Google and pats themselves on the back.
Quick points that are of opinion:
* I disagree that 'any' Division II team could beat 'any' D III team.
* In my original post I said there 'was not much separation' between DII and DIII talent. Someone posted earlier he would get 'lost in the shuffle' at a place like Mount Union, and I agree with that. He is a good player, but there are plenty of them outside of this area.
If you had W&J's talent level right now with the resources (money), and tell me they couldn't play/compete with the teams I mentioned before, again...we will agree to disagree.
* Also in my previous post I noted that if he "couldn't cut it at a D I school, he wouldn't at Waynesburg".
I think that has been proven at this point.
Points of clarification:
* I meant to post that just because he doesn't meet DI standards doesn't get him into ANY DIII school.
That said, you REALLY think every student athlete at Ohio State met those standards? Some of the football factories in the Big 12 and SEC? Really?
* I disagree that he would get into a W&J, or a Grove City, or other higher academic schools at that level.
I would love to have you name someone, but doubt you could, or would hide behind how you can't 'reveal' them.
* You posted "if someone tells you they are going to to a division 3 school just because of the academics over a a division 1 school that is hard to believe. Why wouldnt they just go to the IVY league or a school like Bucknell"
Actually if you paid attention, I posted "Division II schools", and yes, there are plenty that play at that level. Ever hear of Carnegie Mellon? Dickinson? Case Western? All excellent academic schools with higher standards, and playing at the DIII level. I know of several kids that turned down going to a Slippery Rock for one of these schools for educational purposes.
I could name more, and no disrespect to Bucknell and other fine Patriot/Ivy League schools, but there are plenty of academic places that people can go and succeed.
Including Waynesburg. Hey, best of luck to the young man, but agree to disagree.
If there is one thing we can agree on, is that it's a shame he doesn't take advantage of his situation, regardless of division.
To the anonymous posters having their D2 vs D3 discussion...
W&J and Grove City and those types of schools are hardly elite academic institutions. For one, they have endowments that are the size of some Observer-Reporter journalist's bank accounts. That means they struggle to be able to pay professors a competitive wage and also struggle to provide resources for the students. Hell, W&J was once hurting so bad for money that they asked a former alum (Alberto Vilar) to donate money and the funny thing is that the guy is a crook who ended up in jail after promising the school money that he fraudulently obtained.
Another factor for those schools is that they attract primarily local students. There is nothing wrong with having a student population of 90-95% locals, but it does limit the talent pool that a school is drawing from. There are only so many 1200+ SAT students that want to go to a small liberal arts school in any one area.
The W&J's, Grove City's, and Waynesburg's of the world let in all kinds of kids that don't have the "average" scores because those students are needed to fill rosters for sports teams. Look at Bobby Swallow (w&j's QB) or Andrew Didinato (Grove City's QB), both are good football players that had less than 1000 on their SATs. Their scores were not stellar but the admissions people had no problem letting them in given that they helped out the football team.
W&J is a great school so you are way off there. They are ranked always ranked in the top 100 liberal arts schools in the country. I would love to see you try to pick up a pre-med or pre-law degree from there.
As far as them hurting for money. That makes no sense because they just built all new dorms and frat/sorority houses.
Unless you do accounting for W&J how can you tell that they are hurting???
You are really making me laugh. I would rather search for information and research things before I rant and rave about things that arent even correct. Apparently you dont know how to use google very well then, because you have easily looked all that information up before you posted.
Plenty of Bean Hellers out there? So what your saying is that everyone can go to Waynesburg and rush for 2,176 and 26 touchdowns. If what your saying is correct then I would expect his records to be broken very soon.
I am not saying there arent any kids who will go Division 3 to go to a better academic school, but I wouldnt consider it something that happens often. Unless your Mommy and Daddy pay for your college most kids are going to take the money.
Going to a great academic school doesnt mean you are going to be successful. I mean wasnt Bill Gates a dropout???
I have seen all the teams in the PSAC play. Trust me W&J wouldnt beat any of them. There is a huge difference between the athletes. Just look at the offensive and defensive lines. The size and speed difference is huge. I change my original opinion Cal U would beat W&J by 100 points.
All athletes must meet those standards by the way. IF they dont they can not play. There is no way getting around the SAT score unless you score high enough on the ACT. I mean it doesnt take much to score an 860 on the SAT. You can not lie about those scores they are sent in from SAT testing offices. Why do you think so many athletes have to sit out before they qualify.
Great example of this is Brandon Jennings who was supposed to go to Arizona but did not qualify academically. He is now in Europe and probably would have went there anyways, but he didnt get any strings pulled for him and he was a top 5 recruit in the nation.
I had friends who coached at W&J they said they had a few athletes each year they accepted that scored below 800 on the SAT.
I do agree with you though he let an opportunity pass him by. I jus think its ashame because he really does have the talent to play at any level. I have watched a lot of football over the years and I havent seen many that run like he does.
The guy who left the comment about W&J not being a quality school has obviously no idea what he is talking about. That is a top notch school.
I highly doubt they knew Vilar was a crook before taking his money.
Do you know how many lawyers and drs W&J has produced?
The only bad thing about blogs is that people can say anything they want with no logical explanation.
Your statistics are way off about 90-95% of students being local at W&J. If in local you mean from the state of Pennsylvania???
They are stable financially. They have plenty of money. It is unbelievable that people can be so twisted in what they think.
To the person who said they arent great schools academically did you even go to school there? Where did you go to school? I am guessing it was probably the University of Pheonix.
* To the 'researcher': It's easy to google, but what you are looking up isn't relevant to the discussion.
Your comprehension of the argument and points I'm making are countered with rambling "I change my mind, Cal U would win by 100/Brandon Jennings/unamed 'former coaches' of W&J/etc).
You also fail to answer questions that the football factories accept ONLY students that meet the standards you 'googled', and don't make exceptions. Yet somehow Heller couldn't find his way into ANY Division I program, and this was the only thing holding him back.
There are also plenty of folks that went to both W&J, Grove City, and similar high tuition schools not because of 'Mommy and Daddy', but because they earned grant money and worked on their own to educate themselves. You seem a bit bitter on that topic.
All I can conclude with is may God Bless you and the world you live in.
* According to the most recent admission information at collegedata.com, W&J applicants have an average SAT score of 1152 and GPA of 3.46 (unweighted). Various websites note admission standards under both schools as 'very difficult'. You probably can find websites that are within this ballpark of statistics.
Im sure there are always some exceptions, but that seems like a pretty good pool to draw from. There are also numerous accolades both W&J and Grove City have had reports on through the years.
The poster critical of the academic and admission standards probably doesn't deserve a response, but even our 'researcher' could google them and know that's not accurate.
Just to further the discussion, I have to slightly agree with the poster who was negative on the academic reputation of w&j. It is a marginally above average school. In no way is it an "elite" academic institution, but then again, not many schools are. W&J is a bottom-half of the 2nd tier type in virtually all of the respected rankings. Since those are based on both objective and subjective measures, take them with a grain of salt.
This is not to say that you cannot get a good education from w&j, but after reading comments about how many Dr's and Lawyers they produce, someone needs to set the record straight. I have known at least 20 pre-law and/or pre-med graduates from W&J and the types of Law schools and Med schools they end up getting into are, on average, 3rd and 4th tier schools. For example, W&J has a working relationship with Temple's medical school so that their pre-med students have at least one avenue to medical school. Temple's medical school has consistently been rated one of the worst in all of America. The entrance standards are low and the resources (education buildings, money, etc) are scarce. Again, this is not to say that Temple hasn't produced some great doctors or that it isn't difficult to go through their program. But it is to say that Temple is not nearly as difficult to gain admission to and do well in than Johns Hopkins, Yale, and others in the 1st and 2nd tier.
As for the people I know who have gone to law school from W&J, the same trends exist there. The only difference is that W&J does not any co-op set up with a law school, so the students are more or less forced to go at the law school application process alone. I have known some kids that ended up at Pitt, NYU, and Virginia (1st and 2nd tier law schools), but those are abnormal cases for w&j students. Most find that they can only get into the 3rd and 4th tier law schools and that is where they end up.
I don't think that w&j is a terrible school, nor do I think it is a utopia. Like I said, it is slightly above average. Obviously some of the bloggers here feel it should be on the fast track to Ivy League membership, while others feel it is best suited to join the PSAC. Both of these extreme points of view do not do justice to the kinds of kids at W&J and it would be nice to see some more realistic people on this board.
Also,
Anon at 10:22pm, I don't have the information on W&j's finances like the poster you were talking to, but I will say that you should take a look at the economic backdrop as it exists in 2008 before questioning whether or not W&J is struggling financially.
The new dorms and frat/soro. houses were all built by the year 2006. To look at two years ago and view that as the window into the finances of a college is just silly. The 2nd half of 2007 (when the subprime crisis really gained traction) and the subsequent recession in the United States economy has made finances difficult for just about every college (especially private institutions with profiles similar to W&J) in America. In the past 6 weeks numerous headlines have been in the paper about how schools like Harvard and Yale have seen their endowments reduced by 30% or more in the past year. Do you honestly believe that W&J was able to avoid losing money too? Given that endowments are usually run by hedge funds and those funds take on gigantic amounts of shares in "blue chip" stocks, I think it is fair to say that W&J is feeling the crunch too. For example, take a look at a yearly chart on General Electric. That is a widely held stock that was believed to be "safe." It is down over 50% for this year and one stock that MANY endowments have shares in.
I don't think anyone called W&J (or Grove City for that matter) an 'elite school', or wants it entered in the PSAC.
Rather, I do think there have been instances where a student athlete has decided to play at a DIII school to gain an better educational opportunity for them, and have bypassed playing at the DII level because of that opportunity.
For example, a student athlete that may have the ability to play at Kutztown may pass on that opportunity for playing at Swarthmore.
I know of numerous kids though the years that may have passed up playing at a Shippensburg, Slippery Rock, or IUP to play at a W&J, Grove City, or Duquesne (when it was DIII and/or I-AA Non scholarship). That's not a knock on any of those respective schools, but merely that many Division III athletes have been recruited by DII schools as well.
Of course, in the world of message boards it takes a life on it's own. I may ask my doctor tomorrow if he want to Temple though. :)
I am glad you pointed out we are in an economic crisis. I didnt realize that. Obviously, their endowments are down. No one is doing as well as they were before. You still have no proof that W&J is struggling financially. How do you know that W&J invests in hedge funds? Maybe they invested the money in bonds.
All I am saying is you really have no reasoning behind what your saying. Other than your claims of comparing it to hedge funds and GE stock which really has no relation to W&J being down financially.
In my opinion W&J is the best school around other than CMU and Allegheny.
How is it not relevant to the discussion? Did you even read the posts before? They said Rorbert Heller qualified to play at Waynesburg so he should be able to qualify at any division.
I posted the requirements showing its harder to get into Division 1 and 2.
It is well documented he did not get into Slippery ROck because his SAT scores were lower than what they needed.
Maybe you should do some RESEARCH on this board and read what people are actually posting.
I like how you say I am rambling but you have not read the posts before mine.
Please read everything because you are the one not making any sense now.
Everything that was said was in direction to previous posts.
Someone said that D III teams could beat DII. I pointed out that CAL U would beat W&J by 100 points.
The Brandon Jennings comment was made showing that you do have to qualify academically to play no matter who you are. If your scores arent there you cant play.
The guy posting about Cal winning by 100 points and wants to kiss Heller couldn't even get into Waynesburg.
Unreal.
You know thats funny because I graduated from CMU. Heller lives right down the road from me. So anymore smart comments???
If this guy went to CMU, then I went to Oxford.
So are you going to have Christmas dinner with him? Did you buy him a present? Or are you buying him another semester at Waynesburg?
Maybe since you went to CMU, you can surely get him in there, since it's a DIII school and has no standards like a Division I school.
Please.
Once again it is funny that you didnt read any of my other posts. I never said DIII didnt have standards. However they can make exceptions to allow athletes into their programs.
Judging from the comments you have made I would believe you never graduated college.
By the way W&J produces more Drs adn lawyers than most schools around here. They may not all go to top tier schools but just getting into law or med school is an accomplishment.
Guys according to NACUBO (an organization that studies college endowments) W&J placed 372nd in total endowment funds at the end of 2007. A total of 785 schools were reviewed, putting W&J basically in the middle of the pack. Giving the list a quick glance showed that many schools with the same profile as W&J: less than 2,000 students, liberal arts education, and 2nd and 3rd tier academics had larger endowments that W&J. Is endowment everything as some posters have insinuated? No, but having as much money as possible is not a bad thing.
Waynesburg, Bethany, and Westminster are all better academic schools than W&J.
You are crazy W&J is way better. They produce more lawyers and drs...
Haha it sounds like WJ's president (Haring Smith) is a regular on this blog. I guess she feels the need to channel her inner Davy Crockett and defend the Alamo (W&J)
Bethany might be worse than going to Cal U.
what about those D-1 schools like WVU. you wanna sit here and say adam "pacman" jones was a studious fellow? i think not. cmon, if youre a superstar for a D-1 college football team you are pretty much exempt from having to meet the college's academic standards.. theres plenty of kids who went to extremely competetive schools, yet failed general chemistry in high school. and once they get into college, their academics dont matter. i once heard that michael vick never went to class at va tech, and i would take it to the bank that he didnt but because he was a star he was exempt. basically, extreme talent defeats the need to have a good head on your shoulders to get into prestigous schools
Mike you need to delete that last post. Once again another rediculous posting by the burgh boy..
Your comments are so rediculous it makes you even look less educated. Its funny that you arent even smart enough to use google to look up what you need to qualify...
Shouldn't a CMU grad be able to spell the word 'ridiculous' correctly?
you have to be naive to think that every D-1 football player meets the D-1 academic guidelines. i promise you that you would be completely shocked if you learned how many football players are going to a D-1 school on a full scholarship while maintaining a D average. yet, you have kids who bust their butts in the classroom and receive no scholarship. its ridiculous but its the country we live in. another thing, you wanna tell me that every football player at UCLA, Cal-Berkeley, Notre Dame, Vanderbilt, Duke, Northwestern etc. meet the very selective academic admission critera? cmon, get real people
It has to be true. Bean's neighbor 'googled' it.
Surely it can't be that 'rediculous'.
hahahaha
Mike,
This blog is the worst thing I have seen. Mike you should delete the whole thing. Nothing positive was mentioned in any of these postings. Its a mockery of Robert Heller and students who attended local area schools.
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