3 New Names
Buckingham, Browne & Nichols: a new Lion pipeline?
As we get closer to "National Signing Day," (February 4), our list of reported incoming freshmen continues to grow.
Remember, Ivy recruits don't actually "sign" anything, but with all the D-1A recruits signing the national letter of intent by the 5th, the recruits for other schools often start making their verbal commitments.
The headline name for today, (in my opinion), is the very promising offensive guard Xander Frantz from Buckingham Browne & Nichols H. S. That's the same high school that sent us current rising sophomore Nico Papas and another incoming freshman, Steven Grassa. (But we did lose out on getting BB&N QB Mike DiChiara, who has chosen Cornell).
Frantz is graded highly by scouts who expect him to excel on the offensive line, despite the fact that he played on the defensive line as well in high school.
It would appear that Nico Papas' father John has become a good ally for Columbia recruiters. John Papas is the head coach at Buckingham Browne & Nichols.
Scott Ward
Another offensive lineman bound for Morningside Heights is Newport Harbor High School's Scott Ward. Ward is 6"7 and 241 pounds, so he may need to bulk up, but that's a great frame to work with. Ward's commitment has been reported here OCVarsity.com, a very good web site.
Andrew McHugh
Finally, we have Andrew McHugh, an outside linebacker at Saint John's Prep. School in Massachusetts. McHugh is a native of Swampscott, MA, which was also the hometown of Columbia great Greg Abbruzzese '92.
And Check This Out!
A reader has passed along this link to a video featuring an amazing one-handed grab by incoming freshman wide receiver Price Pinkerton. Pretty amazing.
posted by Jake @ 8:38:00 PM
7 comments
7 Comments:
Xander Frantz is a terrific offensive guard who will open some big holes for the Lion runners. Scott Ward is a solid prospect with the size to be an outstanding offensive tackle in the Ivy League. His weight is not a major concern. College coaches would rather recruit a 6'7" guy to play offensive tackle than a shorter guy regardless of weight. Anyway, he's coming to the food capital of the world so he can bulk up pretty easily. Andrew McHugh is also a very promising recruit from a good high school program in Massachusetts where he was undoubtedly very well coached. Finally, I did view that cool video of Price Pinkerton making a one-hand catch and then running away from his defender. A catch like that by him in a Light Blue uniform will be a great Columbia video highlight.
Jake, how many known commits do we have at this point. What is your opinion, so far, of the incoming class?
I count 17 known, (as in publicly announced and published), incoming freshmen so far.
I don't like "grading" recruits or recruiting classes, but I will say that we seem to be doing well in the continuing quest for size. One thing I can say about this current Columbia coaching staff: unlike so many of their predecessors, they don't pretend that size doesn't matter. Of course it's not the only thing, but it's important and Columbia has been undersized for too long.
Last year's class really stemmed that tide, and this group seems bigger too, at least on paper.
On Scott Ward from the Newport "Daily Pilot"...nice.
SCOTT WARD
OT/Newport Harbor
Ward is considered the biggest and most skilled tackle in the area. The 6-7, 241-pound senior helped the running game average 5.1 yards per carry and he also protected McDonald’s blindside. He also started at defensive end. Ward is a first-team All-Sunset League selection.
We now have 3 first team Greater Boston All Area players: Frantz, McHugh and the SS from Frantz's school.
Our class is pretty much done. You will be very pleasantly surprised. It looks like a banner year from all indications, with some names that have not been reported anywhere up to now.
Frantz made Boston Herald All-Scholastic, as did Grassa, who was also all-state
Post a Comment
<< Home