Breaking News: Bios Posted
Bruce Grant
You can now read the bios of our incoming frosh if you go to the roster page on GoColumbiaLions.com.
There's lots of info about many of the new players that I did not have on this blog before.
Enjoy!
posted by Jake @ 6:40:00 PM
21 comments
21 Comments:
This has to be the best incoming class in the league at the skill positions.
Maurice Rothschild's stats caught my eye. He sounds like a great all-around athlete. How fast is he anyway? He needs to put on some weight, but once he does that, he should really help us on offense.
Keep in mind that in every look at every class in every sport at every school, "All the women are strong, all the men are good looking, and all the children are above average," to quote the modern bard. We'll have a much better idea in two years.
The Prarie Home quote is well taken, but some years there's legitimate reason for optimism, and this year that applies to our skill recruits.
Rothschild was listed as running a 4.5 40, and he ran a 10.93 100 meter in the state meet, which was 4th best in Louisiana.
-Dr.V
Rothschild is bigger than listed on our roster. That 5'10", 160 was from his sophomore year -- he's taller and heavier now, which you can easily see in his highlight videos. Look for the real deal on our fall roster. Same with DL Hunter Coleman, listed on our roster at 6'2", 200, everywhere else as 6'4", 225-240. Used to be we were showing them heavier than they actually are, now lighter...maybe a good sign.
Here's a nice slide show of Hunter Coleman at his Columbia signing day.
http://www.loyolaprep.org/index.php?src=photo&srctype=lister&ref=Coleman%20signs%20with%20Columbia&albumpos=0,15,29
Thanks, Dr. V, that's fast, real fast. What about Bruce Grant's times? I'm guessing that Rothschild and Grant are our fastest incoming players, but there are so many good athletes in the incoming class that I wouldn't be surprised if someone else is even faster. Garrett and Williams both look very fast on tape. Then you have Andrada, Carter, DiNovo, DiTomasso and Mingo, amongst others.
Rothschild listed here as 6', 175, which is more like it...in any case he's a terrific athlete, ws an excellent QB as well as receiver. Listed below at very end as "Athlete," 1st Team All-District from Max Preps.
Louisiana: All-District 4A-10 Football Team
All-District Football
Saturday, March 27, 2010
By: Staff Report
MaxPreps.com
All-District 10-4A Football Team
Offense
Wide receivers: Keenan Canty, Karr, 5-10, 165, Sr.; Jaron Miller, Easton, 6-4, 200, Sr.; Jaleel Richardson, Easton, 6-1, 185, Sr.
Tight end: Chad Griffin, McDonogh 35, 6-1, 255, Sr.
Offensive line: Audonnis Madison, Karr, 6-5, 290, Sr.; Ashton Boykins, Reed, 6-1, 320, Sr.; Michael Sams, Easton, 6-4, 290, Sr.; Isiah Webster, O.P. Walker, 6-3, 285, Jr.; Juan Hall, McDonogh 35, 5-10, 225, So.
Quarterback: Munchie Legaux, Karr, 6-4, 185, Sr.
Running backs: Robert Kelly, O.P. Walker, 6-0, 195, Jr.; Everick Johnson, McDonogh 35, 5-10, 185, Sr.
Athlete: Maurice Rothschild, Easton, 6-0, 175, Sr.
I noticed that with Coleman as well. He was listed on his high school roster last year at 6"4" 225. Duncan Dickerson was also listed at a higher weight for the Bayou Bowl. What is Rothschild's correct weight? What about Williams?
My guess is that Grant and Rothschild are the fastest recruits, although Sam Williams also appears to have lightning speed but we can't find any times for him. Garrett runs the 100 meters in track, has yet to break 11 seconds (best so far is 11.23, I believe), but he has very good vision and quick-cutting ability at the line of scrimmage, plus is quite strong and does have enough speed to break away as can be seen in his videos, and is considered our #1 rb recruit, I believe. Lowry not quite as fast as the others but still has very good speed to go with his size, strength, and vision, could be an excellent H-back (he had 30+ receptions his junior year). And let's not forget the backs we already have -- Ivery, Kourouma, Gerst, and Chao are all very fast and talented. All of a sudden we're loaded at rb, which has been our traditional weakness. A new era in Lion football is definitely dawning!
My understanding is that Griffin Lowry missed nearly all of his senior year with a serious injury, presumably an ACL, but apparently has recovered sufficiently to have played baseball this spring. Lowry's junior year highlight films reveal him to be a very powerful inside runner who hits the line quickly and breaks tackles for big gains. Lowry was one of the top running backs in Missouri before he got injured, and while one analyst questioned whether he had the necessary speed to be a star at the top level, he certainly looks fast enough and strong enough on film to be an outstanding running back in the Ivy League. If Lowry has recovered fully from his injury, he could help us immediately when we need yardage inside.
What's great about having all these speedsters is that you can move them around the field until you find spots for them where they can excel. For example, all four of the incoming players who are listed as defensive backs (Alston, Carter, DiTomasso and Mingo) probably could play offense. Alston and Mingo apppeared to have played wide receiver in high school. Alston could also return kicks for the Lions as his biolgraphical profile says he averaged 35 yard per return for the Hun School. Carter was heavily recruited by the University of New Hampshire to play quarterback, but presumably will start his career at Columbia as a defensive back where he could probably see playing time more quickly. I'm uncertain whether DiTomasso played any offense in high school. Anyone know the answer to that?
Yes, DiTommaso excelled on offense as well...see below, 3rd photo then scroll down further for more write-up. New Jersey North-South All-Star game coming up June 30.
http://www.sidelinechatter.com/page2.htm
Correction on date of New Jersey North-South All-Star Game with recruit Mike DiTommaso -- will be this Monday, June 28.
I found Bruce Grant's times on this site. His 100M is a 11.40.
The site for Grant's time isn't there, and the time listed (11.40) sounds more like Grant's Tomb...hard to believe he doesn't do better than that as a top ranked sprinter, although his specialties are the 55 meter dash and hurdles. Need to see proof including a sampling of his best and most recent times in the 100, assuming he was in top shape when competing.
Apparently poster listing Grant's 100 meter time as 11.40 is correct (see below), although I don't know whether that's indoor or outdoor and it may not be his personal best at this point in time. That makes him not as fast as I thought, and Garrett faster (with his 11.23). If these times hold up Rothschild is the King at 10.93 (while not knowing the times of Williams and quite a few others). Of course speed, while important, isn't everything. In any case, we should have more of it than ever.
http://ny.milesplit.us/athletes/267343/stats
Actually, Bruce Grant is after all the "King" of our incoming freshman football class as he ran a 10.90 100 meters as a junior, which is slightly faster than Maurice Rothschild's 10.93. Grant's speciality, I believe, is the 55 meters hurdles where his 7.65 time as a junior was one of the best in the USA. He also has run the 55 meters indoors in 6.86. My understanding is that he had a hamstring injury that slowed him down his senior season, but hopefully he will be 100% by September. If you want detailed information on Grant's sprint track times, go to the DYESTAT Track website. Dyestat was recently incorporated into ESPN so some of the information is difficult to find, but if you insert his name mosty of it is there. Incidentally, Columbia also has one of the best women high jumpers in the USA coming in this fall from M.A. Olawale's high school in California..
What are their times in the 40? That's what football people look at. You don't get to run 100 meters in football. AK ran a 4.49 40. That's very good.
All this discussion about comparative times is fun but not that relevant. We know we have plenty of speed. I think our success will come down to three main issues, plus the usual intangibles, chemistry, luck, etc.
1) Offensive Line -- will it be at least as good as last year? We have holes to fill but the bodies are there, and there seems to be plenty of confidence in coach Argast, so there's reason to be optimistic. This will be the key to optimizing our very good talent and depth at the skill positions.
2) Offensive Strategy -- coach Marino's play-calling looked much improved over the course of last season, mixing it up with more creativity, especially toward the end once the multi-skilled Brackett got in there. With all the weapons we have now, we have the potential to light it up.
3) New Defensive Coordinator -- still no word on who is taking over, but defense looks solid with many talented veterans and upcoming players. If replacement is the equal of coach Kelton, we should be fine.
Hard not to see a winning season, maybe 6-4 or even 7-3, with a title a year or two away, but competition is very keen.
I think we can make a run for the title this year. If we knock off Penn, which we can do, then we will have a legitimate shot at the title.
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