Hrinya talks Cuse

Syracuse's fourth commitment of the 2006 recruiting season came from athlete Derek Hrinya of Warwick, N.Y. What stood out about the Orange that made the 6-foot-0, 200-pounder want to commit there?

"Basically the coaches stuck out," he said. "They were really excited when I committed and happy that I decided to go there. They were really nice guys and they made me feel comfortable about the big college life. I visited them about a month ago to go to camp there and they showed me around the university and football facilities. I really liked the Carrier Dome. It's crazy, I've never seen anything like that before and it was just amazing to walk in there and see it."

One other thing that helped Syracuse's cause was that they recruited Hrinya for different positions.

"The biggest thing was that they are recruiting me as an athlete," he said. "I'll probably go to defensive back, but they told me that they'll give me a shot at running back. They weren't just lying to me to get me to go there and they told me whatever I excel at is where they'll put me."

Hyinya grew up a fan of the 'Cuse. How does it feel for him to finally be a part of the team?

"Sometimes it's not even real because I watch them play on TV all the time and just to be a part of it is crazy," he said. "It's like a dream come true and I'm a New York football player and Syracuse is the biggest school in the state for football. I grew up watching Syracuse and Donovan McNabb and the opportunity to go there is great, it can't get any better than this."

Living so close to Syracuse, Hrinya plans to journey to many of the Syracuse home games this season.

"I want to see how well the team does against the competition," he said. "I also want to see where they need help and where I can be the best asset to the team. I'm going to just sit back and take it all in as I'll be playing for them soon."

The athlete plans to bring as much as he can to the team too.

"I think I'll definitely add some speed," he said. "I ran the fastest 40 time at the camp and if I'm running in the open field, I'm going to be able to eat up some yardage. If I'm on defense I can use my speed to get to the ball carrier quicker or get to the interception. My speed is the biggest thing I'll bring."

Hrinya also has high hopes for Syracuse.

"I think the future is going to be great there," he said. "Greg Robinson was involved with Texas and before that the NFL and he's already starting to rebuild the program. I think in the next four or five years Syracuse is going to be up there among the top schools in the nation."

In order to help them get there, Hrinya is working hard now to improve his abilities.

"I'm continuing to work on my speed," he said. "It's alright, but there is always room for improvement. I am going to hit the gym hard now and do an extra little bit so that I'm not as far behind from the players that have been there already."

Hrinya accounted for 428 rushing yards and eight offensive touchdowns. He added 23 tackles on defense.