Editor’s note: The Star is counting down the top football players in Southern Arizona in the weeks leading up to the season.
Today: Salpointe Catholic linebacker Trent Strong.
The rundown: Strong is a 6-foot-1-inch, 220-pound senior at Salpointe Catholic.
Who he is: Strong may not have Division I offers like some of his Lancers teammates, but he certainly has a future at the next level. Strong, who is one of Salpointe Catholic’s team captains, has received interest from a plethora of Ivy League schools including Princeton, Yale, Brown, Columbia and Cornell.
“As soon as I gained traction in my recruiting at the tail end of my junior year, the thought of playing in the Ivy League really started to blossom,” he said. “It’s super appealing to me because it’s still great football, but you’re going to get an excellent degree out of it and take that into the work place. That’s what really attracts me about the Ivy League.”
University of San Diego has also expressed interest in Strong for the 2020 recruiting class. Strong currently has full-ride scholarship offers to Alderson Broaddus, a Division II university in West Virginia; and Carleton College in Minnesota.
Strong already has the size to play college football next year. Instead of bulking up in the weight room, he has focused on speed and versatility. As a result, Strong should cover the field from sideline to sideline.
“That’s something that I worked really hard at over the last couple of years especially this past year with trying to get recruited. I wanted to get faster and make sure that I’m at my peak fitness and making sure that I’m the best player that I can be,” he said. “As teams get faster and use more spread offenses, linebackers have to be able to adapt and become speed guys while also being run-stopping guys.”
Proof he’s good: Strong finished his junior season with 106 tackles and four tackles-for-losses. Only seven players in Southern Arizona had more tackles, and four of them graduated. One of those players coming back is Walden Grove linebacker Rick Avelar, who finished last year with 135 tackles. The other two? Strong’s Salpointe teammates Ray Figueroa and Shamon Davis. Strong’s personal goal as a senior: 120 tackles or more.
He said it: “I sometimes like to sit back and see which kids accept the leadership role and want to be the catalyst for their team, and Trent’s done that on his own. Your teammates will only reciprocate if your actions speak louder than your words. He’s a very, very hard worker and extremely bright in the classroom. He’s very physical on the football field and he is as good as it gets for us at Salpointe.” — Salpointe Catholic coach Dennis Bene
