Surrounded by Washington D.C.’s political breeding grounds, UNM head football coach Mike Locksley inescapably learned the art of shaking hands and kissing babies.
How else could Locksley convince five-star offensive tackle Cyrus Kouandijo to visit UNM during Saturday’s Cherry-Silver scrimmage after the Lobos’ 1-11 season?
Ask Kouandijo, and he’ll enlighten you. Citing countless conversations he’s had with Locksley, Kouandijo said Locksley treats high school prospects with dignity, not just looking to persuade them to come for the sake of adding another big-time recruit to their pool of snags.
“Locksley’s a good guy,” Kouandijo said. “With him, it’s a family environment. He’s one of the very few coaches that actually cares about his students. He doesn’t look at me as a pawn or a piece of meat. He looks at me as a player, athlete, student and person.”
Kouandijo, who hails from
DeMatha Catholic High School in Hyattsville, Md., said he has 25 offers on the table from big-name schools like Alabama, USC, LSU and UCLA. Among the top-tiered programs, Kouandijo is also considering UNM as a possible destination. The environment, he said, is advantageous to cultivating his NFL prospects, even more so in Locksley’s offensive system.
“I noticed everywhere he goes, in three years, he gets the team up,” Kouandijo said. “I think he can get something started down here.”
Still, Kouandijo was noncommittal about the likelihood he’ll attend UNM. In February, his brother, Arie, narrowed his college choices down to two, before choosing to sign with Alabama instead of UNM. Kouandijo said he’ll visit Duke or Rutgers this week, but ultimately he won’t make a decision on which institution he’ll attend more than a day before Signing Day.
More than anything, Kouandijo said, UNM is an attractive destination because he will likely play immediately.
“A lot of these schools out there — they want me,” Kouandijo said. “But this school, I feel as if they need me.”
Better yet, according to several online reports, Deon Long, a highly touted wide receiver from Dunbar High School in Washington D.C., announced he’ll enroll at UNM this summer.
