Culver Football Star May Be Leaving

A bombshell announcement may be heading to the Culver City High football program.

If Stanley Norman transfers to Serra High in Gardena, as is being speculated, the Centaurs would be without perhaps their best player next season.

The Los Angeles Times' Eric Sondheimer, the premier high school sports reporter in Southern California, writes that Norman has taken out application papers to transfer to perennial powerhouse Serra.

Norman is considered one of the top juniors in the state and already has drawn attention from big-time college programs across America. He has exceeded 1,100 all-purpose yards in his two Culver seasons.

In an unrelated development, there's speculation among the high school sports media that the father of Culver quarterback Armani Rogers, former National Football League linebacker Sam Rogers, could become a high school head coach in the near future.

There's no indication that Armani Rogers would transfer, but with Norman apparently leaving even the possibility creates nervous moments around Culver.

Regarding Norman, Serra football coach Scott Altenberg told the South Bay Daily Breeze "I hear he's coming, he picked up an application but I can't comment until he actually checks into school."

Serra had heavy graduation losses from its offensive unit after compiling a 13-1 record last season. The team's only loss was to Chaminade, 38-35, in a CIF playoff championship game,

Serra has a proud football tradition. USC receivers Robert Woods, now with the Buffalo Bills and Marquise Lee came from Serra. Defensive back Duke Ihenacho of the Denver Broncos will play in the upcoming Super Bowl.

I was a high school student many, many years ago. In thise days there wasn't a lot of transferring. But as the years went on that changed drastically.

Many players who lose their starting jobs look for playing time elsewhere. It's not uncommon for parents and other relatives to learn which schools have heavy graduation to begin th transfer process.

In the last few years the starting quarterbacks at both Culver City and Santa Monica have been transfers.

However, one wonders why a player of Norman's stature would do anything to draw greater attention. He's already recognized as a likely college star.