***REMEMBER Enter the coupon code “ROARLIONS” for a 10% discount off anything on the site!***
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.
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.
This is a very key coaching job considering some of the chronic problems the special teams have had in recent years.
Matt played football at Berea College, where the Cleveland Browns train.
Believe the Hype!
At this time last year, we only knew about 14 incoming players.
Today we've doubled that.
A big reason why, in my opinion, is that new Head Coach Pete Mangurian is not being overly sensitive about secrecy like his predecessor.
He may not be P.T. Barnum, but Mangurian seems to get the idea that this sport and these players need to be promoted much more in the media and among the fans.
Why do I make such a big deal about the incoming freshmen?
Beacuse while being recruited and accepted to play football in the Ivies is not the be all and end all of life, it should be at least briefly celebrated the way we do it here on Roar Lions Roar and other web sites.
And for those who say they don’t like hype, it’s been noted on some other sites than many of the people who decry recruit hype are also the people openly wondering why there aren’t more people in the stands
at Ivy football games!
In this world, things need to be promoted.
That’s true even when people are already hyped up about something like the latest iPhone or iPad.
That’s why even Apple has an advertising budget even though it probably gets about $1 billion in free advertising every year on TV news programs alone.
If you’re sitting around watching the Super Bowl this Sunday with a bunch of friends and they ask you about Columbia football or even if they don’t, do Columbia, the Ivies, and yourself a favor and talk up Lion football.
Tell them about how there are plenty of non-thug footballers out there who work hard and play for the love of the game.
Tell them they can see these kids every fall for $10 a game and not worry that they have just subsidized a steroid operation or worse.
And tell them about how proud each parent of every player was at every signing ceremony this week where they saw their children being honored for their brains and athleticism.
And then challenge them to never complain about all the attention the factories like LSU and Alabama get until they try watching college football being played by actual collegians.
Do that for me, will you?
Offensive Holes?
A lot of readers are wondering aloud if the recruiting class this year is dangerously too thin in the offensive linemen category.
I’d like to calm down about this and just say that Coach Mangurian is coming off years as an offensive line coach himself and could never let this position slide too far out of mind.
But we said similar things about Norries Wilson who had been an All Big 10 O-lineman himself.
Still, I remain hopeful that some of the remaining unknown incoming frosh will be great offensive linemen and that Coach Mangurian has a strong plan to get the most of what we have coming back at the position.
Less is More
More and more sources confirm the theme I began to write about a few weeks ago: Coach Mangurian wants a leaner and meaner roster.
Team strength is a major issue and Mangurian is overhauling the weight training program right now.
But he also needs to weed out the players who won’t be good enough no matter what technique or training they endure.
The prospect of coaching 70 or so of the toughest players as opposed to 110 guys with varying skill levels is certainly attractive. But Mangurian knows he won’t be able to strip away the chaff quite so
easily.
But this policy is likely to be reinforced during spring practice, which is just a mere two months away.
Some of the players will surely file into those April practice sessions looking a bit rusty, and perhaps wondering if the continued effort is worth it.
All of us here would probably say it is worth it, but that’s easy for us to say.
My only word of caution on this strategy for Mangurian is to remind him that it will take time before he can really get that perfect balance of quality and quantity on the team. I know he knows this, but it’s a fact he’ll have to keep at the forefront of his mind at all times.
But the ax is falling my friends and the key will be making sure the fallout doesn’t result in a lot of people overreacting to a coach who’s simply looking to employ some tough love on on the program.
Football is Good
Rising senior Alec Kosminskas’ dad Mark wrote this very good op-ed piece in the Chicago Tribune this week denouncing a bad decision to cancel football at a local community college.
Here are some key quotes:
“Nearly 100 young men voluntarily walked through Harper College's doors and signed up for classes. That's raw material to work with. The task of Mr. Ender's institution is to do something with them. Who cares if they enrolled principally to play football? Once they enroll, the college has a shot at educating them and propelling them to college or a career.”
And
“There is now a real shortage of males attending college. By 2013, estimates are that women will make up 57 percent of college students and by 2019, that ratio jumps to 59 percent. For African-Americans, that ratio is even worse. Why shut down a conduit for dozens of males to attend college? If love of football is the lure that gets these kids to advance their education, so be it.”
***REMEMBER Enter the coupon code “ROARLIONS” for a 10% discount off anything on the site!***
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.
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.
***REMEMBER Enter the coupon code “ROARLIONS” for a 10% discount off anything on the site!***
It's National Signing Day, and even though the Ivy League does not use letters of intent, the event clearly is forcing the decision issue for several of our recruits.
Three more players committed to Columbia yesterday.
Let's start with one from Ohio.
Longtime readers know how much I like those Catholic High School football players from the Midwest... especially Ohio.
So I got a present today.
6-1, 205 pound WR Chris Connors has committed to Columbia.
Connors was a standout on the St. Edward HS team in Lakewood, OH just outside of Cleveland.
St. Edward is a very serious high school program that plays other national powers like Don Bosco, St. Xavier, and St. Ignatius.
In Connors' junior season of 2010, the Eagles won the Ohio state championship and had an undefeated season.
At least six Columbia players have come from St. Edward, but no one since Dave Fuerst way back from the class of 1982.
Connors had other offers, including Holy Cross, U. of Dayton, Bryant and Duquesne,
Next up, we have a big and fast linebacker from Texas who has been rated as high as a three-star recruit by some of the online evaluators.
Alec Davison from Clements HS in Sugarland, TX goes 6-1 and now weighs 243 lbs.
ESPN gave him a grade of 77 and ranked him as the 30th best inside linebacker in the nation.
His highlght video is below:
Alec is the first ever documented Clements player to join the Columbia football program.
He had offers from Air Force and Rice.
Philly Flyer
Finally we have Josh Foster, a 5-11 170 pound DB from Delran HS in New Jersey, (a Philadelphia suburb).
His highlight video is below:
So here is our list of 23 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. Josh Foster DB 5-11 170 lbs. Delran HS Delran, NJ 11. Michael Gerst RB 5-10 190 lbs. Bergen Catholic Bergen County, NJ 12. Scooter Hollis QB 6-1 175 lbs. Bowling Green HS, Bowling Green, KY
13. Max Keefe S 6-2 195 lbs. Choctawatchee HS, Fort Walton, FL 14 Kevin McCarthy, S 6-1 200 lbs. Hingham, HS Hingham. MA
15. Trevor McDonagh, QB 6-3 200 lbs. St. Louis University HS, St. Louis, MO 16. Cameron Molina, RB/LB 5-10, 185 lbs. Tuscarora HS, Leesburg, VA
17. Daren Napier DT 6-4 275 lbs. St. John's HS Houston, TX
18. Niko Padilla, DT 6-2, 280 lbs. Parish Episcopal School Dallas, TX 19. Darin Patmon S 6-1 180 lbs. Land O'Lakes HS, 20. Logan Scott QB 6-2 180 lbs. Chaminade HS West Hills, CA
21. Austin Stock, C 6-3 270 lbs. Solon HS Solon, OH 22. Hank Trumbull QB 6-4 210 lbs. Chadwick School Palos Verdes, CA 23. Mike Zunica, FB 6-1 215 lbs. St. Rita HS Chicago, IL
Dinner Details
Last night was the official welcome dinner for new Head Coach Pete Mangurian. I hope to get some details on the dinner and post them here in the coming days.
New LB Coach Mike Cooke has been named the new linbackers coach for the Lions.
Cooke worked with defensive coordinator Kevin Lempa at Central Connecticut so I think it's safe to assume this is a Lempa-initiated hire.
Cooke's last year as a player at CCSU was in 2008, so he missed playing against Columbia in the one and only game between the two teams in 2009.
I like the fact that Cooke is a NYC product. He graduated from the generically-named Campus Magnet HS in Queens and was an All City player there during his senior season.
While the quality and fundamentals of football are not so strong in the NYC Public School Athletic League, there are some very good athletes there who could develop into football superstars.
Monmouth on the horizon
Columbis will play Monmouth in a home-and-home series beginning in 2013.
Ardron Speaks Out
Incoming frosh Jacob Ardron and his fellow Diamond Ranch teammates realize football is a means to an end and not the end.
Speaking of Diamond Ranch, get a load of this picture of the school here:
If the building looks familiar, you've probably seen the Diamond Ranch campus in one or more of the many movies and TV shows where it's been used because of it's very unique look.
I wonder what Ardron will think of the new Campbell Center in comparison:
