Syracuse Gets Versatile Lineman

When Cornelius Campbell received word that he had been offered a scholarship by Syracuse, he jumped at the opportunity. He's making the Orangemen realize they made a good decision with his great play early this year.

"Syracuse is just a great school, and I'm fortunate to be able to attend," said the 6-foot-3, 270-pound Campbell. "Right when I heard that they offered I knew that I would end up there. There's a great family atmosphere, and the coaches make sure you play really disciplined football."

Campbell plays for Hyattsville (Md.) DeMatha, which is annually one of the top teams in the nation.

"We just lost to Gonzaga, so our record is 3-2. Everybody on our team made a lot of mental errors, and we broke down on too many plays. All we could do was tell them that they played better than us, and that we'd see them in the championship," he laughed.

Campbell isn't sure what position he'll play in college, because he's dominating both sides of the line. As a defensive tackle he has four sacks and nine tackles for loss in just five games. As an offensive guard he's recorded eight pancake blocks and has developed into one of the top overall players in the league.

"Before I committed to Syracuse on the 24th, I was considering Maryland, Wake Forest and Virginia. They were all good schools, but looking back I realize that Syracuse was the best fit for me. I'm going to take my official visit to Syracuse, but won't take any other visits. They were good to me, so I'm going to faithful to them."

Campbell runs the 40-yard dash in 5.08 seconds, and can bench press 225 pounds 17 times. He has also done three squat reps at 405 pounds.

"I can tell that my whole game is improving," said Campbell. "I want to make sure that the others schools that didn't offer realize that they're going to hate to play against me at the next level."