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BCSP Notes . . .

Mathis Shines at NFL Combine
Only four black college players were among the some 350 athletes on hand in Indianapolis this week for the annual NFL Scouting Combine. They were:
  • Drayton Florence, DB, Tuskegee
  • Vishante Shianco, TE, Morgan State
  • Derek Watson, RB, South Carolina State
  • Rashean Mathis, DB, Bethune-Cookman
Mathis was a first-team Div. I-AA all-American, the MEAC Defensive Player of the Year and also became the first defensive back to win the Buck Buchanan Award, given to the best defensive player in I-AA football. He apparently, was one of the players who improved his draft position at the week-long workout at the RCA Dome.

ESPN.com writer Leo Pasquarelli listed Mathis among "Risers" at the Combine and said of Mathis on the website:

"A small-school kid with big-time talent and at a position where teams are seeking to upgrade. The fact he had 14 interceptions in 2002, and that everyone is now seeking a safety who can cover, will push him up draft boards. It doesn't hurt, either, that he weighed in at a bulked-up 203 pounds."

Florence and Shianco were first team all-conference players in the SIAC and MEAC respectively while Watson was a highly-touted running back that transferred to South Carolina State for his senior season from South Carolina.

© 2003 Azeez Communications, Inc.