Local schools interest Armstrong

Although his teammate and classmate, defensive end Malik McDowell, has garnered the most college interest early in the process, Detroit Loyola 2014 offensive tackle Ka'John Armstrong is proving he is BCS caliber material as well.

"Recently I have been getting letters from Michigan, Michigan State, Iowa, the University of Cincinnati, Ohio State and all the Big Ten schools," Armstrong said. "I really don't want to move too far away from my family, but I will say I am considering whether I should [look at] others. Lately, though, I haven't gotten letters from the other [conferences]."

The school that Armstrong has become the most familiar with early in the process is Michigan State, and he has attended multiple games in East Lansing this season.

"I went to their first game when they played Boise State and I also went to their game against Ohio State. The Spartans are showing the most interest in me. They are sending me information about their school, their coaches, their academics and invites to the games."

"I also want to visit Michigan and Ohio State. Ohio State is very interesting to me. I had a chance to meet Brady Hoke and ever since then I have been getting letters from Michigan, so I believe they are also very interested. I have been invited to Michigan games, but I haven't had the opportunity to go because their games are on the same days as ours."

The 6-foot-5, 275-pound Armstrong is a very athletic offensive tackle prospect who recorded sub-5.0 40-yard dash times at camps this past off-season.

"After my sophomore year was over, I didn't really stop," Armstrong said. "I stayed in the weight room, kept doing agility drills and went to as many camps as I could, so I think that's why I got a little bit better."

Armstrong has helped lead Detroit Loyola to a perfect 10-0 record on the season, and in the meantime he and McDowell are helping each other become better all-around football players every day in practice.

"We just motivate each other. We push each other to go harder and compete with one another. When we play other teams we'll have little competitions like who will make the first play, the first big block and things like that."

Loyola plays University of Liggett this weekend in the second round of the Michigan high school state playoffs. They are a strong contender for a state title this year which would prevent Armstrong from making more college game visits this month, but if the opportunity does arise he would be interested in seeing games at Michigan and Ohio State.