Prep column: Football gives Rankin Ivy League upgrade

Barry Faulkner

As recently as Thanksgiving, Newport Harbor High senior Andy

Rankin’s collegiate checklist included neither football, nor the Ivy

League.

But, thanks to his continued willingness to hit the books, as well as

a penchant for hitting opposing ball carriers, the Newport Harbor High

linebacker will soon accept an opportunity to combine the two.

It’s a somewhat surprising development for the 6-foot-3, 216-pound

All-Newport-Mesa District outside linebacker, who counts himself among

those most perplexed by this fortuitous chain of events.

“I never really thought I would be playing college football,” said

Rankin, who began his prep football career as the starting quarterback on

the Sailors’ freshman team.

He spent his sophomore and junior seasons transitioning from

quarterback to tight end, as well as learning how to combat blockers as

an undersized outside linebacker.

“My sophomore and junior years, I didn’t really play that much,” he

recalled. “I finally worked my way into the mix my senior year, but I was

never one of the big guys on our team.”

Rankin, who did produce in a backup defensive role as a junior,

packed on 30 pounds in his final prep offseason and wound up amassing 65

tackles, third-best on the team, behind probable All-CIF honorees Alan

Saenz and Chris Manderino.

And while his academic resume alone, was not enough to gain

consideration from Ivy League recruiters, football coaches from Brown,

Darmouth and Columbia, were impressed enough by his work on the field

that his solid classroom credentials became sufficient for admission.

Rankin returned from a recruiting trip to Brown Sunday and plans

visits to Dartmouth and Columbia the next two weekends.

“After talking with the coaches, they all want me,” Rankin said. “So,

now, it’s just a matter of picking which one I want.”

Rankin said he has discussed Brown with former Newport Harbor teammate

Robert Cole, a 2000 Harbor graduate who will compete for time on the

offensive line for the Bears next fall.

He also has family ties to Dartmouth, where two of his father’s

cousins played football.

Though Columbia is third on his list, he is intrigued by the

possibility of living near the New York City-based campus.

“At this point,” he said, “I can’t make a bad decision. They’re all

great places to get an education and I’m very excited.”

When it comes to basketball excitement, few teams can match the Costa

Mesa High boys bomb squad for entertainment value this season.

Despite how Coach Bob Serven lists them in the program, 6-foot-7

senior Mike Payne is probably the only member of their primary seven-man

rotation taller than 6-0.

But, they have compensated with a perimeter offense that has produced

172 three-pointers in 17 games. The 10.1 average would rank among the

NCAA team leaders in this category. And, remember, the college game uses

the same 19-foot-9 stripe used by the preps.

Further, Mesa has produced 516 of its 1,000 points from threedom.

Records in this category are sketchy, so attempts to determine whether

the Mustangs are approaching any Southern Section standards, have come up

short thus far.

Senior Steve Whittaker leads the Mesa bombers with 59 three balls,

including at least one in all 17 games. Chad Vakili (38) and David Conte

(32) are the other leading long-range threats.

The process which will align schools in Orange County leagues for

athletic competition beginning the fall of 2002, officially began

Thursday.

More substantive meetings of county principals are scheduled Friday,

Feb. 7 and Feb. 15.

Beckman, a new school based in Tustin, has been targeted, by some, for

inclusion in the Pacific Coast League. But, there remains confusion about

when the school will open.

Two Tustin Unified employees at Thursday’s meeting differed on its

scheduled opening date (2003 and 2004) an another said the matter has yet

to be decided.

Even if it opened in 2003, it would likely only have one senior class

during the four-year releaguing cycle, rendering its varsity impact

minimal on schools it is leagued with this time around.

Last week, Estancia High senior guard Eliasar Maldonado displayed the

kind of character responsible for his teammates having elected him team

captain before the season.

After being ejected for bumping an official in a nonleague lossagainst

Huntington Beach, a play which Estancia coaches said wasmerely incidental

contact, created by momentum that carried over from a play on the ball, a

distraught Maldonado apologized to his team.

Knowing the ejection would mean he had to sit out the PCL

openeragainst crosstown rival Costa Mesa (a CIF Southern Section rule),

Maldonado volunteered to surrender his captaincy, since,

in his view, he had led his team down.

His teammates, and Coach Chris Sorce would, however, have nothing of

it.

Maldonado, the lone returner from last year’s playoff team, thenscored

a career-high 25 points to key a 57-32 league win at Laguna Beach Friday.