Wednesday, January 03, 2018

'D' Of A Different Color

Like his father, he was a terrific high school wide receiver. Like his dad, he's a fine student. And like his father, he chose to continue his football career at a top academic school that features a "D" logo.

Jake Bobo's "D," however, belongs to Duke, not Dartmouth, where his father Mike Bobo '92 caught 112 passes for 1,412 yards and 13 touchdowns in his three seasons with the Big Green varsity. The Concord (Mass.) Wicked Local site has a story about the decision by the son of the former Dartmouth captain to sign last month with the Blue Devils. (LINK)

Taller than his father at  6-foot-4, the younger Bobo caught 99 passes for 1,853 yards and 21 touchdowns as a high schooler at Belmont Hill School and was ranked by a couple of services as the No. 3 or No. 4 recruit in Massachusetts. According to 247 Sports he chose Duke over offers from Boston College, Wake Forest, UMass, Harvard, Yale, and yes, Dartmouth, among others.

Here's his dad's entry in the 1991 Dartmouth media guide:
Click to enlarge.
Bobo wasn't the only familiar name in the news this week, although the other is in futbol, not football.

Jeff Cook, who led Dartmouth to five Ivy League men's soccer titles before moving on in 2012, has been named head coach of the sport at Penn State. (LINK) Cook helped the Big Green to seven NCAA appearances in 12 years before heading to Pennsylvania to develop the Philadelphia Union of Major League Soccer (MLS) youth program.

Both the Penn State men's and women's soccer teams will now be led by former Dartmouth coaches. Erica (Walsh) Dambach, who helped the Big Green to a pair of Ivy League titles in three years running the program, has won nine Big Ten titles in 11 years in Happy Valley with a 169-55-14 overall record. Her team won the 2015 national championship.