F18mustang
02-05-2009, 01:19 PM
GEORGE WATSON l AVALANCHE-JOURNAL
When the calls started coming as the yards and touchdowns started piling up, Shaney Wilkinson could have easily sacrificed his plans to have a shot at Division I football.
But he stayed true to his ideals, and in the end, his family as well.
Coronado’s standout senior wide receiver is following in the family footsteps - so to speak - by signing Wednesday to play football next season at Princeton, where his father is from and where his grandfather taught for 40 years.
“I’m really looking forward to going and playing in the Ivy League,” Wilkinson said. “It’s far from home but the education I’ll get is unparalleled. TCU and Baylor looked at me a little bit but I let it be known I was looking to go to more of an academic school. Academics are so big in the ivy leagues … it’s academics first then athletics.”
Regardless of what he does in the classroom, Wilkinson automatically improves greatly the Tigers’ receiving corps.
Wilkinson set District 2-5A on its ear in 2008, establishing new school records in receptions with 106 and
yards with 1,458 while scoring 18 touchdowns and returning a punt for a score. Princeton’s top receiver last year, Will Thanheiser, had 50 grabs for 814 yards and three touchdowns. In fact, Wilkinson’s yardage total was just 132 yards fewer than the entire Princeton team last year, and he doubled their touchdown output (9).
Wilkinson took visits to Penn and Yale as well, but said Princeton was the best match for him, and he added that family ties played a role but he was not pushed that way.
“The academics are tough there, but to be able to talk to faculty who knew my granddad is a neat deal,” said Wilkinson, who holds a 4.3 GPA at Coronado and plans to major in economics. “And to be able to say I went to Princeton and my grandfather taught there, that’s a neat legacy to have. You’ll take with you forever that network that you have.”
Way to go Shane! I hope you set all kinds of records there!
When the calls started coming as the yards and touchdowns started piling up, Shaney Wilkinson could have easily sacrificed his plans to have a shot at Division I football.
But he stayed true to his ideals, and in the end, his family as well.
Coronado’s standout senior wide receiver is following in the family footsteps - so to speak - by signing Wednesday to play football next season at Princeton, where his father is from and where his grandfather taught for 40 years.
“I’m really looking forward to going and playing in the Ivy League,” Wilkinson said. “It’s far from home but the education I’ll get is unparalleled. TCU and Baylor looked at me a little bit but I let it be known I was looking to go to more of an academic school. Academics are so big in the ivy leagues … it’s academics first then athletics.”
Regardless of what he does in the classroom, Wilkinson automatically improves greatly the Tigers’ receiving corps.
Wilkinson set District 2-5A on its ear in 2008, establishing new school records in receptions with 106 and
yards with 1,458 while scoring 18 touchdowns and returning a punt for a score. Princeton’s top receiver last year, Will Thanheiser, had 50 grabs for 814 yards and three touchdowns. In fact, Wilkinson’s yardage total was just 132 yards fewer than the entire Princeton team last year, and he doubled their touchdown output (9).
Wilkinson took visits to Penn and Yale as well, but said Princeton was the best match for him, and he added that family ties played a role but he was not pushed that way.
“The academics are tough there, but to be able to talk to faculty who knew my granddad is a neat deal,” said Wilkinson, who holds a 4.3 GPA at Coronado and plans to major in economics. “And to be able to say I went to Princeton and my grandfather taught there, that’s a neat legacy to have. You’ll take with you forever that network that you have.”
Way to go Shane! I hope you set all kinds of records there!