Super Schools

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A Little More on Ramljak

Newly-committed OL Keith Ramljak come to us from Westlake High School, which should not be confused with the Harvard-Westlake School which is the premier prep school in Los Angeles and has sent a handful of players  to Columbia over the years.

But Westlake HS is a public school founded in 1979. In that short time it has established a nice list of very good athletes as alumni. They include US Soccer sensations Cobi Jones and Eric Wynalda, retired Major League Baseball All Star catcher Mike Lieberthal, and about five NFL players.

Local New York area fans may remember Westlake alum Matt Franco who was an explosive clutch pinch hitter for the Mets in the late 90’s.

 

 

No Change

It’s been about two weeks, but now departed WR coach and recruiting coordinator Aaron Smith remains on the "coaches" page on the Columbia football website… which is annoying for all of us who want to see some news on Smith’s replacement.

High School Excellence

Obviously, the lists aren’t complete just yet, but we’re seeing a good deal of schools sending more than one player to play Ivy League football this fall.

So far, three Columbia incoming players have current high school teammates heading to other Ivies:

LB Mark Cieslak from St. Joseph’s in NJ is currently in school with Chris Stapleton a DB/WR headed for Penn.

RB Mike Zunica from St. Rita’s HS in Chicago is in the same class with incoming Penn DB Max Krucar.

And D-lineman J.D. Hurt’s teammate from Long Island’s St. Anthony’s High School Pat McHugh is going to Yale.

I think it’s time to recognize the high schools that have been good enough athletically and academically to send multiple graduates in the same year to the Ancient Eight.

Again, everyone should recognize how hard it is to achieve this.

Any school can have great students.

Any school can have great athletes.

Combining the two is hard enough… combining the two AND helping those scholar-athletes realize how much it’s worth to go to an Ivy school as opposed to quitting serious football or serious academics is another thing entirely.

Schools like Saint Anthony’s, Saint Rita’s and Saint Joseph’s take a lot of ribbing for being too crazed about sports sometimes.

But the proof that these schools have their priorities straight is right here in black and white.

Log in tomorrow for a complete list of ALL the high schools sending multiple players to Ivy football programs with the class of 2016.

Huh?

Here's a little chuckle from The Times-Leader in Scranton-Wilkes Barre:

The article features Columbia wrestler Jake O'Hara, but states in the lead that he is a student at "The Uniiversity of Columbia."

Does the #1 train go to Bogota?