Hubbard High duo raking in offers

Hubbard (Ohio) head coach Brian Hoffman may need to hire his own clerical staff with all the mail coming in for his players this spring. Hubbard has four players receiving Division 1 letters, and two – running back Andre Givens and athlete Kurtis Drummond – who have hit double digit offer totals already.

"I think Andre has about 13 on the table right now and Kurtis has about ten," Coach Hoffman reported.

The 5-10, 185-pound Givens currently holds offers from Wisconsin, Pitt, Toledo, Buffalo, Maryland, Illinois, Michigan State, Cincinnati, Louisville, Indiana, Akron, Toledo and Bowling Green. He has also been hearing considerably from West Virginia, Notre Dame and several others.

"The teams that he was, I think, most interested originally were Illinois and Notre Dame," Coach Hoffman said. "Notre Dame has expressed interest, but I think they are kind of waiting until the end of the school year to see where he's at. Other schools are Penn State and we haven't heard anything from any of the Florida schools, but he does have an interest in Florida and Florida State."

According to Coach Hoffman, Givens has made a few campus visits to in-state schools like Ohio State and Toledo, but he is still weighing his options and will likely take more trips in the future.

This past fall, Coach Hoffman utilized Givens' 4.46 speed in the 40-yard dash to gash opponents with their spread offensive attack.

"He is very elusive, has great acceleration, the ability to see holes, make cuts on a dime and make guys miss," Coach Hoffman said. "He doesn't take a lot of clean shots because he makes guys miss. We run a spread offense and he's able to hit that cut-back seam and he's got a burst when he finds some daylight."

The 6-2, 198-pound Hubbard has his own impressive bunch of offers, among them Michigan State, Indiana, Louisville, Toledo, Bowling Green, Akron and Cincinnati.

"He received an offer from Boston College yesterday," Coach Hoffman reported. "Pitt is also interested and they may offer him soon. I know West Virginia is also interested."

This past season, Hubbard played both wide receiver and defensive back for Hubbard and Coach Hoffman feels he could potentially play either side of the ball in college.

"He's a pretty versatile kid," Coach Hoffman said. "I think it is just what a team needs. I could see Kurtis putting on another 15-20 pounds easily and moving into a strong safety position for someone, but I also see him being a big time, possession type receiver who goes across the middle with his big frame and is not afraid to take a hit.

"As I'm talking to coaches, some of them want him as a receiver and some of them want him defensively. Knowing Kurtis, I think offense is where he prefers to play and maybe where he is a little better suited, but he's definitely an athlete."

Besides Drummond and Givens, Hubbard also features 6-2, 160-pound wide receiver Tommy Jackson who is receiving attention from Ball State and Cincinnati as well as 6-3, 270-pound lineman Dom Dionisio who is generating interest from Pitt and Louisville.