Long Beach City College football head coach Brett Peabody has announced that 17 former Vikings will be transferring to four-year institutions to continue their academic and athletic careers this fall.
"We are incredibly proud of these young men," said Peabody. "They performed at a high level on the field and more important, they handled their business in the classroom. These guys have set the tone for the future of LBCC Vikings Football and the future is very bright."
Defensive lineman David Davis (Ranchos Palos Verdes HS), kicker Matt Mengel (Pacific Lutheran HS), tight end Nick Lehman (St. John Bosco HS), and running back Shawn Turner (Sicklerville, NJ) top the list as they are set to transfer to NCAA Division I universities.
Davis and Mengel are both headed to the University of California (Berkeley), Lehman is off to the University of New Mexico, while Turner will go back to his home state of New Jersey to play at Rutgers University.
Moving on to NCAA Division IAA colleges are offensive lineman Lawrence Schuster (Edison HS) and Taylor Bongiovanni (Redondo Union HS). Schuster is off to Mississippi Valley State University while Bongiovanni is heading south to the University of San Diego.
The complete list of LBCC football transfers is below:
Name (High School), College (Level)
David Davis (Ranchos Palos Verdes), University of California (D1)
Nick Lehman* (St. John Bosco), University of New Mexico (D1)
Matt Mengel (Pacific Lutheran), University of California (D1)
Shawn Turner (Winslow, NJ), Rutgers Univ. (D1) Pref. Walk – on
Lawrence Schuster (Edison), Mississippi Valley State (1AA)
Taylor Bongiovanni (Redondo Union), University of San Diego (1AA)
AA Vaaulu (Warren), Texas A & M Kingsville (D2)
Patrick Ropati (Jordan), West Texas A & M (D2)
Josh Fasavalu (Poly), Virginia Union (D2)
Joel Panteau (Banning), Minot State (D2)
Brandon Lee (Lawndale), Edward Waters College (D2)
Mikail Parr (Serra), Minot State (D2)
Cale Dester (South Torrance), Concordia (MN) (D2)
Kevin Medearis (Lakewood), Texas A & M Commerce (D2)
Emanuel Wyatt (Gahr), Minot State (D2)
Jaylenn Hart (Inglewood), Southern Oregon (NAIA)
Kelly Harpham (Lakewood), Long Beach State (academic)
Members of the 2014 LBCC Football squad have also made commitments to four-year programs, including sophomore wide receivers Josiah Blandin (Poly HS) and De'Quan Hampton (Dominguez HS). Blandin is set to go to the University of Colorado while Hampton intends to take his talents to USC after the upcoming season.
The 2014 season kicks off on September 6 when the Vikings host Moorpark College at 6 p.m. at Veterans Memorial Stadium.