Monday, January 30, 2012

Texas Twosome and One from Florida!




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We have two more incoming freshmen to tell you about this morning and they're both from Texas.

6-2 280 lbs. DL Niko Padilla, A Rivals.com 2-Star athlete has decommitted from Central Arkansas and is coming to Columbia. He made his new verbal commitment Sunday.

Niko comes from the Parish Episcopal School in Dallas, TX and is the first ever documented player from there to join the Lion program.

His senior year highlight video is below.




In addition to his football accolades, Padilla is a top academic student.

And check out Niko, #52, on the cover of Vype High School Sports magazine this past September:




In addition to the attention from Central Arkansas, Yale heavily recruited Padilla as well.

But all is not lost in New Haven.

The Portal 31 Yale blog reports that Ryan Dillard, a defensive back out of Buford (Ga.) High has switched his commitment from Air Force to Yale, citing an Atlanta Journal Constitutiuon blog entry.

More on Yale later...


Trevor checks it out

Texas Bell

Our second Texas incoming frosh for today is 5-7, 190 lbs. WR Trevor Bell from Hamshire-Fannette HS in Hamshire, TX. He's the first-ever documented Hamshire-Fannett player to join the CU football program.

Bell is a super speedy player who will also play on the CU track and field team.

And he's also a top-notch student with a 3.9 GPA.

Check out his highlight video below and you'll see he has another gear with his 4.4 40-yard dash speed:






And we also have a safety from Head Coach Pete Mangurian's old stomping grounds of Tampa, FL.

Darin Patmon is a 6-1, 185 pound safety.

His highlight reel is below:




So here is our list of 20 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. Trevor Bell WR/KR 5-7, 190 lbs. Hamshire-Fannett HS Hamshire, TX
4. Matt Cahal DB 6-0, 190 lbs. Brophy College Prep, Phoenix, AZ
5.Chris Cicilioni G/DE 6-2, 225 lbs. Valley View HS, Scranton, PA
6. Mark Cieslak LB 5-11, 235 lbs. St. Joseph's HS, Montvale, NJ
7. Andrew Dobitsch WR 5-11 180 lbs. Northern Valley HS Tappan, NJ
8. Michael Gerst RB 5-10 190 lbs. Bergen Catholic Bergen County, NJ

9. Scooter Hollis QB 6-1 175 lbs. Bowling Green HS, Bowling Green, KY
10. Max Keefe S 6-2 195 lbs. Choctawatchee HS, Fort Walton, FL

11 Kevin McCarthy, S 6-1 200 lbs. Hingham, HS Hingham. MA
12. Trevor McDonagh, QB 6-3 200 lbs. St. Louis University HS, St. Louis, MO

13. Cameron Molina, RB/LB 5-10, 185 lbs. Tuscarora HS, Leesburg, VA
14.. Daren Napier DT 6-4 275 lbs. St. John's HS Houston, TX
15. Niko Padilla, DT 6-2, 280 lbs. Parish Episcopal School Dallas, TX

16. Darin Patmon S 6-1 180 lbs. Land O'Lakes HS,
17. Logan Scott QB 6-2 180 lbs. Chaminade HS West Hills, CA
18. Austin Stock, C 6-3 270 lbs. Solon HS Solon, OH

19. Hank Trumbull QB 6-4 210 lbs. Chadwick School Palos Verdes, CA
20. Mike Zunica, FB 6-1 215 lbs. St. Rita HS Chicago, IL



Reno Renegs


Meanwhile, new Yale Head Coach Tony Reno has reportedly pulled at least two offers from players who had received invites to join the Elis from the Tom Williams coaching staff.


That's a tough choice, but maybe the Lions will want to take a long look at these guys to see if they'd make super-motivated new Columbians this fall?


One of them is Sean Marinan from Xavier HS in Connecticut. He's the son of the head coach at Xavier, and that might make for a great new relationship between our program and that school.
Levin Explainer

One reader asks that we back of Yale President Richrad Levin regarding the Patrick Witt scandal.

While I appreciate the sentiment and the wisdowm behind not celebrating the troubles of others, I do think it's important to note that Levin is not simply a problem for Yale athletics.

He has been a tireless enemy of Ivy football in particular and has been an especially effective foe of increased marketing for the league.

When you see those reduced attendance numbers league-wide, remember that Levin has made it harder for each of the schools to combat this trend properly.

And so THAT's why I want him off our backs.



2 comments:

lionrock said...

Three terrific recruits for the Lions. Niko Padilla is rated as the 81st best defensive tackle in the country. His highlight film shows him to be a big, strong player with outstanding mobility. Trevor Bell is a great pick-up by the new coaching staff. Wish we had him last year. He is a playmaker, who is a threat to score whenever he has the ball. He has 4.42 speed, but what is amazing is that he can high jump six foot six and triple jump 47'4. Whoever found him deserves a medal. Finally, Darin Patmon, is obviously one of those "under the radar" guys as he only received one scholarship offer and that from Division II--Nebraska Kearney. But his film shows him as an excellent defender, who hits hard and has very good speed. And, finally, we have someone with the quick acceleration and size to block punts.

Anonymous said...

As I had suspected, Patmon was hurt part of his senior season, which explains why he may have been under the radar. Padilla looks/plays like the kind of guy you'd want on your side.
-Dr.V