(Hamilton, NY – Feb. 6, 213) Colgate head coach Dick Biddle announced Wednesday the addition of 21 members to the Class of 2017 as the Raiders took part in National Signing Day for the first time.
Biddle said the ability to offer scholarships this year changed the recruiting dynamic. Last year, Colgate kept recruiting through signing day and announced its signing class in late April.
“It was a unique thing for us this year,” Biddle said. “We were fortunate to be able to grant scholarships based on athletic merit, and that opened up the pool for the kind of player we were able to get this year. Overall, with all the newness about scholarships, our coaches did a great job.”
Biddle reminded everyone, however, that some things weren’t changing on the Raiders sideline.
“They still have to be great students,” he said. “It’s always going to be that way at Colgate. But (scholarships) enabled us to go after a Division I player or a Division I-AA scholarship player who maybe, financially, you weren’t able to go after.”
The Raiders inked nine linemen — five on the defensive side and four on who played offense — and signed seven student-athletes from the state of Florida. In addition to their Sunshine State connection, Biddle and his staff signed four each from New Jersey and Pennsylvania, three from New York and one apiece from Maryland, Ohio and Washington.
Colgate also welcomes two players each at linebacker, defensive back and quarterback positions, along with one placekicker and one running back.
Spring practice begins next month, and the Raiders open their 2013 season Aug. 31 at Air Force.
Colgate signees are:
Name Pos. Ht. Wt. Hometown/High School
Jonah Bowman PK 6-1 190 Wyomissing, Pa./Wyomissing Area HS
Charles Cairnie DL 6-5 215 Wooster, Ohio/Wooster HS
Alex Campbell DL 6-3 225 Canonsburg, Pa./Canon-McMillan HS
Danny Copeland QB 6-1 183 Potomac, Md./Bullis HS
Jordi Dalmau OL 6-3 295 Miami, Fla./Gulliver Prep HS
Kyle Diener LB 6-0 217 Boca Raton, Fla./Pine Crest School
Brett Field DL 6-5 270 Durhamville, N.Y./Vernon-Verona-Sherrill HS
Joe Figueroa DB 5-10 190 Port St. Lucie, Fla./Fort Pierce Central HS
Dan Grasso LB 6-3 215 Washington Township, N.J./Bergen Catholic HS
Ryan Kasten OL 6-4 270 Farmingdale, N.J./Freehold Borough HS
Risley Lesko WR 5-11 175 Mercer Island, Wash./Mercer Island HS
William Lucas RB 6-1 195 Tampa, Fla./Jesuit HS
John Maddaluna III WR 6-1 170 Bernardsville, N.J./Bernards HS
Jake Melville QB 6-1 185 Sparta, N.J./Sparta HS
Chris Morgan DB 6-1 185 Ardmore, Pa./The Haverford School
Nathan Obinwa DL 6-3 240 Gotha, Fla./Olympia HS
Austin Perez WR 6-1 185 Manlius, N.Y./Fayetteville-Manlius HS
Zack Provin OL 6-2 260 Davie, Fla./St. Thomas Aquinas HS
Ed Robinson WR 6-1 195 Woodmere, N.Y./Lawrence HS
Grant Siegel OL 6-4 280 Miami Beach, Fla./Gulliver Prep HS
Tom Spiteri DL 6-2 280 Holland, Pa./La Salle College HS