By Mark Maynard / Prokickernews.com
RICHMOND – Ray Guy Prokicker.com All-American kicker Zach Burgy-VanHoose is glad to have the college decision behind him.
The Pikeville (Ky.) High School senior decided on Eastern Kentucky University on Wednesday where he hopes to become the kickoff specialist.
“I feel like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders is the best way to describe it,” Burgy-VanHoose said. “I’ve been stressed out the past couple of weeks.”
Burgy-Vanhoose’s strong kicking leg helped him to first-team All-American status on the inaugural Ray Guy Prokicker.com All-American team. He boomed 85 percent of his kickoffs for touchbacks and was also selected to kick for Kentucky in the Border Bowl against Tennessee.
A veteran of several Prokicker.com camps, Burgy-VanHoose was courted by several colleges including Jackson State, Kentucky Wesleyan and Fairmont State. He could have been a preferred walk-on at the University of Kentucky and Marshall, he said.
He chose EKU because of its closeness to home (about a two-hour drive) and his familiarity with the campus. His brother, Alex, has attended EKU for the past two years.
“I loved Richmond, loved the campus and the coaches were great,” he said. “My (high school) coach (Chris McNamee) played there four years. They’re always winning conference championships. I think it’s a good fit. I even get to wear my maroon, too.”
The maroon-and-white Colonels are the same as Pikeville.
Burgy-VanHoose credited Prokicker.com director Rick Sang and his staff for turning him into a solid kicker that colleges would want. He’s been attending Prokicker.com camps since before his sophomore year in high school. Ironically, the first camp he attended was at EKU, where Ray Guy was one of the instructors.
“I don’t know where I’d be without Prokicker,” he said. “It definitely helped me. I could go on for days about them. They noticed things I was doing that I wasn’t even aware of. I left those camps with the knowledge they gave me and worked to become better.”
Burgy-VanHoose, who has a cannon-like leg, will be a preferred walk-on at EKU but could earn a partial scholarship if he becomes the kickoff specialist.
“I want to average 75 (yards),” he said. “I have a big kick of 80. I’m hitting about 71 right now. I plan on winning that field goal job, too.
“Rick (Sang) told (EKU) Coach (Dean) Hood he expects me to come down and win the job,” Burgy-VanHoose said. “That makes you feel good when somebody believes that much in you. I won’t let him down.”
Burgy-VanHoose was the kickoff specialist and field goal kicker this fall for Pikeville, a Class A school that reached the state semifinals. Pikeville to the state semifinals
