When Kareem Gaulden entered the halls of Lincoln High School for the first time a little more than three years ago, he weighed all of 90 pounds.
That’s no misprint. Gaulden stood 5-foot-6 and weighed all of 90 pounds. It’s not exactly the frame of a potential college football player.
“I started taking weight protein drinks,” Gaulden said. “I knew I was too little. Everyone was telling me that I was a little with a big head. I got a little bigger, but I didn’t think it was enough.”
Gaulden eventually grew to 6-foot-2 and he now weighs a solid 190 pounds. He now has the size to play college football and last week, the soon-to-be Lincoln senior defensive back made a verbal commitment to Temple University.
That former 90-pound weakling is a Division I football player. What a transformation!
Gaulden is not the only Lincoln football player to make his college intentions known this week.
Versatile standout wide receiver/running back/defensive back/kick returner Frank Darby, one of the most diversified athletes to ever come out of Lincoln, gave the University of Iowa his word that he will accept a scholarship there.
That’s two D-I prospects in the same week at a school that went decades without a single one.
“It’s a very humbling experience,” said Lincoln head coach Robert Hampton, who works tirelessly in his postseason activities to promote his players and get them into college. “You try to develop kids to go to the higher level and make sure that the kids have the right classes and the right mental makeup to make it. You need to make sure that they can qualify [as freshmen according to the NCAA regulations]. It’s not easy.
Added Hampton, “I think we’ve turned the corner now, with these two. For a kid to go from Lincoln to D-I, I couldn’t be happier.”
Darby was always the bigger recruit. He’s the one who had 30-plus catches and nine touchdowns receiving with his spectacular leaping and impeccable speed and balance. Just one look at Darbby and you knew he was the real deal, the finished produxct.
Gaulden is the biggest surprise, because no one had Gaudlen on the radar gun.
“Frank had some offers, like Pittsburgh and Purdue,” Hampton explained. “He just went to Pitt and fell in love with it.”
For Gauldin, it was a chance to expand his horizons. He previously had offers from Monmouth and New Hampshire. Rutgers and Marist came into the picture late, so they lost out. Temple was in the right place at the right time.
“He went to Temple’s camp and ran a 4.5 50-yard dash,” Hampton said. “Once that got around, more people got involved. But for Kareem, the recruiting was over. He was going to Temple.”
“When I went to Temple for a visit, they made me feel so comfortable,” Gaulden said. “They have a great facility. It’s a good school.”
Hampton is trying to establish his program as being a traditional breeding ground for college recruiters. But in the past, his players had a tough time reaching the academic standards to become Division I eligible right away, so several former Lions had to go the junior college route.
Some, like Ronald Butler (Utah State) and Lamar McKnight (Adams State), have excelled after taking the JUCO option.
“We want people to realize that kids can go Division I from a public school,” Hampton said. “We have such a great group of kids. It’s a great group of kids to be around. We want to maintain a legacy, with colleges realizing that they can come here to get quality kids.”
Earlier this year, Devell Jones (Monmouth) and Daisjon Robinson (Delaware) signed letters of intent to go to their schools right away. Now this year, there’s Gaulden and Darby, with Jason Harrison and Zymire Gordon still waiting to make their college choices known. There’s a chance that all four members of the Lions starting secondary last year will be scholarship players this year.
“It’s been a great week for our program,” Hampton said. “This is outstanding.”
Gaulden said that he was happy for Darby as well.
“Me and my teammates push each other every day in practice,” Gaulden said. “When Frank runs his routes, I try to not let him get by me. I don’t like him getting by me. It’s a great feeling to know that someone else on my team is reaching the same heights as I am. We’re always there for each other, two Division I players on the same team.”
Not just any same team. They’re from Lincoln. That says a lot.
There was a third local product who gave a verbal commitment to a Division I school last week.
St. Peter’s Prep wide receiver K.J. Gray told Boston College that he would be heading there next fall. Gray joins Jonathan Hilliman, Charlie Callinan and Michael Giacone as former Prep grid standouts on the Boston College roster. Gray had a host of offers to sort through and decided that Boston College was the best fit.
Needless to say, it was a great week for Hudson County football. – Jim Hague
Jim Hague can be reached at OGSMAR@aol.com.