PHOTOS: GMC Signing Day
RELATED: Updated list of area signees
Riggins and Joey Reece, who’s headed to Georgetown (Ky.) College, represented HHS at the GMC showcase event, which was held at Beacon Orthopaedics Summit Woods.
Big Blue coach Chad Murphy expects to have six or seven players from this class competing at the next level. He noted that Jesse Vaughn will attend Centre.
“Reach Higher — I think that’s our ’16 slogan,” Murphy said. “We’re going to try to reach a little higher and add more guys to this event. A lot of guys go to college, but sticking it out and getting that degree, that’s the name of the game.”
Riggins is thrilled to be joining an Indiana program that appears to be on the rise. The Hoosiers were 6-7 last fall and took a heartbreaking 44-41 loss to Duke in the New Era Pinstripe Bowl.
“They’re right at the top of the hill … they’ve just got to get over it,” Riggins said. “That’s what my class plans on doing. We talk about it almost every day. We have a big group message going on Twitter with all the kids coming in. Everyone’s pumped up and excited.”
Riggins, who plans to major in sports medicine, shook his head at the thought of his Big Blue football days being done.
“I still remember my first football game as a freshman at Welcome Stadium against Springfield,” he said. “It’s just crazy how time flies. I feel like I made the most of it. I don’t regret a thing about it.”
Chris Wells has resigned as Middletown’s head coach, but he still wore a smile as he represented the Middies at the GMC event.
Middletown has seven players committed to playing in college: Vincent Calhoun (Eastern Michigan), Matt Muterspaw (Ohio State), Cameron Joseph (Cincinnati Christian), Keonte Million (Wittenberg), Eethan Edwards (Tiffin), Daniel Fitzgerald (Cincinnati Christian) and George Beard III (Wittenberg).
“Remember what got you here,” Wells told the players in attendance. “It’s not just the athletic ability that you were blessed with. The character that you have, the work ethic, the never-quit attitude — those are the things that are going to carry you.”
Fairfield coach Jason Krause has players going to Ball State (Mitchell Larsen), Wittenberg (Micah Vann), Lake Erie (Josh Weaver) and Heidelberg (Shawn Brown). Three Indians — Hunter Krause, T.C. Wells and Todd Ross — are headed to Davenport.
Hunter Krause is already in Grand Rapids, Mich., after enrolling in January.
“It’s a little bittersweet,” Jason Krause said. “Since my signing day back in 1990, this is one I’ve looked forward to for a long time, to have my son be one of those guys. And he’s away having a good time in college.
“Being a quarterback in a new program, they wanted him there for spring practice. They wanted him to start learning the offense and competing. The opportunity he’s been given there is tremendous, and he’s loving where he’s at.”
Krause believes his son, Wells and Ross all have the ability to be impact players in the new program at Davenport, which will play an independent schedule this year and then move into the Division II Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.
“Greg Huster is the defensive coordinator there, and he’s a long-time Cincinnati guy,” said Krause, noting that Colerain outside linebacker Darryll Gardner has also signed with Davenport. “I think he understands the talent level here. His goal right now is to create a pipeline from Southwest Ohio to Grand Rapids, Mich.”
Ross, a defensive lineman for two years at Fairfield after transferring from Princeton, said it’ll be nice to have some of his prep teammates with him in college, but that wasn’t the biggest factor in his decision to choose Davenport.
“The money was right, and I liked the school when I went up there,” Ross said. “I liked the coaches. I liked their energy. I liked their defensive scheme. I’m looking forward to having fun for four years and ball out.”
Ross, who will major in business, said he might play linebacker in college after suffering through an injury-plagued senior year at Fairfield. He wasn’t at full strength all season.
“I needed a change. I’m happy with the move,” Ross said of transferring to FHS. “My senior year wasn’t as good as I wanted it to be, but I’m glad I ended up at Davenport, so it’s all good.”
Like Davenport, Cincinnati Christian is a start-up program. Former Cincinnati Bengal David Fulcher has heavily recruited the Greater Cincinnati area, and Lakota East quarterback T.J. Jemison was among the CCU signees Wednesday.
Jemison wasn’t immediately thrilled by the idea of attending Cincinnati Christian.
“Coach Fulcher called my house a couple times, and I had never heard of it,” Jemison said. “My mom kind of forced me to answer the phone. But I started talking to him, and he’s a great guy. We built a relationship and I met Coach (Nate) Johnson, and it just went from there. It was a great fit for me.”
Playing for a former professional appealed to Jemison. So did the concept of starting from scratch with a new program.
“I thought that was kind of neat to be the starter of a program,” Jemison said. “Not to try to break records, but set your own records, make your own history and just make your own mark.”
East’s signees included J.T. Timming (James Madison), Dalton Strunk (Miami), Hunter Burdno (Morehead State), Nick Hofmeier (Ashland), Alex Hundemer (Robert Morris) and Tommy Siemer (Bluffton).
Jemison said CCU recruited him as a quarterback, so he isn’t planning to switch positions. He’s also leaning toward a sports management major, though he’s also considering philosophy.
“You never know what you’ll want to do,” Jemison said. “I change my mind a lot, so I was just thinking maybe I should try two different things just in case I want to do something different.”
Lakota West place-kicker Jack Nguyen wants to be a doctor someday, so he’s going to study medicine at Georgetown (Ky.). He thought he’d end up at Dayton, but it didn’t work out.
“After things fell through with Dayton, I got a call from Coach (Cody) Williams from Georgetown and he said, ‘We’d love to have you on a visit sometime,’ ” Nguyen said. “I was like, ‘Sure, just tell me when.’ Then Friday night after a basketball game at 10:30, he calls me up and says, ‘How would you like to come down for a visit tomorrow?’ I drove down the next day, talked to the coaches and loved it.
“Academically, they’ve got a 95 percent acceptance rate into medical school. Everything just fit. It’s exactly what I was looking for.”
Nguyen will leave a legacy of perfection at West. He never missed a field goal or extra point during his Firebird career.
“It’s a great feeling,” Nguyen said. “I wouldn’t say I expect it, but I want to be perfect. Even in practice, I’ll get mad at myself for missing something I should’ve made. I always practice to be perfect.”
Also heading to the next level for the Firebirds will be Sean Mahone (West Virginia), Kavanaugh McCarthy (Butler), Tim Tanner-Blair (Bowling Green) and Zach Nutter (Baldwin Wallace).
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