Some of Division III’s newest programs — including one that won’t play a varsity game until 2006 and another that isn’t playoff eligible until 2008 — lead the list of destinations announced by recent recruits.
Tavares (FL) High School seniors Ryan Leary and Danny McManus will enroll at SUNY-Maritime (Coach Clayton Kendrick-Holmes standing to right in photo). The Throggs Neck, Long Island-based school announced it will compete as a club team in 2005 and play a varsity schedule in 2006. Tavares teammate Matt Habermehl will attend Millikin University.
North Carolina Wesleyan, which enjoyed a 4-4 inaugural season in 2004, will get a pair of New Bern (NC) High School teammates as Joey Belviy and A.J. Glenn announced plans to suit up for the Battling Bishops this season.
Belviy led New Bern in sacks and tackles for loss last season despite standing just 5’6. “It means a lot to me because I really didn’t think I’d get the chance at first because of my height and size,†he recently told the New Bern Sun Journal.
Bradford (FL) High School’s Milton Sumpter will attend Tri-State University, which is entering the second season of a four-year transitional period in its move from NAIA to NCAA.
“I want to thank God for giving me the ability, I want to thank my parents for letting me play and I want to thank my coaches because they taught me a lot, even off the field,†Sumpter told the Bradford County Telegraph.
While Sumpter will pick up some frequent flyer miles traveling from Florida to Indiana, they won’t compare to those racked up by Joe Quinn when he leaves home in Anchorage, Alaska to attend Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland.
Quinn is a two-sport athlete at West Anchorage High School where he plays goalie on the soccer team. “Goalie is kind of the closest soccer position you can get to football,” Quinn quoted to the Anchorage Daily News in this interesting feature. “It’s kind of a seamless transition.”
Of course, we’re only assuming Quinn will fly to JHU. He might choose to make the 76 hour, 4,316-mile trip by car instead.
Elsewhere:
– Paraclete (CA) HS senior Domenic Donato will enroll at Chapman.
– Stevenson (CA) HS seniors Ashton Clarke and Philip Trapp will play for Claremont-Mudd-Scripps while attending Claremont McKenna College.
– Montour (PA) HS senior Ernie Ricci goes to Dickinson.
– Highlands (OH) HS senior Chris Owens will go to Earlham while teammates Bert Bathiany and Shaun Matisak head to Ohio Northern and Weston Lawrence enrolls at Wittenberg.
– Pinkerton (NH) Academy senior Nate Gooden will attend Plymouth State.
For a list of other recruits and their college destinations, click here.
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Otherwise we’ll make you chauffer Joe Quinn from Baltimore to Anchorage over Christmas break.