Robert Morris' priority on Saturday was trying to knock off Sacred Heart and win the Northeast Conference title, but the Colonials also had a number of recruits in to check out the campus and the football program.
This is a partial list of confirmed visitors.
LB Nelson Lee Lucas-Murphy (Downingtown East/Milford Academy) - Lucas-Murphy's name should be plenty familiar to Robert Morris fans by now. A commit last year, Lucas-Murphy spent this fall at Milford Academy. He's been a regular visitor and his commitment is strong again. The plan is for him to enroll in January.
DB 2013 highlights here.
OL/DL Josh Martin (Weirton, WV) - Robert Morris went after "big" offensive linemen last year, bringing in a number of linemen who sit around 6-foot-3 to 6-foot-5 and weigh north of 300 pounds. Martin makes them look like running backs. The Madonna High School offensive tackle is 7-foot-1, 290-pounds. At that size, Andrew Toole might steal him to play center for the basketball team. But apparently Martin can play. As Yahoo!'s Prep Rally blog detailed a month ago, Martin earned all-state honors as a junior. From what I can gather, he's still a work in progress. He came late to football, and last year was his first as a fulltime starter.
There's not a lot of highlight film out there, but he's definitely huge. That was pretty much the universal assessment on the sideline.
TE/DE Paul Carpenter (Erie McDowell, Pa.) - A physical players, Carpenter could kind of be considered a "jumbo" athlete. McDowell uses him on the offensive line as purely blocking tight end, and that's the bulk of his highlight film. At 6-foot-1, 225-pounds, he could be a shorter tight end or H-Back for Robert Morris, depending on how the Colonials want to use him. As best as I can tell, he didn't have a reception this year. He also plays on the defensive line and could end up on that side of the ball. The guess here is that RMU is looking to use tight ends and fullbacks a little differently under John Banaszak and Carpenter's blocking skills may have grabbed their attention.
WR/DB Thomas Young (Gateway, Pa.) - This was Young's second visit to Robert Morris (he was also in for the Duquesne game) and it appears RMU is getting close to being a very real option for him. Young's season is over, so he can focus on making a decision. Based on need, Young is likely being looked at corner or safety for Robert Morris. However, Young also played linebacker his senior year, so he could be an option at a number of positions. His highlight film is here.
DBs Jeremy and Jon Francis (Hurricane, WV) - Robert Morris has had a lot of success with the Hurricane pipeline, ranging from the Cooper Brothers to Nick Schirtzinger to being after current ATH Zach Pate. So why not try to get in with another Hurricane family? Jeremy Francis is a 5-foot-11, 175-pound hard-hitting corner. You can watch his his film here.
ATH Mykal Manswell (Mariotts Ridge, MD) - A 5-foot-9, 165-pound running back and wide receiver, Manswell is largely a slot receiver for Mariotts Ridge. He could potentially be a running back target for Robert Morris, but his highlight film (seen here) is largely devoid of him running the ball a ton. He looks and plays like a true slot receiver, which may give some credence to the notion that RMU will be opening things up next year.
WR Nicholas Stallworth (University Prep, Pa.) - A 5-foot-10, 180-pound receiver, Stallworth is another receiver coming out of a spread offense. University Prep loves to air it out, and the Pittsburgh city school has a number of receivers with ridiculous stats. Stallworth's stats are incomplete, but he had a handful of touchdowns this year. There's no apparent highlight video available of him.
This post was edited on 11/16 9:57 PM by Andrew_Chiappazzi
This is a partial list of confirmed visitors.
LB Nelson Lee Lucas-Murphy (Downingtown East/Milford Academy) - Lucas-Murphy's name should be plenty familiar to Robert Morris fans by now. A commit last year, Lucas-Murphy spent this fall at Milford Academy. He's been a regular visitor and his commitment is strong again. The plan is for him to enroll in January.
DB 2013 highlights here.
OL/DL Josh Martin (Weirton, WV) - Robert Morris went after "big" offensive linemen last year, bringing in a number of linemen who sit around 6-foot-3 to 6-foot-5 and weigh north of 300 pounds. Martin makes them look like running backs. The Madonna High School offensive tackle is 7-foot-1, 290-pounds. At that size, Andrew Toole might steal him to play center for the basketball team. But apparently Martin can play. As Yahoo!'s Prep Rally blog detailed a month ago, Martin earned all-state honors as a junior. From what I can gather, he's still a work in progress. He came late to football, and last year was his first as a fulltime starter.
There's not a lot of highlight film out there, but he's definitely huge. That was pretty much the universal assessment on the sideline.
TE/DE Paul Carpenter (Erie McDowell, Pa.) - A physical players, Carpenter could kind of be considered a "jumbo" athlete. McDowell uses him on the offensive line as purely blocking tight end, and that's the bulk of his highlight film. At 6-foot-1, 225-pounds, he could be a shorter tight end or H-Back for Robert Morris, depending on how the Colonials want to use him. As best as I can tell, he didn't have a reception this year. He also plays on the defensive line and could end up on that side of the ball. The guess here is that RMU is looking to use tight ends and fullbacks a little differently under John Banaszak and Carpenter's blocking skills may have grabbed their attention.
WR/DB Thomas Young (Gateway, Pa.) - This was Young's second visit to Robert Morris (he was also in for the Duquesne game) and it appears RMU is getting close to being a very real option for him. Young's season is over, so he can focus on making a decision. Based on need, Young is likely being looked at corner or safety for Robert Morris. However, Young also played linebacker his senior year, so he could be an option at a number of positions. His highlight film is here.
DBs Jeremy and Jon Francis (Hurricane, WV) - Robert Morris has had a lot of success with the Hurricane pipeline, ranging from the Cooper Brothers to Nick Schirtzinger to being after current ATH Zach Pate. So why not try to get in with another Hurricane family? Jeremy Francis is a 5-foot-11, 175-pound hard-hitting corner. You can watch his his film here.
ATH Mykal Manswell (Mariotts Ridge, MD) - A 5-foot-9, 165-pound running back and wide receiver, Manswell is largely a slot receiver for Mariotts Ridge. He could potentially be a running back target for Robert Morris, but his highlight film (seen here) is largely devoid of him running the ball a ton. He looks and plays like a true slot receiver, which may give some credence to the notion that RMU will be opening things up next year.
WR Nicholas Stallworth (University Prep, Pa.) - A 5-foot-10, 180-pound receiver, Stallworth is another receiver coming out of a spread offense. University Prep loves to air it out, and the Pittsburgh city school has a number of receivers with ridiculous stats. Stallworth's stats are incomplete, but he had a handful of touchdowns this year. There's no apparent highlight video available of him.
This post was edited on 11/16 9:57 PM by Andrew_Chiappazzi
