Porter: Louisville's Swigert couldn't have made a bad decision

Louisville quarterback Bob Swigert couldn’t have made a bad decision when he was choosing a college. His final three, before he verbally committed to Boston College, were the Eagles, Stanford and Michigan.

And get this: He could have fallen back on Harvard. It was tempting, but in the end Swigert wanted to compete on the playing field and off it at a high level. He will play wide receiver at B.C. and also will play baseball.

“It was definitely tempting,” Swigert said of the Harvard offer. “I’d be walking out of there with a high starting salary. My two things throughout this process were No. 1, great academics and No. 2, I wanted to go somewhere with a high level of football.”

Swigert maintains a 3.9 grade-point average.

The Eagles run a wide open offense with four and five receivers. Swigert is expected to be used in a slot position, and he could play as early as next fall.

WILLIAMS HONORED

McKinley graduate Monterae Williams, now a running back at the University of Findlay, was named the Freshman of the Year by the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. Findlay is a Division II school.

Williams rushed for 937 yards on 222 carries and six touchdowns. He had three games of 130 yards or more and ran up 196 against Ferris State. Williams also was a second-team all-conference selection.

Williams played in every game and started the last 10.

“Monterae was an early qualifier for us,” McKinley head coach Ron Johnson said. “He kind of got caught up in a transition between coaches more than anything. It was really important for him to go somewhere he was going to play early. He’s a full scholarship guy. He’s playing for a good football team, and he’s a big factor on that team. It was a great fit for him.”

NOT THE ONLY PUP THERE

Williams isn’t the only McKinley graduate playing well at Findlay. Marcus Parker is a starter on the basketball team and played for the Oilers when they won a national title last year.

OTHER BULLDOGS WAITING

McKinley linebacker Jewone Snow has not made a decision on where he will go to college, but Snow is juggling offers from Michigan State, Purdue, West Virginia, Illinois, Indiana and Cincinnati among other schools.

It would be interesting if Snow landed in Cincinnati, a program that was an afterthought for blue chip prospects from Ohio in the past. Now because the Bearcats program is among the best in the country, players have to consider them.

Running back Bryce Wilder has been offered by Syracuse and Iowa State as well as Mid-American Conference schools, according to Johnson.

“Right now, to their credit, they’re keeping the main thing the main thing,” Johnson said before McKinley’s playoff game against GlenOak. “Their focus is on the field. If we keep playing, there will be all kinds of good things that happen for those guys.”

JUST CHECKING

After the well publicized press box flap between Canton City Schools and Massillon during the annual rivalry game, it was interesting that McKinley played at Paul Brown Tiger Stadium this weekend and Massillon played at Fawcett.

McKinley played GlenOak at Paul Brown Tiger Stadium on Saturday in a playoff game. Massillon played Twinsburg at Fawcett on Saturday night.

Press box passes were not an issue. Massillon officials sent eight press box passes to Canton City Schools for the game in Massillon, and Massillon officials received eight press box passes for its game against Twinsburg.