Hurt's So Good

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A little more now on last night’s late add to our incoming list, J.D. Hurt from St. Anthony’s HS on Long Island.

Amazingly, Hurt is the first St. A's player to join Columbia football in 15 years, (the last one was Brian
Gordon ’01, a  VERY GOOD OL who started all four years at Columbia).

I say “amazing,” but it’s really a shame that we haven’t been able to snag someone from that school in Columbia’s, (and my), backyard.

St. Anthony’s is not as good a football program as Bergan Catholic or Don Bosco, but it’s damn good and it’s just too close to our campus to not even get one recruit in a decade and a half.

Let’s hope a pipeline can be established from now on.

By the way, the best St. Anthony’s grad to play football at Columbia was probably Len Genova ’85.

He was an All-Ivy offensive lineman during the John Witkowski years and was a big reason why Witkowski didn’t spend the better part of three seasons on his back.

Hurt could be the next Genova given his weight and quickness. Genova, like Hurt, was an All Catholic League defensive end at St. A’s and like Genova he may be asked to switch to the O-line.


Keefe Video

Last month, when I reported that Max Keefe, brother of rising sophomore WR John Keefe, had committed to Columbia I did not have his latest highlight video.

Here is the link to that now.

Keefe's weight is also now listed at 200 lbs.


Molina's Signing Pic

I love publishing the pictures of the incoming freshmen "signing" their letters of intent, (no, the Ivies don't have a real letter, but it's a great ceremony), with their parents looking on.

Here's RB Cameron Molina doing that earlier this week in Virginia:

And here is the updated list of our 28 confirmed incoming freshmen:

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. Chris Connors WR 6-1 205 lbs. St. Edward HS Lakewood, OH
8. Alec Davison LB 6-1 243 lbs. Clement HS Sugarland, TX
9. Andrew Dobitsch WR 5-11 180 lbs. Northern Valley HS Tappan, NJ
10. Nick Durham DE/TE 6-4 228 lbs. Bishop Fenwick HS Franklin, Ohio
11. Josh Foster DB 5-11 170 lbs. Delran HS Delran, NJ
12. Michael Gerst RB 5-10 190 lbs. Bergen Catholic Bergen County, NJ
13. Scooter Hollis QB 6-1 175 lbs. Bowling Green HS Bowling Green, KY
14. J.D. Hurt DE 6-2 270 lbs. St. Anthony's HS  Melville, NY
15. Max Keefe S 6-2 200 lbs. Choctawatchee HS  Fort Walton, FL
16. Brett Leatherwood OL 6-0 220 lbs. Anderson HS Austin, TX
17. Kevin McCarthy, S 6-1 200 lbs. Hingham, HS Hingham. MA
18. Trevor McDonagh, QB 6-3 200 lbs. St. Louis University HS St. Louis, MO
19. Cameron Molina, RB/LB 5-10, 185 lbs. Tuscarora HS Leesburg, VA
20. Daren Napier DT 6-4 275 lbs. St. John's HS Houston, TX
21. Niko Padilla, DT 6-2, 280 lbs. Parish Episcopal School Dallas, TX
22. Darin Patmon S 6-1 180 lbs. Land O'Lakes HS Land O'Lakes, FL
23. Travis Reim DB 6-1 185 lbs. Cedar Park HS Cedar Park, TX
24. Logan Scott QB 6-2 180 lbs. Chaminade HS West Hills, CA
25. Austin Stock, C 6-3 270 lbs. Solon HS Solon, OH
26. Hank Trumbull QB 6-4 210 lbs. Chadwick School Palos Verdes, CA
27. Julian Vigil DB 5-10 170 lbs. Mullen HS Denver, CO
28. Mike Zunica, FB 6-1 215 lbs. St. Rita HS Chicago, IL

Food for Thought

I write a lot about priorities on this blog when it comes to college choices for graduating high school athletes.

But maybe all the things I say about education and better opportunities are all wrong.

Maybe I should be focusing more on food.

Fast food.

Check out this story about the top-rated high school recruit who spurned offers from Clemson when he didn’t see a Chick-fil-A anywhere near campus!

Priorities people!

Incidentally, there IS a Chick-fil-A in Manhattan near NYU. So a 20 minute subway ride is all it will take for any Chick-fil-A fix our athletes might need this season.