Here is the press release from the UConn Huskies football program announcing the signing of 21 student-athletes to National Letters of Intent.
STORRS – University of Connecticut head football coach Randy Edsall announced on Wednesday that the Huskies have signed 21 student-athletes to a National Letter of Intent to join the UConn program.
Student-athletes in UConn’s 2009 signing class hail from 10 different states (and Canada).
The following is a full signee roster and biography of each:
Name Pos. Hgt. Wt. Hometown/High School/Prep School
- Aiken, Marcus WR 6-1 175 New Britain, Conn./St. Paul (Bristol)
- Brandon, Tevrin DB 5-9 180 Bethlehem, Pa./Bethlehem Catholic
- Box, Michael QB 6-3 195 Suwanee, Ga./Collins Hill
- Bullock, Tyler OL 6-4 250 Mechanicsburg, Pa./ Mechanicsburg
- Chambers, Keensen DE 6-5 230 Greenville, S.C./Southside/WorcesterAcademy (Mass.)
- Christen, Chad K-P 6-1 190 Etters, Pa./Red Land
- Difton, Dwayne WR 5-11 175 Ft. Lauderdale, Fla./St. Thomas Aquinas
- Friend, Kevin OL 6-5 260 Warrenton, Va./Faquier
- Generett, Malik WR 6-5 210 York, Pa./ William Penn
- Greene, Steve OL 6-5 311 Edensburg, Pa./Bishop Carroll
- Hyppolite, Martin RB 6-0 215 Wakefield, Mass./Wakefield
- Joseph, Jesse DE 6-4 235 Lavel, Quebec/Northeast Philadelphia (Pa.)/Vanier Prep
- Kenney, David SS 6-0 205 Highstown, N.J./The Peddie School
- Kinnard, Leon QB 5-9 180 Reistertown, Md./Loyola Blakefield
- Lang, Michael WR 6-0 180 Largo, Fla./Largo
- Lopes, Chris DB 5-10 190 Brockton, Mass./Tilton School (N.H.)
- Osiecki, Michael LB 6-2 225 Seymour, Conn./ Seymour
- Stephen, Shamar DT 6-5 260 Brookville, N.Y./Long Island Lutheran
- Williams, Nick ATH 5-10 180 East Windsor, N.J./The Hun School
- Williams, Trevardo DE 6-3 220 Bridgeport, Conn./Central/Canterbury School (Conn.)
- Willman, Tim DT 6-4 245 Fulton, Md./Reservoir
If you want to watch the press conference head coach Randy Edsall will be holding, you can click here at 3 PM.
A look at their bios after the jump.
MARCUS AIKEN – Played wide receiver, running back and defensive back during his scholastic career….as a senior, rushed for 1,000 yards and 15 TDs with 19 receptions for 253 yards and three TDs…team went 9-2 overall in ’08…as a junior, rushed for 933 on 122 carries and had 31 receptions for 476 yards….had 213 rushing yards with three TDs in junior year vs. Wilcox Tech…two-time All-Nutmeg conference pick…third team all-state pick by the New Haven Register…team captain…also plays basketball and track…in spring of 2008, won state Class S championship in 300-meter hurdles in record time of 39.15..was also second in 110-meter hurdles…born February 5, 1991.
TEVRIN BRANDON- 2008 all-state honorable mention and second team All-(Lehigh Valley) The Express-Times All-Area… intercepted eight passes and made 51 tackles as senior… named first team all-conference his junior year after making 51 tackles and five interceptions also ran track in high school, making the first team all-area his sophomore and junior years …born December 9, 1990.
MICHAEL BOX – Played his senior season at Collins Hill and led team to 8-3 record…had school-record 1,561 yards of passing as a senior, including 286 yards in one game for a school record….two-time Gwinnett County Player of the Month…second team all-region…threw for 1,005 and four touchdowns as a junior at Duluth (Ga.) High School and rushed for 540 yards and three TDs…as a sophomore, had 781 passing yards as a sophomore…played in the Gwinnett County All-Star Game…born November 19, 1990.
TYLER BULLOCK– Named a First Team The Sentinel (Cumberland County, Pa.) All-Star and to the AAA All-State Associated Press second team as a senior…team captain…two-time (Harrisburg) Patriot News All-Star…also played tight end and defensive end in high school…team finished 12-1 in 2008 with their only loss coming in the state quarterfinals…born July 10, 1990.
KEENSEN CHAMBERS – Enrolled at UConn this January after spending the fall semester at Worcester Academy….was a New England Prep School Athletic Conference All-Star this past fall…at Southside High School, was an all-county pick in 2007 and two-time all-region pick…played basketball as team won Class AA State Championship in 2007…named to all-tournament team…was awarded a Pepsi-Greenville County Schools Golf Tournament Scholarship following his senior year for community involvement…named to The National Society of High School Scholars…born June 16, 1990.
CHAD CHRISTEN –Named Class AAA First Team All-State and first team All-Mid Penn Conference selection…had a long field goal of 49 yards as a senior and 50 yards as a junior…had seven field goals in both his junior and senior seasons…averaged 42.8 yards per punt as a senior – improving from 38.5 as a junior…in three years as a starter, registered 83 touchbacks on kickoffs….was also team’s starting quarterback as a senior…born September 9, 1990.
DWAYNE DIFTON – Named first team All-Broward County by the Miami Herald and second team All-Broward County by the South Florida Sun-Sentinel as a senior…ranked 13th top recruit in Broward County by Sun-Sentinel…St. Thomas Aquinas finished the season as top-ranked high school football team in the country by USA Today…team was 2007 and ‘08 5A State Champions…had 25 receptions for 414 yards (16.6 average) and five TDs in the 2008 regular season…also had a 34-yard rush during season…caught a TD pass in his team’s 56-7 victory in the 2008 state championship game…had eight receptions for 134 yards and two TDs in three postseason games….had four receptions for 121 yards and a TD in win against Cincinnati Elder in Kirk Herbstreit Classic played at Paul Brown Stadium…team averaged 426 yards of total offense per game… as a junior, had 19 receptions for 276 yards and two TDs…born February 15, 1990.
KEVIN FRIEND – First team All-Cedar Run District pick as a senior and second team all-region…team MVP and captain…is highly-ranked wrestler in the heavyweight division and is ranked second in the state…born July 12, 1990.
MALIK GENERETT- First team all-state in 2008 by Associated Press and Pennsylvania Football News… named 2008 Tri-Player of the Year in the York Adams Interscholastic Athletic Association…named first team all-league twice…selected to play in Big 33 All-Star game…864 receiving yards as a senior captain…team captain…switched from quarterback to wide receiver midway through his junior season…45 receptions for 933 yards and 11 TDs his senior year, an average of 20.7 yards per reception…as a junior, after position switch, had 21 receptions for 420 yards and four TDs…attended same high school as current Husky Zac Zielinski and ’08 grad William Beatty…born October 6, 1989.
STEVE GREENE – Two-time Associated Press Class A first team all-state selection in Pennsylvania on the offensive line…2008 first team all-state pick by Pennsylvania Football News (Class A) and first team all-conference by the Altoona Mirror…also played defense as a senior and made 42 tackles…team captain…also plays basketball and football…selected to play for Pennsylvania in the Big 33 All-Star Game in June 2009..born December 13, 1990.
MARTIN HYPPOLITE – Set single-season school records as a senior with 1,639 rushing yards with 29 TDs…also is school’s career leader in rushing yards with 2,850 yards and is the leading scorer with 269….had five touchdowns in two different games this year and four TDs in another…team was 8-1 in senior year…had 19 receptions for 318 yards and four TDs as a senior….also return kicks and punts…rushed for 1,013 yards as a junior…first team all-state pick…averaged 9.6 yards per carry as a senior….team captain…named to 2008 All-Scholastic team by both The Boston Globe and Boston Herald… born June 17, 1990.
JESSE JOSEPH – Enrolled at UConn in January of 2009…was team captain and all-league pick….invited to 2007 Team Quebec camp…team was 2006 and ’07 Bol d’Or Trophy champions, which goes to the winner of the Canadian Prep Triple-A football league champions…from same prep school as current Husky Moe Petrus…a Canadian native who graduated from Northeast Philadelphia High School in 2006…will have five years of eligibility to compete in four at UConn.
DAVID KENNEY – Was named first team all-conference all-prep as a junior… named New Jersey-New York All-Star as a senior…born September 18, 1990.
LEON KINNARD – Second team all-state pick as a junior…was honorable mention all-state as a sophomore and senior…as a senior, was named second team all-metro from the Baltimore Sun and All-Baltimore County…first team all-metro and all-county as junior ….as a sophomore in 2005, was 103 for 185 in the air for 1,415 yards and 11 TDs..also rushed for 303 yards and 11 TDs…as a junior in 2006, threw for 1,489 yards with 13 touchdowns as team won state title… team went 11-0 in senior year….team captain…was selected to play in 2008 Maryland Crab Bowl between all-stars from Maryland and Washington, D.C., but missed game because of injury…born February 9, 1991.
MICHAEL LANG – Had 38 receptions for 960 yards and nine TDs as a senior….the yards and TDs were school single-season records….team advanced to state semifinals …had two receptions in state semifinals…team captain…also played defensive back in high school….First Team All-Suncoast by St. Petersburg Times…First Team All-Pinellas County by St. Petersburg Times… as a junior, had a 75-yard interception return for a TD in state playoff game…played in 2008 Florida North-South All-Star Game…born December 24, 1990.
CHRIS LOPES – Helped lead Tilton to an undefeated season in 2007 and win its first-ever New England Prep School Athletic Conference Super Bowl appearance….had 10 receptions for 350 yards and five TDs….had 60 tackles as a defensive back…had a 23-yard TD reception in Super Bowl….team went 7-2 in 2008 and played in Super Bowl again…was an All-Evergreen League pick and All-New England selection in 2008…originally attended Brockton High School…was a Boston Globe All-Scholastic pick and Big Three League All-Star in 2006…born January 5, 1990.
MICHAEL OSIECKI – 2008 Gatorade State Player of the Year in Connecticut….also earned first team all-state honors from the New Haven Register…two-time first team All-Naugatuck Valley League…team advanced to state Class SS final as a senior…also played fullback in high school, rushing for 1,774 yards and 26 TDs on 199 carries and catching 25 passes for 419 yards and six TDs as a senior…second team all-state his junior year…team captain…born June 14, 1991.
SHAMAR STEPHEN – Had 57 tackles in senior year with 12 sacks….had two blocked field goals…team captain…team went 7-2 in senior year…also plays basketball…..First Team All-American Lutheran Team…born February 25, 1991.
NICK WILLIAMS – Named 2008 Trenton Times Player of the Year…team captain and MVP…all-conference on both offense and defense as a junior and senior and all-conference on defense as a sophomore…as a junior, made 50 tackles with three interceptions….had 11 interceptions as a sophomore…born November 23, 1990.
TREVARDO WILLIAMS – Enrolled at UConn in January of 2009…named to the 2007 all-state team by both the Hartford Courant and the New Haven Register…a two-time all-conference selection…on the track, placed second in New England in the 100 meters in 2007…lived in Jamaica until 1999…born December 31, 1990.
TIM WILLMAN – First-team all-league selection…honorable mention all-state…named to the Howard County Times All-County team…named to the National Football Foundation Baltimore Chapter Academic All-State team…played in 2008 Maryland Crab Bowl between all-stars from Maryland and Washington, D.C….grandfather Lou Cavallo of Wallingford graduated from UConn in mid-50s…born November 23, 1990.
