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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,
His highlight video is here.
Texas Treasure
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:
You know, there's an uncanny similarity here!
Ardron should feel RIGHT at home!
8 comments:
According to his write up, Davison looks like he is Ready for prime time. Sub 4.5 40s and impressive weight training numbers. What if anything am I missing here? Could he be a bigger Des Werthman?
Interesting article in the sports section of today's NY Times on Sean Ryan, the Giant's receivers coach- tells how he developed as a coach by being honed in Ivy League recruiting battles while at Harvard- had also been at Columbia for a few years before going to Harvard.
It looks like we have still another outstanding recruit from Texas, namely Travis Reim of Cedar Park High School in Cedar Park, Texas. Reim, was a 1st Team All-District 25 Cornerback and 2nd Team, Class 4A Academic All-State. He also plays safety, punt returner and kick returner. Lots of highlight film on the web--terrific athlete.
Any notes on Signing Day ???
Voyforums lists 26, including a few new names. Missing are any jumbo sized OLs. Que pasa?
Last year we seemed to recruit several "big guys" for the O-line .... we ARE lean on OL this year .... though I have to admit, Coach M seems to have recruited a few gems ... I'll keep my fingers crossed for a couple of big lineman for the final 7 ....
Coach Mangurian is apparently into BMI numbers and doesn't want OLs who are carrying excess weight. Certainly having an OL last year which averaged close to 300 pounds didn't give us much of a running game, and in fact the pass pro wasn't that hot either. My guess is that he has different objectives in mind interns of the type of O lineman he wants to recruit. I don't think that Norries was into BMI, but that's just an inference that I have drawn.
Size is not be all end all when it comes to O linemen. I'll take a little lighter and more athletic line any day.
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