Tuesday, May 22, 2012

Quaker Class



Cameron Countryman






Penn has added the names of its incoming freshmen to its roster page. Here they are:



 Miles BartholomewOL6-4270Fr.Fredonia, N.Y. (Saint Francis)
  Nolan BiegelLB6-2225Fr.Huntington Beach, Calif. (Huntington Beach)
  Dan ConnaughtonDL6-3270Fr.Lincoln, Mass. (Buckingham Browne and Nichols)
  Cameron CountrymanWR6-0180Fr.Santa Clara, Calif. (Beverly Hills)
  Trent DenningtonDB6-0200Fr.Colleyville, Texas (Colleyville Heritage)
  Ian DobbinsDB5-11185Fr.Belle Vernon, Pa. (Belle Vernon Area)
  Tyler DrakeDE6-2215Fr.Plantation, Fla. (St. Thomas Aquinas)
  Michael ElespuruRB6-0195Fr.San Clemente, Calif. (San Clemente)
  Jimmy GammillK/P6-1180Fr.New Albany, Ohio (New Albany)
  Ryan KellyTE6-4215Fr.Villanova, Pa. (Harriton)
  Max KurucarDB6-0175Fr.Oak Lawn, Ill. (St. Rita)
  Luke LeshinskyOL6-4265Fr.Livingston, N.J. (Livingston)
  Andrew LisaQB6-2200Fr.Moorestown, N.J. (Moorestown)
  Daniil LysenkoOL6-3290Fr.Arlington, Texas (Arlington)
  Jack MaddenWR6-1220Fr.Boulder, Colo. (Fairview)
  Alex MatthewsQB6-3205Fr.Lake Oswego, Ore. (Lake Oswego)
  Dylan MuscatDB6-0185Fr.Santa Monica, Calif. (Santa Monica)
  Lukas NossemDE6-3225Fr.Munster, Ind. (Munster)
  Tyler RothLB6-1210Fr.Bloomfield Hills, Mich. (Lahser)
  Cassius SimpsonWR6-2185Fr.Denver, Colo. (Lakewood)
  Christian StapletonWR6-2190Fr.Ho-Ho-Kus, N.J. (Saint Joseph Regional)
  Jack StibichLB6-1215Fr.Western Springs, Ill. (Fenwick)
  Austin TapsDL6-3245Fr.Mahopac, N.Y. (Archbishop Stepinac)
  Tanner ThextonDL6-5240Fr.Somerville, N.J. (Somerville)
  Kenny ThomasWR6-1180Fr.Laurel, Md. (Atholton)

Jack YorkOL6-2260Fr.Paradise Valley, Ariz. (Notre Dame Prep)


Here are a couple of facts that jump out at me: 

-Only ONE RB in the class! For a team that has avoided the problems of injuries and depth by recruiting as many tailbacks as possible in recents years, it's a real surprise to see just one RB in the class of 2016. Am I crazy to think a transfer is in the works at this position?

-DT Dan Connaughton from Buckingham, Browne and Nichols seems to be the prize of this Quaker class. He's a big, mean looking kid at a position that continues to frazzle Ivy League recruiters. 

-A lot of the pundits are very high on WR Cameron Countryman from Beverly Hills HS. And rightfully so. He's super fast and was offered scholarships at Colorado, Arizona State, and others. He could have an impact right away, except there's one problem: Penn QB Billy Ragone is just not a big time passer. Countryman may have to wait a year or two, (Ragone can go for a 5th year if he chooses), before he really gets the numbers he deserves. 

-The Penn commits I know Columbia went after were Thexton and Muscat, but I'm sure there were many more. 

Penn doesn't usually rely on freshmen to make even small contributions to the varsity, and there's little about this recruiting class that leads me to believe they'll be an exception. 

3 comments:

Old Lion said...

I think our incoming class compares very favorably to the Penn class. Coach M is very high on our incoming DBs, for example, and we have a couple of potential studs on the and at LB who compare favorably to anybody Penn has recruited. I am more interested in the recruiting wars we won against Bags than those we lost. M

Anonymous said...

I certainly agree with the Old Lion's comments. I really don't care which players might have chosen Penn over Columbia. I am more interested in knowing which of our guys selected Columbia over Penn. In that respect, I have read that at least two new Lions, quarterback,Trevor McDonagh, and linebacker, Jake Ardron, did just that. I also wouldn't trade any of our incoming defensive linemen for any of the Penn newcomers. As far as Countryman is concerned, he has received rave reviews from some prognosticators, but I like our guys too.

CULionPride said...

I believe that Coach M and his assistant coaches are attracting these student athletes to Columbia in a much different manner than has been done before. He has embraced being in New York for college, increased the enthusiasm for the program among the recruiting hosts, and as he said been to places Columbia did not recruit beore. He is convincing these young men that wakeup call is at least 4:15am to catch a bus at 4:45am. Quite a feat.