Leslie is committed to play football at Dartmouth. It was a 40-year decision over a four-year one: Leslie believes the educational opportunities, networking and doors opened at an Ivy League institution far outweigh the Division II interest he was receiving in hoops.
And . . .
Mullen football coach Jeremy Bennett called the wideout/point guard/long jumper “the number one unknown athlete in this state.”
And he’s a Top 10 athlete overall,” Bennett said. “He’s not going to run 10.7 on the track or (get on a lot of watch lists in football or basketball)… but he does everything really well. He’s a very physical athlete. Had he played four years of football, with his grades and his prowess, we may be talking about how he chose Stanford or Northwestern. He’s that good.”
Per MaxPreps he had 41 receptions for 705 yards, a 17.2 average, with 10 touchdowns this fall. In his two years he has 66 catches for 1,382 yards, a 20.9-yarge average and 14 touchdowns.
As a reminder, here's the best guess at the Dartmouth commit list thanks to Big Green Alert readers and Xwitter:
• DT Jackson Ashford, 6-2, 250, IMG Academy/Bradenton, Fla.
• WR James Elliott, 6-2, 195, Williston-Northampton/Leeds, Mass.
• DT Taylor Faalele, 6-2, 325, IMG Academy/Plymouth, Minn.
• ILB Tyler Kessel, 6-1 ½, 215 Summit HS/Summit, N.J.
• N Lou Lamar, 6-2, 185, Concordia Lutheran/Magnolia, Texas
• WR Jordan Leslie, 6-1, 180, Mullen HS/Denver, Colo.
• QB Kyle Meier, 6-3, 225, Whitesboro HS/Whitesboro, N.Y.
• OL Anthony Ndika, 6-4, 290, Loomis Chaffee/Nigeria
• ILB Johnny Riley, 6-3, 210, Delbarton/Morristown, N.J.
• WR Luke Rives, 6-0, 170, Stratford HS/Houston
• TE Kristian Strong, 6-4, 225, Avon Old Farms/Avon, Conn.
• OL Julian Sutton, 6-4, 306, Loomis Chaffee/Hamden, Conn.
• OL Ryan Turk, 6-4, 280, Loyola HS/Los Angeles
With help from emails, positions have been refined since the last posting and one previously reported commit would appear to have reopened the process. Surfing the internet seems to suggest there's at least one more name to be added to the list prior to finalization of the EDC process next month but nothing has been confirmed.
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So much for the "coming." From the "going" category, here's a grad transfer highlight video from Nick Howard showing him running through, around and over defenses, hitting passes and even catching the ball:
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A charter BGA reader and good friend who learned from BGA that Ryan Day played quarterback at New Hampshire did a little Googling and came up with a story headlined A Look Back At Ryan Day's Playing Days At University Of New Hampshire, Including A Game-Winning Drive Against Dartmouth HERE.
Because I know so many of you will not click through (right?), here's the Xweet included in the story about the Ohio State coach that shows the New Hampshire comeback and last-gasp TD pass that gave UNH a 42-38 win over Dartmouth in 2001:
How about this #TBT from 2001:
— New Hampshire Football (@UNH_Football) May 7, 2020
Former Wildcat QB @ryandaytime with the game-winning TD pass in the final seconds to beat Dartmouth #GraniteStrong pic.twitter.com/At2FqchfVn
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EXTRA POINT
It was on this date in 1942 that the film Casablanca had an advance premier in New York City, as a Wikipedia entry notes, "to capitalize on Operation Torch (the Allied invasion of French North Africa) and the capture of Casablanca." (LINK)
A few years ago Mrs. BGA and I went to see the Humphrey Bogart-Ingrid Bergman vehicle for the first time in a theater. I still remember that the crowd, which probably knew all the classic lines such as these, applauded when it was over.
