Camps often are recruiting tools for coaches, prospects.(college football)(Brief Article)

It always helps to have a secret weapon to gain an advantage. The Lone Ranger has a silver bullet. Underdog has that pill in his ring. Football coaches have summer camps.

These camps, in full swing throughout the nation since mid-June, might seem innocuous compared with Popeye's can of spinach, but they provide coaches with early, up-close looks at potential prospects before the recruiting wars begin.

It's an opportunity to squeeze the merchandise, though coaches like to stress that camps aren't meat markets. They point out that kids receive instruction to help them maximize their potential as players, which many campers reach in high school.

True, many will not play football after high school, but some will, and there is no denying that these camps serve a purpose in recruiting--for coaches and players.

"The camps are a chance for any kid to learn fundamentals and try to improve," says Georgia coach Mark Richt. "And, hopefully, you are breeding good will and how they feel about your program. A lot of the guys grow up to be special ballplayers. So from a recruiting standpoint, you look at it long term."

Each summer, Illinois coach Ron Turner holds several camps. Among the players on his 2001 roster, he figures 33 percent attended one of his camps while in high school.

"I can't think of any negatives," Turner says. "For us, it's an opportunity to get a lot of people on campus and for us to help them. For prospects, it's a chance to be seen and evaluated. But even more than that, it's a chance for them to do some evaluations.