Lion Targets
Well, now I have some names of some POSSIBLE incoming freshmen thanks to some of those online scouting websites.
Again, I attribute all this information to Scout.com. MaxPreps.com, ESPN's "Insider" service, and the random voices in my head brought on by having a newborn at home. None of this info came to me via tips or other breaches of NCAA rules.
Rememeber, NONE of the names listed below can be considered "definite" incoming freshmen by any stretch. Many of them are probably just high on our "hoped for" list right now.
Okay, disclaimer over.
Harnish Ayora (CREDIT: Scout.com)
First up is Harnish Ayora, a speedy running back from Arizona. Click here and scroll down to the very bottom for a look at Ayora's eye-popping numbers from his final regular season game.
Next, we have defensive end Julien Buck, a 6"3 defensive lineman from Cambridge Rindge and Latin School in Massachusetts. It looks like Buck had 41 tackles and two sacks in six games this past fall.
WR/DB/KR Davis Burck from Strake Jesuit in Houston, TX caught 15 TD's in his senior season. Check out his highlights here.
Dan Cebula (CREDIT: Rivals.com)
All-purpose back Dan Cebula from Lincoln Way East High School in the Chicago suburb Frankfort Illinois. In 13 games last season, Cebula had 765 yards rushing and 348 yards receiving.
C.J. Croft (CREDIT: Rivals.com)
C.J. Croft is a QB from Ft. Campbell, Kentucky. I've got his picture above, but not his stats.
Chris Garcia is a running back from New Mexico. We've had an eye on him since July.
Ryan Haslett (CREDIT: Rivals.com)
Ryan Haslett is a QB from Holmdel High School in New Jersey.
David Slapyznski is another QB from Fraser, Michigan.
Dan Vanik is a kicker from Catonsville, MD.
Andrew Weiss Revs up the Crowd (CREDIT: Bangor Daily News)
And Andrew Weiss, a quarterback from Rockland, Maine warms my heart because 1) He's from a HS not far from my former, (briefly), home of Bangor, and 2) Because he's secure enough to double as a cheerleader, (see above). Now that takes guts!
posted by Jake @ 10:01:00 PM
10 comments
10 Comments:
There are numerous other players who have been listed in Rivals.com and/or Scout.com as being interested in Columbia. Same thing for all of the Ivies and every other Division I-AA school in America. It seems to me that many more top players have expressed an interest in Columbia than in prior years. You can find some of the Rivals.com names, Jake, by going to Rivals.com and clicking a few buttons. Some of the others take more effort. You have to go to the Rivals.com website for example, of Stanford, and then hit the list of recruits and you will find the names of the kids, their height, weight, etc., and the colleges that they are interested in attending in addition to Stanford. In some cases the player's GPA and SAT and ACT scores are shown. Thousands of people look at this information on line, daily, including, I assume, many Ivy League coaches, players and fans.
Go to insider-espn.go.com/recruiting/tracker and guess what all eleven kids you mentioned this morning are listed as possible Columbia recruits. Amazing!
The official Dartmouth site has an article about D's early admits, with comments from Teevens and stats. If that's allowable, perhaps our coaches could do the same.
Dr. V
Well, having just watched the Lions blunder to a victory over winless NJIT, it doesn't look as if we're quite ready to challenge for an Ivy title. Not without a lot more practice, anyway. The Highlanders simply cannot shoot even semi-reliably from anywhere farther than 5 feet away from the basket. They're also, as someone remarked, "quite hacky." But they remained game this afternoon for most of the 2nd half.
The worst thing was one NJIT fan who positively reveled in 2 Columbia injuries (several fans asked him to shut up, he only did so when he realized the male CU fans asking him to do so were bigger than him), one of which to Joe Bova may be serious. He was flat on his back for 5 minutes and left the court in obviously great pain and spent the last 9 or so minutes on his back again on the sidelines being worked on by a trainer.
More bad news: Patrick Foley, who did not play, has supposedly re-injured his shoulder and may be out for the season. And K.J. Matsui was absent, reportedly bed-ridden with the flu. Yes, this game brought the Lions to 7-8, but0-18 NJIT is simply Wagner without much shooting ability and some utterly useless big men. (We mean you, No. 35, Nesho Milosevic from Montenegro.)
A few bright spots: John Baumann hustled as ever and rebounded well, even if he didn't score much. Mack Montgomery scored, passed and rebounded well, the last few games he finally seems rejuvenated and we definitely need him to stay at this level. Niko Scott and Bret LoScalzo scored when necessary and, of all people, Kashif Sweet took the ball upcourt pretty well when given his extensive chances in this game.
NJIT faces Cornell Tuesday night, and somehow I doubt they'll throw as much of a scare into the Big Red as they seemingly did at times into Columbia. Both teams also shot very badly in the first half. Count this one as a Pyrrhic victory at best, coming at the worst possible time as Ivy play begins next Saturday.
rs
I know the league may be down as a whole but I still can't see the Lions as a legitimate threat for the league title. The guard play is just not strong enough. We don't have one guard that can break down a defender that's putting good ball pressure on and get into the l5 foot area for a jumper or to draw defenders from underneath and make a good dish or continue to the rim and draw fouls. Good scorers draw fouls and we have a lot of stand around the perimeter shooters that can't get their shot off against good pressure defense. Our overall ballhandling against pressure d is also not very good. We would have to have about three reliable long distance shooters to compensate and we haven't had that either. I look for no better than a 6 spot in league.
Mack Montgomery is the sole exception. He is certainly capable of breaking down any defender in the Ivy League. However, for whatever reason, he only seems to play 20-25 minutes a game and takes very few shots. Even with the injuries to Armstrong, Bova and Foley, we will have a successful Ivy League season if Mack, KJ and Nico and Kevin Bulger step up their point production and everyone else stays healthy. If Joe Bova is seriously injured, then Coach Jones will have to play freshman Ansenso Ampim immediately up front along with Jason Miller, whenever John and Ben come out of the game.
Evan Miller, St. X, Cinci, LB, a Lion commit, according to local newspaper.
http://frontier.cincinnati.com/blogs/preps/2008/01/st-x-players-commit.asp
Another outstanding recruit for Columbia. Evan Miller was one of the leading tacklers on another great St. Xavier team that was ranked #1 in the State of Ohio. From what I've read the last few months he's a tremendous linebacker and pass rusher.I assume that Evan is Lou Miller's younger brother. Congratulaions and best wishes to Evan and the entire Miller Family on his becoming a Columbia Lion!
Is Jerry Bell, around Corpus Cristi, TX, a Lion target?
Bell passed for 4,021 yards this season and 40 touchdowns. Ray HS, I think.
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