OT Greene leads the way at Bishop Carroll

Ebensburg (Pa.) Bishop Carroll features two prospects to watch in 2009. The star of the group is 6-foot-5, 304-pound offensive tackle Steve Greene who is getting noticed by some major colleges in the ACC, Big East and Big Ten.

"He went out to Notre Dame's camp last summer and right away Coach Weis and Coach Latina saw him and paid attention," Bishop Carroll head coach Craig Sponsky said. "He's also getting looks from Penn State, Pittsburgh, Maryland and Rutgers. The mail is getting absurd."

Does Greene like anybody?

"I honestly think he loves Penn State. He grew up a Penn State fan," he said. "He fell in love with Notre Dame out on his visit and really likes Maryland a lot too."

Obviously schools are interest, but what stands out about Greene?

"Steve is gifted athletically," he said. "He's very mobile for a kid his size and has a great work ethic. Every day he goes out and gives every effort to be the best football player he can be. He tries to improve all his skills. He's also a great kid academically. He does everything he's asked.

"I think he needs to work on his explosiveness more. He gets big hits on people, but could be quicker and they could be bigger hits."

While Greene is certain to receive a number of looks, his teammate, 5-foot-10, 155-pound punter James McCombie will likely have to wait a little longer.

"His natural God given ability to punt a football is unreal," he said. "He works at it year round and has an uncanny knack to hit the air out of the football. He goes to all the punting and kicking circuits. In fact, he went to the Ray Guy pro kicker and ended up being ranked No. 7 nationally, third in the Northeast. He's a legitimate kicking prospect.

"He has such great hang time which is the thing that has caught the recruiter's attention. He's a quick two-step punter with great flexibility. He's also a student of the game, very knowledgable. He just needs to work on his placement of punts."

A handful of schools including Illinois and Virginia have taken an early look at McCombie so far.

McCombie earned all-state for the second straight year this past fall.