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Published Saturday
July 22, 2006
UNO gets talented receiver
BY ROB WHITE
WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITER
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A speedy wide receiver who once committed to a scholarship offer from USC will be playing for UNO this fall.
Mike Bolio, a 5-foot-11, 195-pounder, has taken the scenic route to Division II, having played just one of the last four seasons after completing his high school career at North Torrance (Calif.).
"I'm happy with where I ended up," Bolio said. "I love the coaching staff and I like the city. I have no regrets. I made a couple of mistakes. Two years ago I was slacking off in school and it cost me a scholarship."
Most recently, Bolio was at Marshall. He didn't play there because he was ineligible after receiving a C-minus instead of the C that he needed in a junior college class.
His five-year clock to complete his four years of eligibility in Division I would have expired after this season, and he would have had to pass a nearly impossible course load in the spring to be eligible.
However, because of differences between Division I and II, Bolio has two - and perhaps three - seasons of eligibility left at the University of Nebraska at Omaha.
"He's an extremely talented kid, one of the top two or three I ever coached in 18 years," said Steve Schmitz, who coached Bolio at Los Angeles Harbor College.
Schmitz said Bolio is a "legit 4.3 guy," in the 40-yard dash.
Besides academic issues, Bolio has been sidelined by more than his fair share of bad luck.
He tore a hamstring in track in his senior year of high school in 2002, and when the injury lingered into fall camp before his first junior college season, he decided to attend part-time so that his five-year clock wouldn't start.
Before the 2003 season he suffered a concussion in a car accident and again was unable to play.
He made it on the field, finally, in 2004. After catching 13 passes for 287 yards in his second game, he moved to quarterback because his team had been decimated by injuries at that position. He wound up a junior college All-American while totaling 2,393 yards (736 passing, 697 on returns, 578 rushing and 382 receiving), and accounting for 20 touchdowns.
That's when he committed to Southern California - picking the Trojans over Auburn, Florida, Oklahoma and Utah - but he found out later that two classes he had taken didn't transfer. He landed at Marshall, after nearly joining Michigan State, but was later ineligible. While at Marshall, he learned that his five-year clock had started his first year of junior college because he hadn't dropped down to part-time status soon enough.
Finally, Bolio said, he would have had to pass 24 hours in the spring semester just to be eligible this fall.
So he gave Schmitz a list of 10 Division II schools with winning programs that passed the ball regularly.
"I got hold of six of them, and five of them called Mike within a day or two," Schmitz said. "The other one must have thought it was a hoax."
Bolio said he chose UNO over South Dakota, Northwest Missouri State and Grand Valley State.
UNO is unable to comment on Bolio because he has not officially enrolled in school.
Bolio, 22, said he has stayed in good shape, working out with his former junior college team and by working with NFL quarterback Jeff Garcia, an acquaintance from his local gym.
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