QB Alex Cate

[Eric the Red]

Player: Alex Cate

Hometown: Salt Lake City, UT

Position: QB

Height: 6’2”

Weight: 199

40 time: 4.75

Visit Date: Possible NU Elite QB Academy

Scholarships offered: Over 25 including: Colorado, Nebraska, Kansas, Arizona

Favorites: Committed to Oklahoma State

Rankings/Stars:

Rivals: #19/

Bid Red Report:#4/

 

Assessing the talent: A good athlete that can throw the football. As a junior he threw for over 3,500 yards and 40 touchdowns and 11 interceptions. He has the ability and knack of finding the open wide receiver. His best attribute might be his understanding of the game. This QB could very well be this classes “diamond in the rough.”

 

Odds of becoming a Cornhusker: 0% The Huskers said they will only take on QB, and they have Missouri star Josh Freeman.

 

The West Coast has got to appeal to Cate. He has a high completion percentage and the ability to put up big numbers. I wouldn’t doubt it if Callahan makes a strong push for this kid, even if the Freeman becomes a Husker. I like this kid. A solid competitor only makes him that much more attractive.

[Eric the Red]

Rivals is just reporting this now...I reported it almost two weeks ago..

[gamecocks]

Good work Eric, Your always on top of things.

[Eric the Red]

If I had to choose between Freman and Cater, give me Cate. More athletic and a better thrower. Also is very smart.

[StuckinChicago]

I have to disagree with you Eric. While Cate does have more impressive numbers, especially in yards and touchdowns, look at both the completion percentage and the number of attempts. Freeman completes 60% of his passes where as Cate is only at fifty, and Cate's numbers can be partially attributed to the fact that he threw twice as much. Also, Freeman is listed in the rivals pre top 100, where as Cate had not yet been mentioned as being a premier recruit. Give me both, but if I had to pick one, I take Freeman all the way. Also, 6'6 1/2'' as measured during the recent Adidas Elite quarterback camp. Wow!

[Eric the Red]

Freeman has slow feet, I couldn't care less about 40 times, but just shifting the feet and skipping up in the pocket, I don't think Freeman's got that. Cate's got the mind also. WOrks quick.

[StuckinChicago]

The way I look at it, either Cate doesnt have all that great a football mind, or his body is incapable of executing what his mind is telling him to do. How can you say that a man who completes only fifty percent of his passes has great field vision. You know who else completed fifty percent of his passes, JD. Every pass that your receiver doesnt catch has a chance to be caught by the other team, and quick feet dont make a quarterback. Are you gonna tell me that Peyton Manning is quick in the pocket? I have seen video of both of these guys throw, and I tell you that Freeman has better field vision and projects better into college football. I think that you will find that every single major scouting site on the web will agree with me.

[Eric the Red]

Cate will be here to visit in the next month or so.

[Eric the Red]

The way I look at it, either Cate doesnt have all that great a football mind, or his body is incapable of executing what his mind is telling him to do. How can you say that a man who completes only fifty percent of his passes has great field vision. You know who else completed fifty percent of his passes, JD. Every pass that your receiver doesnt catch has a chance to be caught by the other team, and quick feet dont make a quarterback. Are you gonna tell me that Peyton Manning is quick in the pocket? I have seen video of both of these guys throw, and I tell you that Freeman has better field vision and projects better into college football. I think that you will find that every single major scouting site on the web will agree with me.

Nope....after watching some more film on Cate and Freeman, I would still pick Cate. Cate has better overall mechanics. Better footwork and can see the field better. Freeman has a better arm and is physically beyond Cate. The biggest problem, honestly neither has a "problem", but the biggest negative among Freeman is his throwing motion. He has a wind up of sorts. It's a little side arm almost. He has too much wasted motion. Cate fits better into the WCO. He already uses the drops that the WCO requires. Two particular plays he executed a three step and a five step hitch perfect. Threw the ball on the number.

 

As far as most of the "experts", I don't care. Freeman has been paraded around way more then Cate. He has 10X the amount of exposure, hence the attention. Now in no way am saying I wouldn't take Freeman, and Freeman because I would, he deserves the offers, but Cate is better suited for our type of offense. Cate can throw the quick slant, and make the quick read. Once more film is sent out and he can hopefully attend some camps, more coaches will see him.

 

Now I could be totally wrong and I'll take the hits, but this is what I see. OUT

[StuckinChicago]

point taken Eric. I guess we will have to wait and see who turns out to be the better quarterback. Cate could just be that guy who comes in underrated and proves us all wrong, and if he does, I am prepared to bow down to you as the recruiting guru of this board (allthough it looks like you allready hold that distinction) But we shall see. I still hold out hope that Freeman will be better simply for matters of pride P.S. How much do you think that the recruiting draw that Freeman will generate, much like Beck did last year as an early signee, figure into Freeman's worth vs. Cates? Just for discussion.

[Eric the Red]

The only thing that scares me about Cate is all the highlights I see him in , he's in the shotgun.

[Red November]

Rivals.com says Cate is up to over 20 plus offers. Freeman has about 8. Cate it sounds like will be making a decision before the season starts. He wants to make unofficial visits this summer and decide. Huskers are almost guarennteed a visit.

[Eric the Red]

Sweet news, the Huskers also have Bill Busch on him.

[Red November]

Is rich dad making Cottonwood 'Catenwood'?

 

Anything for the team: A multimillionaire has used his personal fortune to build the sports facilities at his son's high school into premier venues

By Lya Wodraska

The Salt Lake Tribune

 

 

 

From left, Casey Sato, coach Austin Carter and Tanner Robles practice batting this past summer at an indoor practice area for Cottonwood High's baseball team. The facility is among several gifts Scott Cate has given to the school, where his son Alex plays baseball and football. (Leah Hogsten/The Salt Lake Tribune)

 

On a hot summer day, several Cottonwood High School football players are toiling on their field, laying artificial turf along the sidelines. On the other side of the school's campus, teenagers are in the indoor baseball practice facility, working on their swings. Also occupied is the freshly painted and newly stocked weight room.

Scott Cate wanders in between it all in shorts, a T-shirt and a baseball cap. He smiles with satisfaction.

"This is what I wanted, to give these guys a place to hang out," he says. "We don't have that many places where they can do this anymore."

Cate is a multimillionaire - he won't divulge exactly how much he is worth - who has turned Cottonwood High's athletic facilities into premier venues.

To some, he is a savior who has taken their children, many of whom struggle with school work, and given them a place to hang out where they can hone their athletic skills and focus on their academic goals in the tutoring program he runs.

To others, he is a meddling father who uses his money to recruit players so his son Alex, the Colts' junior starting quarterback, is surrounded by talented athletes.

To his friends, he is a modern-day Forrest Gump, a guy who started out as a telemarketer scraping to pay bills.

Now, he is rich enough to do whatever he wants, but he spends most of his days on a tractor or lawn mower working under a blazing sun at the school in eastern Murray, improving the facilities of a school he feels close to - so close that he recently scattered his father's ashes on its football field.

"Doing this is more rewarding than sitting on a board for charity," says Cate, who also volunteers as a coach. "All of the kids know me, and I even get to yell at some."

Cottonwood, a Class 5-A school in the shadow of Mt. Olympus,

 

Scott Cate, Cottonwood High benefactor and assistant coach, puts his money where his team is. Among projects he has bankrolled: the remodeling and restocking of the sports department's weight room, which previously had only one weight machine. (Leah Hogsten/The Salt Lake Tribune)

 

is an older school in an aging neighborhood. Consequently, the school's enrollment has fallen in recent years.

Athletically, the Colts have struggled in the major sports, giving way to nearby powers such as Olympus and Skyline, schools with traditionally good programs that often attract promising athletes.

But the athletic future of Cottonwood is changing, with its programs becoming more competitive in recent years. Its volleyball team is consistently one of the best in 5-A. Its football team was a preseason top-five pick this year, but has gone 4-2. Still, last year's team won only three games.

The Utah High School Activities Association has seen transfer requests to Cottonwood increase as well. Last year, there were 20 requests, according to UHSAA executive director Evan Excell, an increase from six in the two years before. (Cottonwood still isn't the leader; the UHSAA received 28 transfer requests to Skyline, 22 to Mountain View and 15 to Juan Diego last year).

What is the attraction of Cottonwood? Just take a walk around its campus. The baseball field has its own locker room, practice facilities and adjoining snack bar. The weight room rivals many colleges for its top-notch machines and several sets of free weights. Looming over the pristine football field is a new three-story press box, complete with several offices for the coaches, a film room and a computer room. At the south end is a new large scoreboard.

And almost all of it was paid for, or made from donations gathered, by Cate. His interest in Cottonwood stems from his son Alex's involvement on the school's football and baseball teams.

Cate says he sees his efforts as merely a way to give back to his son's community. "Thirty years from now, this will still be here," he says of the athletic complex.

While Cate says his motivations are pure, others aren't so sure. Rival coaches call the school "Catenwood," for the money and influence its top booster has.

As the facilities have grown, so have the allegations that Cate is recruiting athletes from schools around the valley, including Hunter, East, West Jordan, Alta and Highland.

According to Highland coach Ray Groth, who says he lost one ninth-grader to Cottonwood, Cate was the topic of discussion at the high school coaches' meeting in the spring.

"There is just too much going on out there," Groth says. "You try to put together a good program, but you can't compete against it, not when they have a program with all the bells and whistles. It is the place to go. Losing one kid doesn't hurt too much, but if I start to lose more, when my enrollment is going down, it turns my program on its ear."

Cate says he has done nothing wrong, and has merely created an environment where hard work is rewarded.

"There is a lot of whining about recruiting, but recruiting is the one thing I don't need to do," Cate says. "We have open enrollment, and we want to attract students here, but we want them to come here and be about classroom work."

Cate's philosophy is shared by Cottonwood Principal Garett Muse, who says five years ago, Cottonwood didn't have enough girls soccer players to field a junior varsity team.

"When your school isn't winning athletically like Skyline, Brighton and Olympus, schools that have great athletes and academics, you have to come up with some ideas," Muse said. "One of the ideas was to create a first-class program. . . . We don't want to recruit, but we want a program where students think Cottonwood is a great place to go to school. We don't want to do anything illegal, but we want a program that has a great reputation."

Cate hasn't always had money to spend as he chooses. The 40-year-old grew up as the son of a high school football coach in California. His late father, Dick, never gave him anything, always making him earn his way in life.

"I hated him then," Cate says. "But not now."

Cate earned a football scholarship to the University of Utah, and after graduating, he took the only job he could find: telemarketing.

With his wife, Michele, he lived in a crummy apartment on 300 West, sleeping on a thin foam mattress and working the phones to earn a dollar a sale.

For dinner, he walked down to the 7-Eleven for hot dogs.

Cate gradually worked his way up through the Access Long Distance company until he became the president. Five years ago, he sold the company and walked away with enough money to live a life most only dream of enjoying.

He has a big house and big toys, including a 15-passenger jet, a 7,000-square-foot yacht, a speedboat that can push 192 mph, and a 4,000-square-foot houseboat on Lake Powell that was recently featured on the Travel Channel.

"I still don't know how that happened," he says. "I was sitting there the other night watching a show on boats, and they were in my houseboat. I don't know how they got in there."

Amusements, yes, but Cate insists his real fun is his involvement in his foundation, the Cate Family Foundation.

He built Salt Lake Community College's $2.5 million baseball facility - named Cate Field - and quietly gives to other charities. But Cottonwood draws most of the attention.

Cate says he is honoring his father through the work. Rather than just doling out money here and there, he has created a system to encourage students to help themselves.

Cate touts the after-school program he started, which is overseen by former Utah player Jason Kaufusi. It is open to athletes and nonathletes, but all those who fail to show or don't meet requirement standards are treated alike.

"We've taken guys who had four Fs and helped them get a 3.2 GPA and give them a good chance at getting to college," he says. "The same kids might be stealing your car because they have nothing to do. Here, they get dropped off at 7 a.m. and they are here until 6 p.m."

Even his own son doesn't get a break. Just like his father before him, Alex hasn't gotten anything for free - and Alex still doesn't own a car.

"He treats me normal," Alex Cate says. "I still have to wash the cars and clean the house."

The Cates' world, though, is different. How many people can afford to build a golf course in Boston, have it designed by Ben Crenshaw, and then fly there on a private jet to play?

"I'm just giggling around here," Cate says of his life.

Regardless of the fun times, the money has brought suspicion, too. He has heard stories, such as how he flies families of players to Vegas for expense-paid weekends, how he paid the city a $10,000 fine on the spot for breaking building code violations when he built the baseball facility, and how he pays for apartments so star players can live within Cottonwood's boundaries.

"All wild rumors," he says.

He is defended by Tom Jones, Cottonwood's head football coach.

"We want Cottonwood to be the best school it can be, and that is what is happening," Jones said. "We want students to come here, but for academics and things like that. We used to have four or five players who were ineligible. Last year, everyone was eligible."

Splashing cash around is one thing, but Cate defends his spending habits by being personally involved. On a typical Sunday, he is at Cottonwood cutting the grass on a practice field or off with a summer baseball team. He says he coached 167 baseball games last year.

"Everyone thinks this is done with just money, but my butt is out here working 40 hours a week," Cate said. "I've told coaches in other sports I'd help them, just give me one parent to help out two hours a week, but no one has stepped up."

With that, Cate is off to supervise work on the football field, but not before imparting one last bit of advice.

"Coaches are [angry] at me because I happen to spend my money in a public school system," Cate says. "I don't get it. Instead of whining, go spend two hours cutting the grass."

[Eric the Red]

Word is Cate will be in Lincoln for the Elite QB Academy. Can anyone else confirm?

 

Cate has said that he would like to decide before his senior season starts..this is looking good...