Worthington joins hit parade - Buffalo News
Worthington joins hit parade
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St. Francis end selected All-American
By KEITH McSHEA
News Sports Reporter
1/19/2005
Doug Worthington is Western New York's first Parade Magazine All-American in 12 years. And colleges all over America are still wooing him.
Worthington, a 6-foot-7, 256-pound senior defensive end at St. Francis, is one of 58 All-Americans on the magazine's 42nd annual team, which will be formally announced in Sunday's editions of newspapers across the country, including The Buffalo News.
"Being a Parade All-American is great. I feel blessed," said Worthington. "I give a lot of credit to my coaching staff and my hard work. I never thought in a million years I would get it (All-American). When I was a freshman, I just wanted to make All-Catholic."
Worthington verbally committed to Ohio State in September. Although he still says Ohio State is at the top of his list, he is considering other schools. The signing period for football begins Feb. 2.
"Feb. 2 is the day everybody will know, and that might be the morning I know, you know what I mean?" Worthington said. "I'm not really sure but I'm pretty much Ohio State right now."
Worthington visited the University of Florida last weekend and Alabama the previous weekend. He's already visited Ohio State and Wisconsin - the NCAA allows recruits five "official visits" - and this weekend he said he'll travel to either Notre Dame or Boston College. Representatives from those schools, as well as Penn State, have met with Worthington at St. Francis in the last two weeks.
"I just have a lot of great choices to look back on, and I'm doing it," said Worthington. "Wherever I go, I'm going to get good playing time and it's a good program. I'm blessed with my choices. If something happens, or if I get kind of scared, I will go to another school. But I don't think that's going to happen. It's just a little insurance."
His insurance policy was prompted by the recent bad news coming out of Ohio State. The university is under investigation by the NCAA largely due to accusations by former standout running back Maurice Clarett, who said coach Jim Tressel set him up with cars, boosters provided him with no-show jobs and Ohio State professors gave breaks to football players. In addition, quarterback Troy Smith was suspended for December's Alamo Bowl for accepting benefits from a booster.
"That gave me a lot of jitters and stuff," Worthington said. "But I talk to a couple of the recruits all the time. I don't think the NCAA would do something, but I'm just looking out for myself."
The last Parade All-American from Western New York was lineman Mark Nowicki, a 1994 Grand Island grad.
Past selections for the Parade All-American team have included Joe Montana, John Elway and Emmitt Smith. Adrian Peterson, who starred as a freshman at Oklahoma, was one of the running backs on last year's team.
Players from 26 states are represented. Worthington is one of just two from New York, along with Jason Gwaltney of Long Island power North Babylon.
Worthington is a two-time All-Western New York first-team selection and was a first-team all-state pick as a senior. Worthington transferred to St. Francis from Turner-Carroll when the school closed following his sophomore year. He was part of a Red Raiders team that finished atop The News large school poll the last two seasons. This season he had more tackles (81) than his junior year (63) even though teams tried to run away from him.
"(The All-American honor) is something that solidifies our entire program," said St. Francis coach Jerry Smith. "It's not only an award for him but for our whole team for what they've done to help him get that opportunity. He didn't let us down, and we didn't let him down.
"Doug was just a pleasure to watch. It's going to be fun watching him in the future. It really is."
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RECRUITING: Potential UF signess tour, meet staff (Doug Worthington) - College Sports
RECRUITING: Potential UF signess tour, meet staff
By Eric Esteban Independent Florida Alligator
Gainesville, FL (U-WIRE) -- On weekdays, Coach Urban Meyer and staff are on the road, attempting to make up for lost time. Weekends, however, have proved to be days in which Meyer can showcase Gainesville.
The Gators played host to recruits for the second straight weekend, but instead of seven high school seniors getting a taste of orange and blue, only three recruits made the trip to UF this time.
Offensive lineman Simon Codrington, ranked No. 48 in the nation by Scout.com, was one of the select few who put a positive spin on the small number.
"The fact that I was there with only two other guys was a major plus for me," Codrington said. "I went to Tallahassee last week and the large number of guys didn't give me that much access."
Codrington, a 6-foot-7, 255-pound tackle from South Miami Senior High School, was hosted by former teammate and current Gators linebacker Javier Estopinan.
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"It was a lot of fun getting a chance to talk to Javier about the school," Codrington said. "He showed me what it was like being a student there."
However, Codrington's most lasting impression came not from the city, but rather from the new head coach. Codrington got a chance to meet Meyer and new offensive line coach John Hevesy, and said he was blown away by the experience.
"There hasn't been one place I've been to in which I got to talk to the head coach so much," Codrington said. "I loved getting a chance to talk to him about everything."
From the Swamp to Lake Wauburg, recruits get shown almost every part of Gainesville that could convince them to sign that letter of intent.
In addition to UF, Codrington's choices include Florida State, North Carolina State and West Virginia, which he will visit this week.
Doug Worthington, an Ohio State oral commitment, also made the trip to Gainesville, but his heart remained in Buckeye country. Scout.com's No. 4 defensive end, Worthington was hosted by freshman linebacker Brandon Siler but came away still committed to Ohio State.
The third visitor, running back Mikell Simpson, said his visit to Gainesville was great. UF continues to pursue the talented back despite scholarship offers from Alabama, Nebraska, Virginia and Michigan State.
Oral commitments are non-binding until a national letter-of-intent is signed on National Signing Day on Feb. 2.
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All-State football (1/2 way down Doug Worthington) - Buffalo News
All-State football
Losing four out of five games to Rochester in the fall didn't prevent Western New York from landing a generous number of All-New York State football picks.
The selections are made annually by the New York State Sportswriters Association. Buffalo News Player of the Year and Connolly Cup winner Zak Kedron of St. Francis,
along with Ohio State-bound teammate Doug Worthington, are among a class of 47 players, which includes 18 first-teamers.
Joining Kedron and
Worthington on the first team: Class AA - Jason Weber (Orchard Park), James Starks (Niagara Falls); Class A - Steve Mamak (Iroquois), Ken Johnson (Sweet Home); Class B - Adam Rosner (Depew), Matt Langworthy (Southwestern), Matt Mazgaj (Southwestern); Class C - Brian Nitsche (Portville), Curt Jones (Falconer), Matt Miller (Portville), Justin Hager (Salamanca); Class D - Steve Coan (Frewsburg), Devin Raynor (Maple Grove), Brandon Newell (Maple Grove), Jake Clark (Ellicottville), Brian Kiendl (Maple Grove).
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Boys basketball (Doug Worthington) - Buffalo News
Boys basketball
1/20/2005
Sophomore Kevin Roth had a game-high 21 points, guiding St. Francis past Cardinal O'Hara, 81-58, in Monsignor Martin Association play. Doug Worthington posted a double-double with 16 points and 10 rebounds while teammate Kahlil Sarikey buried six three-pointers on his way to a 20-point night for the Red Raiders (8-7, 3-1).
Nonleague: Caleb Hall (21 points), Ben Kopp (14) and Jon Biela (11) each got into double figures for Franklinville in a 64-51 win over Cuba-Rushford of Section V. . . . Cash Kent registered 18 points and 15 rebounds to guide Ellicottville past Section V's Fillmore, 72-53. The Eagles' Tyler Dunne finished with a game-high 23 points. . . . Chris Cecchi tallied 20 points, but it wasn't enough as Portville fell to Section V's Wellsville, 69-56.
All of the Yale and Canisius Cup games were postponed Wednesday - including the high-profile boys matchup, No. 3 large school Seneca at No. 5 Riverside - and have been rescheduled for 4 p.m. today.
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What talent remains for ND to consider? - NAME
What talent remains for ND to consider?
ND FOOTBALL
By BOB WIENEKE
Tribune Staff Writer
Hanging on a wall inside the Notre Dame football offices is a big board. It lists every Irish player and his position. Under certain positions, there isn't a lot of room to add new names. Under others, there's more room than coach Charlie Weis would probably like.
In ways, the board is a lot like those utilized by pro teams during the NFL draft.
"Obviously, the difference is in the draft, when you take them, they're yours," Weis said. "Here, you know, you're going after them, and so is everybody else. It isn't like, 'I want him to fill that spot.' Well, so do the other 10 schools that are recruiting him. You might want him (somebody else) instead."
Right now, with only 10 days remaining until letter-of-intent day, the number of "hims" is dwindling. Notre Dame has received verbal commitments from 14 high school players, but it's not known how many more will sign on with the Irish.
Part of the uncertainty has to do with the unknown number of players who will be invited back for fifth years. According to recruiting analyst Tom Lemming, there are some of the names that will be popular in the next 10 days.
Some, may never be mentioned again. Others, may be around for the next four or five years:
* Kyle McCarthy, 6-0, 172, athlete, Youngstown, Ohio (Cardinal Mooney): McCarthy visited ND this weekend and the race appears to be between the Irish and Ohio State.
* Brian Cushing, 6-3, 220, LB, Oradell, N.J. (Bergen Catholic): Cushing is the biggest ND target who remains uncommitted. Notre Dame is trying to convince him to take an official visit, but he may not because he has already visited unofficially. Florida, USC, Virginia, Boston College and Miami are the competition.
* Doug Worthington, 6-7, 255, DL, Athol Springs, N.Y. (St. Francis): Is committed to Ohio State but still may visit Notre Dame.
* R.J. Jackson, 6-0, 197, RB, Houston (Westside): Is visiting TCU this weekend. Among the bigger names ND is pursuing. Florida, LSU and Texas are among the other schools wooing him.
* Julian Williams, 6-5, 270, New Bern, N.C.: At East Carolina this weekend. Another guy ND is trying to convince to visit.
* Brian Roche, 6-5, 285, OL, Ramsey, N.J. (Don Bosco Prep): Originally committed to Rutgers but has backed out. Expected to make an official visit to ND next weekend.
* Erik Lorig, 6-4, 250, TE/DE, Rolling Hills Estates, Calif. (Palos Verdes Peninsula): ND still trying to land a visit from him. Believed to be involved with USC, Cal and UCLA.
* Kellen Moriarty, 6-1, 195, athlete, Goleta, Calif. (Dos Pueblos): Son of former Irish player Larry Moriarty. Notre Dame has not yet made a huge push for him.
And then there are the two players who at one time were among the cornerstones of this class, both of whom may as well change their first names to "What's the deal with?"
That's Wichita Falls, Texas (Rider) receiver David Nelson and Akron, Ohio (St. Vincent-St. Mary) defensive end Lawrence Wilson. The 6-6, 195-pound Nelson visited Florida this weekend and remains technically committed to the Irish. He's also involved with Iowa, while Texas is making a late push.
The 6-6, 235-pound Wilson did decommit from ND. But the visit he received from seven ND assistants last weekend helped pull the Irish even with Florida and Ohio State, his mother said this week. Wilson visited Michigan Thursday and Friday, and could announce this week.
"There are good enough guys out there," Lemming said. "They're just having a tough time getting them to visit because of the late start."
Lemming predicts the Irish will fall somewhere between 20 and 30 in the final rankings. That's not bad considering how it looked in the days following Tyrone Willingham's firing.
"I thought it would be a disaster," he said. "They're still going to do OK."