A recurring series where we will profile every player on Maryland's roster, counting down to kick-off against William & Mary on September 1. Thanks to OBNUG for the idea.
Today we profile an incoming fullback.
Kenneth Goins, Freshman, Full Back, #30
Stats:
Height: 5'9"
Weight: 220
Major: Undecided
Twitter: @Kenny_Goins_1
Collegiate Stats: N/A
High School Stats (Senior Year): 290 yards rushing with 11 touchdowns, 61 tackles and 15 sacks
Recruiting Ratings: Three stars by Scout (#108 RB), 24/7 (#21 in MD, #51 RB), ESPN (#17 in MD, #90 OLB), two stars by Rivals
High School: Gilman
Hometown: Baltimore, Md.
High School Highlights:
How'd He Get to College Park?
Goins was a defensive standout at Baltimore powerhouse Gilman, and was named the Baltimore Sun's 2011 All-Met Defensive Player of the Year (the Post's selection was Stefon Diggs) after posting 30 sacks in his last two high school seasons. Besides starring at linebacker, Goins was a pretty good running back and ran track at Gilman.
Despite all those defensive accolades, Goins will be playing fullback in college, likely due to his small stature. He was offered by the Terps in November of last year, put them in his top three (with Syracuse and Tulane) a week later, and committed a week after that.
In addition to Maryland, he received offers from Georgia Tech, Navy, Pittsburgh, Syracuse, Vanderbilt and West Virginia, among others.
Nickname:
Kenneth "Kentucky Gentleman" Goins. It would work better if he was actually from Kentucky, but the initials will do.
Career Highlight:
Committing to Maryland.
Career Lowlight:
N/A.
Dream Season:
Goins finds playing time, somehow.
Nightmare Season:
That's not very likely.
2012 Prospectus:
Goins is third on the depth chart at fullback, behind walk-on Jeff Hernandez and starter Tyler Cierski. Cierski seems fully entrenched in that position for some years to come, so it's hard to see where or when Goins will get playing time at Maryland, at least for the foreseeable future.
Goins will likely be the backup starter this year, but not the backup fullback - there is a distinction. Our guess is that Hernandez will fill in when Cierski needs a breather, with the hope that Goins can preserve his redshirt, but if there's a situation where Cierski has to miss an entire game, the true freshman will start.
Here's hoping he finds some playing time eventually - he was a great player in high school, and hell, a fullback with offers from two triple option schools? Sign me up.
Up Next:
Our next two players both played for a head coach in high school who played two games with the Bengals in the 90s, and is now coaching in the one of the top mid-major basketball conferences in the country (as a wide receivers coach).
Maryland1206 gets one back.
Standings:
Terpsonfire - 11
Maryland1206 - 10
Dirty_Terps - 8
kbuts151 - 6
bubbasparks - 4
ClickClack62 - 3
Terpsfinish - 2
curterp - 2
T Free - 1
Mdak06 - 1
clevesanterp - 1
CSB Jack - 1
fballplyr92 - 1
Everybody else - 0