Panthers lineman opts to join Herd

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There is no place like home, especially when it's more than 500 miles and eight hours away. The Oswego offensive lineman, who towered over opponents at 6 feet 7 inches and manhandled them at 300 pounds, found a second home in Huntington, W.Va., when he visited the campus of Marshall University over the weekend.

He came home with a scholarship offer to play for the Thundering Herd.

Jeffries will officially sign his national letter of intent Wednesday. He chose the Thundering Herd over Illinois State, Grand Valley State and several other NAIA and Division II programs.

"It kind of seemed like home to me; I had a good feeling," Jeffries said. "It felt kind of normal. It felt like the right fit. Throughout the weekend I was just getting more and more comfortable with the school itself."

Jeffries' recruitment was interesting in that he was initially sought after by the University of Arizona. But once the Wildcats decided to use their three available offensive line scholarships on junior college players, Arizona offensive line coach Bill Bedenbaugh called Marshall recruiting coordinator and offensive line coach Mike Cummings to tell him about Jeffries.

"Things do work out in mysterious ways," Oswego coach Dave Keely said. "Thank goodness there's a network of coaches out there that if they can't get them into their system, they'll pass them along to somebody else."

Marshall is a Division I program and is part of Conference USA. The Herd finished 4-8 last season, including nonconference losses to Cincinnati, West Virginia and Wisconsin.

The university was also an academic fit for Jeffries.

"I really like the coaching and where they're headed. They're on the upswing," he said. "When I talked to the school president and the academic adviser, that made me feel even more comfortable because they take academics very seriously. That was very important to me."

The big lineman is the second Panther to commit to a Division I program. Running back Tim Riley will sign with Northwestern on Wednesday. Fellow offensive lineman and teammate Mike Wulff will sign with Division II Ferris State University in Big Rapids, Mich. Football