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 Bethesda (Md.) Landon couldn't make up his mind. He had two firm, written offers from Division I FCS (previously Division I-AA) schools, but in the days leading up to Feb. 2, his coach began receiving phone calls galore from college recruiters. And not just any college recruiters -- Division-I FBS 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 Feb. 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 FCS 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 the end of this article) 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.
Coach Fine and the school thinks FCS football, baseball and lacrosse will be their big porgrams. I hope that is true. I would enjoy to see Bryant participate in "march madness" but they will never win a national championship. FCS football will always have an outside shot if they get scholarships up to par and baseball can get to some regionals and be a very good program (hopefully they best in New England in a few years) and of course Lacrosse is on the fast track to the tournament and a championship.
More to FCS football, I hope Bryant continues to recruit, takes some "easy" DII games to build winning seasons and when they are eligible make a great showing. I look forward to the next three years to see where Bryant ends up.
dgreco wrote:Coach Fine and the school thinks FCS football, baseball and lacrosse will be their big porgrams. I hope that is true. I would enjoy to see Bryant participate in "march madness" but they will never win a national championship. FCS football will always have an outside shot if they get scholarships up to par and baseball can get to some regionals and be a very good program (hopefully they best in New England in a few years) and of course Lacrosse is on the fast track to the tournament and a championship.
More to FCS football, I hope Bryant continues to recruit, takes some "easy" DII games to build winning seasons and when they are eligible make a great showing. I look forward to the next three years to see where Bryant ends up.
I look forward to us playing eachother every season once we go NEC.
You said it best about your LAX program. This is your first year for tourney eligibility and I've no doubt that Pressler will get you guys there. I can easily see Bryant with a LAX championship in the very near future.
Basketball? Al Skinner is available.
Back to football, Fine is a (pardon the pun) fine coach. He'll get you guys an NEC championship within the next few seasons.
If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music which he hears, however measured or far away.
Henry David Thoreau, Walden, Conclusion, 1854
