Famous Hulbert lived up to his name when he was a kid.
Hulbert was one of the top recruits in the nation in 1994 when he came out of Proviso West High School, a school about 25 miles away from Evanston. Due to a muscle injury, however, his career at the University of Illinois was never what he hoped it would be.
It wasn’t for over a decade that Proviso West would see another talent like Hulbert, who had since become the head coach.
Enter Kyle Prater.
Hulbert knew Prater had enormous talent after witnessing Prater’s progress following his junior year.
“His work ethic in Proviso West was legendary,” Hulbert said. “We had to make Kyle leave this facility. He put in countless hours in the weight room, countless hours trying to run and get faster, countless hours trying to work on his hands.”
Following his senior year, the six-foot, five-inch wideout received a school-record 17 offers from colleges across the country.
Hulbert was used to this attention himself, but said there is a significant difference between being a big recruit then and now.
“It reminded me of when I was in high school, except it was worse,” Hulbert said. “I could turn my phone off. I didn’t have to deal with it. With him, it was about promoting him and the other players as well. So I fielded all the calls. I embraced the moment.”
One of the schools that offered Kyle a scholarship was Northwestern, and the Wildcats were in the mix at the beginning. Hulbert said he wanted Prater to consider NU during the recruiting process because Evanston was so close to home.
Prater’s decision came mostly down to Southern California, Illinois, Notre Dame and Oklahoma. Hulbert said he felt Prater had pressure on him to go to a top-five program because he was such a highly sought-after recruit.
“It’s human nature to buy into the hype and do that,” Hulbert said. “He had aspirations of winning a national title. Guys don’t go to Northwestern to win national titles. They go into Northwestern trying to live a great life, win a lot of football games, try to compete for a Big Ten title and have a great academic experience.”
Initially, the plan was for Prater to stay in state, but the thirst for a national title was too much. He packed his bags and went to USC.
Walk-on wide receiver Cody Gifford got to know Prater well. The two met while running on the track at USC and Gifford said he knew Prater had a special character.
“He couldn’t have been more helpful about how to go about working out,” Gifford said. “He’d be the first to help someone out with a route or blocking assignment. He’s a great ball player, but people should know if you’re on the same team with Kyle, he’s going to have your back – no questions asked.”
Prater walked into a situation he hadn’t experienced in his final high school years – he was no longer ‘the guy.’ He was now surrounded by other stars and fell behind on the depth chart after injuring his thumb and hamstring.
“In the summer, he was dealing with injuries, like all of us, but he dealt with them pretty well,” Gifford said. “It’s frustrating for anyone who’s serious about their sport to have to watch from the sidelines. He always made his reps count though.”
The Proviso West star decided to redshirt his freshman year in hopes of starting his sophomore year. However, the injury bug reared its ugly head again, and Prater missed most of spring practice in 2011 with a foot injury that cost him almost eight weeks of practice time. At the close of the 2011 season, Prater finished last in receiving with one catch for six yards. Two walk-ons finished above him.
Hulbert said it was a difficult time for Prater.
“He had very high expectations for himself,” Hulbert said. “Going in as a five star recruit, he had a lot of outside pressure to perform. Having experienced that myself I can relate to the kid. It was very depressing at times.”
Eventually, Prater walked into the USC football offices and told them he wanted out. The decision was an unexpected turn of events for Prater’s support group back in Illinois.
“I was actually shocked,” Hulbert said. “I thought everything was OK and he would be able to fight through it. Once he decided he had had enough, it was like ‘OK, let me make some phone calls.'”
Hulbert said his phone rang weekly from schools across the country about Prater.
“It wasn’t a total football situation,” Hulbert said. “He transferred because some things took place at home with his family, combine that with him getting hurt in football and not being able to play like he thought he was going to be able to play and him not able to be there to support his parents. You put all those things together and it’s like the handwriting was on the wall.”
USC granted him his wish to transfer but told him that he could not go to any other Pac-12 school or Notre Dame. Hulbert said Prater didn’t want to go to a school outside a 90-mile radius from his home, which eliminated a lot of the schools calling Hulbert, setting the stage for NU.
“Ideally, Northwestern was the first choice,” Hulbert said. “I told him that I didn’t want his hopes to get up to transfer to Northwestern because it’s known as a great academic institution. I didn’t want him to put all his eggs in that basket and not be accepted as a student. With that being said, we had to explore all the nearby options.”
But Prater’s recruitment was different this time. Hulbert said Prater looked for more than just a path to the NFL
