ANOTHER QB!

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Welcome Hank!

Another day, another QB commits to come play at Columbia this fall.

This time it's Hank Trumbull, a 6-4, 210 pound ESPN All-State player from the Los Angeles area Chadwick HS who can throw and run. And at that size, he may end up playing another position.

Chadwick has a good connection to CU, but it's been awhile. It was the high school home of an excellent WR Armand Dawkins '00.

Here's his senior highlight reel below:

So here is our list of 16 publicly known incoming freshmen for the class of 2016:

1. Oluwatoba "Toba" Akinleye DE 6-1, 215 lbs. Fort Hamilton HS, Brooklyn. NY
2. Jacob Ardron LB 6-1, 230 lbs. Diamond Ranch HS, Pomona, CA
3. Matt Cahal DB 6-0, 190 lbs. Brophy College Prep, Phoenix, AZ
4.Chris Cicilioni G/DE 6-2, 225 lbs. Valley View HS, Scranton, PA
5. Mark Cieslak LB 5-11, 235 lbs. St. Joseph's HS, Montvale, NJ
6. Andrew Dobitsch, WR 5-11 180 lbs. Northern Valley HS Tappan, NJ
7. Michael Gerst, RB 5-10 190 lbs. Bergen Catholic Bergen County, NJ
8. Scooter Hollis, QB 6-1 175 lbs. Bowling Green HS, Bowling Green, KY
9. Kevin McCarthy, S 6-1 200 lbs. Hingham, HS Hingham. MA
10. Trevor McDonagh, QB 6-3 200 lbs. St. Louis University HS, St. Louis, MO
11. Cameron Molina, RB/LB 5-10, 185 lbs. Tuscarora HS, Leesburg, VA
11.. Daren Napier DT 6-4 275 lbs. St. John's HS Houston, TX
13. Logan Scott QB 6-2 180 lbs. Chaminade HS West Hills, CA
14. Austin Stock, C 6-3 270 lbs. Solon HS Solon, OH
15. Hank Trumbull QB 6-4 210 lbs. Chadwick School Palos Verdes, CA
16. Mike Zunica, FB 6-1 215 lbs. St. Rita HS, Chicago, IL




More on McDonagh

There's so much written and filmed material out there on newly-comitted incoming frosh Trevor McDonagh, I could just post 3-4 links about him per day for a couple of weeks.

But I thought I'd just add a few more for now:

I like his comments in an article published Wednesday afternoon, because I think they tip us off to what kind of offense we'll see at Columbia this fall.

"Their head coach is Pete Mangurian, and their offensive coordinator is Ben McDaniels. Those are the two main guys. The offense they run is perfect for me. It's exactly what I wanted."
Remember, McDonagh is an NFL-style drop back passer. And I'd be shocked if the Lions don't feature an NFL-style offense under Mangurian.

His 2010 highlight video, (see below), was so good, Central Michigan offered him a scholarship right away once the coaches saw it.

And here's a clip from local TV station KSDK previewing McDonagh's senior season at St. Louis University HS.


More on Hollis

Scooter Hollis is also ubiquitous on the web, but here are two of the better clips of him out there:

First, here's a very nice interview with Hollis on local station WBKO in Kentucky.

And I love this nifty highlight below of a 35 yard TD run by Hollis from this past season.

The Spirit of St. Louis

Reese, during his practice squad days with the Jets in 2004



Seeing news of McDonagh's commitment to Columbia followed by the news of the equally highly-rated St, Louis area QB Thomas Mitello going to Dartmouth reminded me of the great Johnathan Resse-Michael Malan rivalry of the late 90's.

Reese and Malan were both running backs at the same time for Mary Institute-St. Louis Country Day School, (the same school where Mitello is from). They had a good rivalry going, and as each looked to outshine the other the team benefitted from their competition.

But their rivalry didn't end after graduation. Reese went on to Columbia where he broke and still holds all the
program's key rushing records.

Malan went to Brown where he also broke several rushing records, (most were later broken by the great Nick Hartigan), and won an Ivy title in 1999.

You can argue that Reese became a bigger star on the Ivy stage, because he meant so much to Columbia while Brown had a lot of other potent offensive weapons.

But I'm sure Reese would be tempted to trade all his records for that Ivy championship and the 4-0 record Malan enjoyed against Columbia.

There's no way to tell if McDonagh, (who hails from MICDS rival St. Louis University HS), and Mitello will ever actually play against one another in the Ivy League.

I would feel a lot more comfortable predicting that if they were both running backs like Reese and Malan; talented running backs are at such a premium in the Ivies that just about every one of them gets a very
good chance to start.

But QB's are much more of a wildcard and there's a much bigger chance neither Mitello nor McDonagh will ever start a game in college.

But if they both do, it would be fun to see what happens.

Really?
A want ad on one of the college football websites for the Harvard
running backs coach position says the job pays $30,000 for the 10
month gig. Really? Is the salary that low? Please tell me that doesn't
include free housing in Cambridge, (because I'd say 10 months rent in
a decent place there is probably worth an additional $20K or $25K).

Demand Down
Something the at least remotely resembles the law of supply and demand
is finally coming to the Ivy League.
Columbia and other top schools say high tuition costs and incredible
admissions requirements have finally resulted in a reduced number of
applications for undergraduate admission.
http://www.businessweek.com/news/2012-01-19/applications-at-top-colleges-retreat-amid-impossible-odds.html
Of course, you have to take that in the context of the fact that last
year applications to Columbia hit an all-time high.

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***REMEMBER Enter the coupon code “ROARLIONS” for a 10% discount off anything on the site!***