Drew Smith goes to Ualbany
GUILDERLAND Andrew Smith is keeping his electric football skills at home.
The Guilderland senior has made his college choice and its the University at Albany.
Smith chose Bob Fords program over the University of New Hampshire and will enroll at the school in the fall where he will play for the Great Danes.
"I feel great about Albany," Smith said after Tuesday’s basketball game against Colonie. "I went with [teammate Paul] Booker and Kyle Hussey and had a great time. Bob Ford is a great coach and Coach [Ryan] McCarthy is a good quarterbacks coach. It’s a program on the rise. Dr. [Lee] McElroy is a great Athletic Director."
Smith said part of the reason he decided to go to the University at Albany is because he will be able to play offense. But that is just a part of it.
"I want to study business and they have a hell of a program," Smith said. "My godfather is Dr. [L. Oliver] Robinson the superintendent at Shenendehowa. He told me it is a good school. I know a couple of people there."
Albany won the Northeast Conference this fall and played in a bowl game earlier this month against the University of Dayton in Ohio. Ford was named Coach of the Year in the conference.
The university is trying to get funding to build a new stadium that would help the program rise from the middle of the pack in the NCAA Football Championship Division (formerly Division I-AA) to the upper part of the division.
Albany is also handing out full scholarships to football players.
"I’m the first they’ve given one to since they began giving them out," Smith said. "They just went to full scholarships. That is something that means a lot to me. I get to be in the hometown and stay in the community and still play Division I-AA. I definitely want to help them rise and be a factor in Division I-AA.
"I want to help them reach the level of a UNH and an Appalachian State and be near the top of Division I-AA level," Smith added. "And with the work they are doing there, it’s possible."