On a football field filled with high school athletes trying to stand out, the ring of the right hand of Curran White shined.

Coaches always have a plan.

White’s golf ball-sized ring sparkled on Johnsburg’s artificial turf, which was blanketed in sunshine Monday morning.

“The kids picked it out,” said White, Concordia University Wisconsin’s offensive coordinator. “So, of course, they picked out the biggest one possible.”

White hoped some of the 165 kids competing in drills during Johnsburg’s inaugural Northern Burbs Showcase noticed the ring, which CUW earned by winning the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference championship last fall.

Monday’s event was indeed about marketing, for players and coaches. About 60 college programs were represented, proudly wearing their college or university apparel. Johnsburg coach Sam Lesniak said Illinois, Iowa and Northern Illinois planned to attend but had to cancel because of NCAA compliance issues.

Fifteen high schools were represented. The showcase featured agility and position drills and broad jump testing. It ran about two hours and finished before noon, allowing spring athletes to participate in afternoon competitions or practices for their respective teams.

“Picking the date and the time was a challenge,” said Lesniak, who had 15 of his athletes competing. “I felt like this gave us the most opportunity to get the most amount of kids here.”

University of Wyoming cornerbacks coach JB Hall flew in and planned to make the rounds in Illinois, as several showcases are taking place in the next week.

“We’re just looking for the best athletes, guys that come highly recommended by their high school coaches, guys that are awesome academically and do a good job in the community,” Hall said. “At the end of the day, we are looking for the best fit for our university, and that can come in all shapes and sizes.”

When scouting potential CUW Falcons, White said he likes to see not only how a kid moves and bends but how he competes and interacts with his teammates. CUW is moving to the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin in 2027.

“We’re trying to identify the [high school Class of] 2027 guys and build our database so we can get them on campus this summer and fall, and we want to see some guys run around in person,” White said. “It’s a lot nicer than sitting in a classroom with them sometimes. It’s like one-stop shopping. You can get a lot of evaluations done in one day.”

Burlington Central coach Brian Iossi brought 15 players to the showcase. He was excited for them to get the experience of competing in front of so many college coaches. It was also an opportunity for him to connect with several coaches who his Rockets will compete against in the fall.

“I just think it’s really cool that we got a bunch of teams that try to kill each other every Friday night and we’re out here working together as coaches to get all of this together,” Iossi said. “We’re competing, but we’re not. It’s just cool to be on the same field.”

For the players, it was about competing, showing off their skills and having fun while wearing their school jersey and helmet. Pads were not allowed.

”Great day, nice weather, tons of different schools, everybody is out here,“ Cary-Grove sophomore quarterback Jackson Berndt said. ”I thought it was really good and helped to get people noticed, too.”

The 6-3, 215-pound Berndt doesn’t throw often in C-G’s option offense, so he enjoyed getting to show off his arm. He felt he had a solid day.

“It was a little different,” Berndt said. “It was fun to get some shotgun snaps, throw the ball around, throw some deep balls. ... I definitely got better as the day went on and just had a good time. I thought I threw the ball pretty well. It was fun to throw to some different guys.”

“I loved it,” said Johnsburg’s 5-10, 180-pound junior wide receiver Ryan Franze, who’s caught 128 passes, including 23 for touchdowns, the past two seasons. “I thought there was some good competition, and I had a good time getting ‘live’ reps finally. I’ve been missing it, for sure.”

Franze is running track this spring after helping Johnsburg’s basketball team win a Class 2A sectional title. He viewed Monday as another opportunity to compete and improve.

“My mindset is just, ‘Get 1% better every day,’ ” Franze said. “Just coming out here, getting work in, that’s what it’s about – win my reps, try to be better than my competition, try to outwork my opponents with my routes.”

Marian Central sophomore quarterback Colin Hernon said he worked a lot with his quarterback coach Preston Earl in preparation for Monday’s showcase.

“I thought it went well,” the 6-3½, 195-pound Hernon said. “I thought my footwork was there. I feel like I could have done better on the agility drills, and I could have capitalized more on my broad jump. I thought, overall, I performed well today.”

Jacob’s sophomore Jack Coates enjoyed just putting his helmet and pads again, as he’s been busy starting for the varsity baseball team. The 6-2, 210-pound Coates has led the Golden Eagles in tackles the past two seasons.

“I’ve been a little dormant recently [with football],” Coates said. “It feels good to put the helmet back on. ... There’s some stuff I can still improve on, like my footwork, but I felt like my numbers have increased on broad jump, and I feel like in the 3 on 3s I played well in coverage. Everything feels smooth for me right now.”

Huntley‘s towering Malik Carter (6-5, 200) is on the radar of a lot of college coaches after throwing for 1,932 yards and 16 TDs last season. The sophomore had conversations with several college coaches Monday.

“A lot of great guys out here, good talent, just a great opportunity to come out here and throw in front of some college coaches,” Carter said. “It’s good to see the competition, size everyone up before next season. Hopefully, we can get our revenge against some of these guys. It’s always fun seeing the guys from the Fox Valley Conference.”