NEW YORK ? Columbia Football welcomes 31 recruited newcomers to the team for 2007, Norries Wilson, the Patricia and Shepard Alexander Head Coach of Football, announced. Thirty individuals represent the class of 2011 and one is a rising junior transfer from Temple University.

“I think the coaching staff did a great job identifying students that were strong enough to succeed at Columbia and help us build a program,” Wilson says.

The incoming group, which now represents 33 percent of the team based on the spring roster, possesses positional balance. Based on positions played in high school and including positional overlaps, the class consists of
? 9 defensive backs
? 8 running backs
? 6 defensive linemen
? 5 wide receivers
? 4 offensive linemen
? 4 tight ends
? 3 linebackers
? 3 quarterbacks
? 1 kicker

“I do not think that the class is particularly strong at any one position,” Wilson notes of the even distribution in the group. “We attempted to address what we thought were needs in the program.”

The class represents 14 states. Virginia is home to five members of the incoming group, making it the most fruitful state for the 2007 class. Four individuals hail from Florida, New Jersey and New York. Michigan and Pennsylvania provided three each, and California, Connecticut and Massachusetts two apiece.

The incoming class follows. Details on the group will be posted in the coming weeks.

COLUMBIA FOOTBALL INCOMING CLASS, 2007