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Golden Bears' Kemme decides to attend Akron

Thursday, December 16, 2004

PATRICK DOLAN

ThisWeek Staff Writer

Upper Arlington High School football coach Darrell Mayne is not surprised that Division I colleges took notice of 6-foot-6, 255-pound senior Chris Kemme, the Golden Bears' starting left tackle the last two seasons.

"He has the size and reach that are tremendously important to major colleges," Mayne said of Kemme, who verbally committed Dec. 7 to Akron University. "All major colleges are looking for tall offensive linemen with great reach, and Chris has both of those qualities."

But according to Mayne, Kemme's height and wingspan aren't his only assets.

"He's also very athletic and very mobile and he's certainly an excellent football player," Mayne said. "I think those are some of the reasons why Akron pursued him so much. They realize the potential he has. ... There's no question that they wanted him for a while."

Among the other Division I colleges that showed interest were West Virginia, Minnesota, Cincinnati and Miami of Ohio. However, Akron was the first to offer him a scholarship, and the Zips' steadfast pursuit weighed heavily in his decision.

"It came down between (Akron) and West Virginia, but West Virginia was waiting to hear back from some other recruits and I really didn't want to wait for them," said Kemme, an honorable-mention all-OCC-Ohio Division selection as a senior.

That wasn't the only factor that played a role in his decision, however.

"They have brand new (athletic) facilities and a new head coach (J.D. Brookhart) and I like the direction they're going in," he said.

This fall in Brookhart's first season, Akron finished 6-5 overall and went 6-2 in the MAC-East Division to tie Marshall for second behind Miami (7-1) while finishing ahead of Can't State (4-4), Buffalo (2-6), Ohio (2-6) and Central Florida (0-8).

This year marks only the second time the Zips have had back-to-back winning seasons since moving up to Division I-A in 1987. They finished 7-5 overall in 2003.

"Obviously, I'm very pleased for Chris," Mayne said. "I feel it's a great opportunity for him. Akron is going through a real resurgence in terms of their athletic facilities and the things that they did on the field this fall. They're on an upswing, and I feel that Chris will be a fine contributor to their program as they continue to go forward."

Kemme likely won't see his first action with Akron until the 2006 season.

"(The coaches) said that they probably will redshirt me next year but that I probably could start in a couple years," he said.

Being redshirted as would allow Kemme to add weight to his already large frame.

That said, he might be the biggest offensive lineman Akron has on its roster at the start of the 2006 season.

The only offensive lineman on the Zips' roster this season who measures up to him in terms of height was 6-6 senior Mike Grzeskowiak. Only two other offensive linemen -- 6-5 sophomores Mike Donaldson and Justin Hein -- were taller than 6-4.

"It's a tremendous advantage when you get redshirted," Mayne said. "Adjusting to college can be tough, so being redshirted helps you academically and it allows you to grow into the (football) system."

[GoZips]

This kid has all the tools to play Defensive End. Six foot six, 255#, foot speed, mobile, long reach. Any one else see this picture? Article reads like he loves to play the game.

[Guest CurrentZip]

I've seen him play. He has good mobility for an OFFENSIVE TACKLE (at 255, it's hard not to), but way too slow to play on the D-Line.

[Captain Kangaroo]

Wasn't Jud Cummins from Upper Arlington?

[Captain Kangaroo]

Hoops player too:

Kemme flexing muscles at center

Thursday, December 16, 2004

PATRICK DOLAN

ThisWeek Staff Writer

As far as Upper Arlington High School boys basketball coach Tim Casey is concerned, some central Ohio teams can boast of having a taller center than his squad, but few can say it has a stronger post player.

At 6-foot-6, 255 pounds, senior Chris Kemme can be a handful for opposing teams. His size enables him to take up a lot of room under the basket, while his strength allows him to outmuscle opponents for rebounds.

"He's a moose," Casey said of Kemme, who made a verbal commitment to play football at Akron University on Dec. 7. "He's extremely hard to move. Guys just bounce off him. And he's deceptively quick. He doesn't look like he can move, but he's pretty quick. ... When he's focused, I don't think there's a whole lot of guys who can guard him. And he's a great defender in the middle."

Kemme, a three-year varsity player and second-year starter, was third on the team in scoring (9.1 points per game) last season behind Thomas Kluz (15.3) and Ben Lupton (12.7). Given the fact that Kluz and Lupton both graduated, Kemme is being counted on to help carry the offensive load for the Bears this season. And through four games, he is averaging 13.5 points, which ranks him second on the team in scoring behind junior Matt Streng (16.8).

"I knew that Matt Streng and I had to replace two good players," Kemme said, referring to Kluz and Lupton. "I knew I had to score more points this year. I had a couple chats with coach Casey before the season about how he needed me to be one of the leaders and about how he needed me to score points."

Kemme scored a career-high 19 points in a 57-48 win over visiting Westerville North on Dec. 7 and has been in double figures in points in all but one game. Last season, he scored in double figures in nine of the 21 games.

"He's the most experienced guy we have," said Casey, whose team fell to 2-2 overall and 1-1 in the OCC-Ohio Division with a 56-44 loss to Newark last Friday. "He's the one guy we have who has a tremendous amount of varsity experience. ... I told him that we needed to rely on him to score points this year, and he's come through for us. He's been doing a great job. If he stays out of foul trouble, he'll have a great senior year."

According to Casey, Kemme is held in high esteem by all his teammates.

"He's continuing to grow into the leadership role," Casey said. "He's one of the players in our program that guys instantly respond to. The kids really respect him."