Thursday, February 2, 2012

Signing Day Deluge




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Whomever is recruiting the state of Texas for us deserves a medal.

Yet ANOTHER Texas player committed to Columbia yesterday: 6-1 185 pound DB/KR Travis Reim from Cedar Park HS.

His highlight video is below:




Reim was a 1st Team All District DB his last two seasons at Cedar Park, which is just northwest of Austin.

Reim would be the first ever documented Cedar Park alum to play football for the Lions.

Another Texan on his way to Morningside Heights is  6-0 220 pound OL/DE Brett Leatherwood from Anderson HS in Austin.

Brett Leatherwood was a 1st Team All District player at guard this past season.

His highlight video is below:



And listen to this interview with Leatherwood and one of his teammates to find out how serious they still are about football in Texas.

Leatherwood would be the first player from Anderson HS to join the Lion program.

He brings the number of incoming frosh from Texas to six… with room for a few more to come.

There are just six Texans on the varsity roster as of now, so an additional six would be a major boost.

Durham on His Way

Ohio is making a nice statement in this recruiting class as well. The latest Buckeye is 6-4 228 pound DE/TE
Nick Durham from Bishop Fenwick HS about halfway between Cincinnati and Dayton.

Durham is a 2-star ESPN recruit with a scout’s grade of 74.

His highlight video is below:




Durham would be the first documented Bishop Fenwick grad to play Columbia football.

Denver DB

And Colorado makes an appearance on the incoming list. 5-10 170 pound DB Julian Vigil from Mullen HS in Denver has committed to Columbia.

Mullen won the Colorado state championship three of his four years at the school.

Vigil is the second documented Mullen grad to play Columbia footbal after Mike Martinic ‘00.

Here is a link to Julian Vigil's highlight reel.

So here is our list of 27 (!) 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. 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. Max Keefe S 6-2 195 lbs. Choctawatchee HS, Fort Walton, FL

15. Brett Leatherwood OL 6-0 220 lbs. Anderson HS Austin, TX
16. Kevin McCarthy, S 6-1 200 lbs. Hingham, HS Hingham. MA
17. Trevor McDonagh, QB 6-3 200 lbs. St. Louis University HS, St. Louis, MO

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

21. Darin Patmon S 6-1 180 lbs. Land O'Lakes HS Tampa, FL
22. Travis Reim DB 6-1 185 lbs. Cedar Park HS Cedar Park, TX
23. Logan Scott QB 6-2 180 lbs. Chaminade HS West Hills, CA
24. Austin Stock, C 6-3 270 lbs. Solon HS Solon, OH

25. Hank Trumbull QB 6-4 210 lbs. Chadwick School Palos Verdes, CA
26. Julian Vigil DB 5-10 170 lbs. Mullen HS Denver, CO
27. Mike Zunica, FB 6-1 215 lbs. St. Rita HS Chicago, IL



Gerst Gears Up

And here is a picture of Michael Gerst, younger brother of rising senior Nick Gerst, at the
letter of intent signing ceremony at Bergen Catholic:





Incoming and Outgoing

The number of players who have officially left the team since the new year is up to six.

The latest to go is rising sophomore Tyler Hamblin.

And I have to say I was surprised to see him go considering the amazing achievements he already had under his belt before he even came to Columbia.

Percee's Pen

Another rising sophomore, QB Percee Goings, sounds like he’s sticking around.

He had an article in yesterday's Washington Post writing about what his year has been like since he committed to Columbia.


Niko’s Story

Getting back to Texas... here is that great article about incoming frosh Niko Padilla that the Dallas
Morning News
promised us earlier this week.

Once again, Padilla’s story is proof of how football recruiting far outpaces politically-charged diversity programs on campus.

Padilla is one of many footballers being honored for their achievements in the classroom and on the field, not just someone who is being labeled as a victim or the son of victims.

What a great story for him and his mom!

10 comments:

Old Lion said...

This looks like a very athletic class with a lot of strength at the skill positions. I saw that Reno has disinvited some Yale recruits who were actually early admits. I hope that we didn't do anything like that. My only question about this class is whether we are going to have enough size on the OL and DL in a year or two.

Pantone278 said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Anonymous said...

Whoa Pantone, I really feel sorry for you. You appear so racially wounded that Jake's comment and continuing assertion that footnall and athletic recruiting achieves better success than Affirmative Action makes you basically call him a Klansman.

Look at how much more successful all the ex-football players of all races are than their non-athlete counterparts at Columbia. Rewarding kids who have honed a skill is what we should be all about.

You accuse Jake of lacking common sense, but I contend it is you who is so racially obsessed and you who is so looking for a fight that you have lost more than common sense... You've lost decency.

RedTiger61 said...

Changing the subject .... I've thought a bit about the recruiting that Coach M has done so far ... in a previous post, I joined the chorus that we needed to see a few big O-linemen .... then, I asked myself "does it seem like he's recruited a talented class ?" .... I think the answer to that is YES .... I have faith that he'll do an even better job next year .... after the recruiting is done, he needs to keep working with the guys on campus, and "selling" them on his program, then the 30 days of practice in the Spring .... I can't wait for the Spring Game to see how they look ....

Anonymous said...

... any news on the transfer ?

Anonymous said...

According to footballscoop.com Matt Thurin is becoming the special teams coach.

lionrock said...

Very nice article by staff writer, Rick Cassano in today's Middletown, Ohio journal on the Bishop Fenwick signings, and particularly, our incoming tight end, Nick Durham. Aside from being a terrific football player, Durham has a 4.2 GPA and scored 35 on his ACT.





http://www.middletownjournal.com/middletown-sports/high-school-sports/fenwick/fenwick-athletes-commit-to-colleges-1322356.html

Anonymous said...

Just need a few more talented offensive linemen to round out an outstanding incoming freshman class.

Anonymous said...

Anyone know when Spring Game is?

Anonymous said...

The transfer is coming from a college in Texas. That is all I know. The kids on the team know all about it.