Symonette ready to prove a point

After coming from the Bahamas' to the United States, 6-foot-9, 320-pound offensive tackle Ian Symonette probably never dreamed of having the kind of opportunities presented before him.

However, according to his sponsor, mentor, and trainer Frank Rutherford, this young man has all the talents of not only one of the great offensive lineman in the college landscape but later on in the NFL as well. College scholarships from Florida State, LSU, Miami, Oklahoma, Texas, Tennessee, Texas A&M, and USC are just a few reasons why this young man will be one to watch.

Rutherford explained that all focus now, however, is on the season ahead rather than recruitment.

"To be quite honest with you, we're not even focusing on recruiting right now," Rutherford said about Symonette's status. "We're not heading in the visit direction just yet because I want him to get on the field this year after sitting out after only two games when he got hurt."

"He continues to train, get faster, quicker, stronger, and get his football technique perfected with training over the summer."

The opportunity for Symonette to make an early and large impact at the Division I level is almost a given. Where he will take his talents is obviously the biggest question.

A group of teams has always been on the mind of the large tackle.

"A kid always has in his mind where he wants to go to school," Rutherford said. "There are also certain realities that we have to look at though along with it. There are the obvious ones like Miami, Texas, Oklahoma, USC, LSU, Tennessee, Michigan."

"We would like him to go to a school where football is the end all because the academics are very comparable."

Keeping with the trend of not rushing such an important decision, the very careful Rutherford along with the talented Symonette are not ready just yet to start talking about a decision time.

"I've told all of my kids that it is so important to take all of the visits that you are allowed to take," Rutherford said. "Some people may think it's redundant, but we are from the Bahamas' and so we don't have that great privilege of being in America already to know what each school is like and has to offer."

One thing is for certain, Rutherford is making sure that this season, this tackle shows what he can do and the doubters are erased – if there are any.

"He's going to show everybody that this season," Rutherford said. "He's taken it to another level. He is indeed the truth. This year, he's going to be the 'International House of Pancakes.'"