Rivals.com: RI school becoming MD North
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| Antione Hudson of Landon High School in Bethesda, Md. |
Antione Hudson was feeling the pressure. National Signing Day -- the day when most Division-I caliber high school football recruits sign their National Letters of Intent for a specific college -- was fast approaching and Hudson, a senior receiver/cornerback for Landon High in Bethesda, Md., couldn't make up his mind.
He had two firm, written offers from Division I-AA schools, but in the days leading up to February 2 his coach began receiving phone calls galore from college recruiters. And not just any college recruiters -- Division-I recruiters.
Excited about the possibility of playing for a school like Maryland or Virginia, Hudson decided to wait. And wait. And wait. He waited so long that Signing Day passed him right by.
A week later Hudson still hadn't signed, but on the night of February 8 he decided he was through waiting for some glitzy, big-name school. Instead, he went with the program that had been there all along: Bryant University, a small, Division I-AA program in northern Rhode Island.
"I went where my heart was," Hudson said. "Bryant was the first to offer me; they were with me from the beginning and showed me the most loyalty. No other school really did as much for me as Bryant did."
With that, Antione Hudson became the 10th Maryland-area prospect from the class of 2011 to sign with the Bryant Bulldogs. Only one other college (Navy) signed half that many Marylanders last year. What's more, those 10 signees (listed at end) represented over one-third of Bryant's total recruiting class, unheard of for a program that's a six-hour car ride away from the Old Line State.
"Am I surprised? Yeah, I am," said Bryant offensive line coach and Maryland recruiting coordinator Joel Rodriguez. "But we were able to get in the right schools over the last three years. The coaches, the players and the parents know we're not some fly-by-night program."
Indeed, Bryant moved up from Division-II to I-AA just three years ago. But under head coach Marty Fine, who has been at the school for seven years, the Bulldogs have gone 19-14 in the Northeast Conference, including a solid 7-4 season last year.
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http://mdhigh.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1190658