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Interesting read on Lackawanna: https://www.washingtonpost.com/spor...offers-one-final-shot/?utm_term=.97dd434eb01f
>>As spring practices take place at big-time college football programs across the country, the scene at Lackawanna offers a distinct contrast. Academics are not only a focal point at this small, two-year junior college in downtown Scranton, they are the potential ticket out for former high school stars hanging on to dreams of playing Division I football. Players end up at this remote school for a variety of reasons, but for the majority it’s because their grades or test scores kept them from attending a major university.
Lackawanna, which has established itself as a junior college powerhouse and finished with an undefeated record last season, draws about a sixth of its roster from the D.C. area each season and represents the closest option for DMV stars — it’s a four-hour drive from Washington and a two-hour drive from Philadelphia — looking for one final chance to make it to the big time.
“Our guys are more of the long shots,” said Duda, who played at the University of Maryland and in the NFL and has been Lackawanna’s head coach since 1994. “When we got them, they were pretty damn good. It’s not like they weren’t good on the field. They were phenomenal players. They just weren’t phenomenal students.”<<
>>As spring practices take place at big-time college football programs across the country, the scene at Lackawanna offers a distinct contrast. Academics are not only a focal point at this small, two-year junior college in downtown Scranton, they are the potential ticket out for former high school stars hanging on to dreams of playing Division I football. Players end up at this remote school for a variety of reasons, but for the majority it’s because their grades or test scores kept them from attending a major university.
Lackawanna, which has established itself as a junior college powerhouse and finished with an undefeated record last season, draws about a sixth of its roster from the D.C. area each season and represents the closest option for DMV stars — it’s a four-hour drive from Washington and a two-hour drive from Philadelphia — looking for one final chance to make it to the big time.
“Our guys are more of the long shots,” said Duda, who played at the University of Maryland and in the NFL and has been Lackawanna’s head coach since 1994. “When we got them, they were pretty damn good. It’s not like they weren’t good on the field. They were phenomenal players. They just weren’t phenomenal students.”<<
