Aug. 25, 2004

Columbia, S.C. –
With the football season only 10 days away, University of South Carolina center John Strickland is a player to keep an eye on, as he is on the updated watch list for the Dave Rimington Trophy, the organization announced today. Strickland was on the pre-season watch list released in March prior to Spring football. The revised watch list will be updated throughout the season in the weekly Rimington Reports.

A 6-5, 304-pound senior from Bainbridge, Ga., Strickland is an all-SEC candidate who started in eight of the 11 games in which he played and drew praise from the Gamecock coaching staff as a player who developed into a very good SEC center by season’s end.

The Rimington Trophy recipient is determined by a consensus of the four All-America teams: The Walter Camp Football Foundation, America Football Coaches Association, Football Writers Association of America, and The Sporting News.

The five-year old trophy (Virginia Tech’s Jake Grove, Miami’s Brett Romberg, Ohio State’s LeCharles Bentley, and Nebraska’s Dominic Raiola are past recipients) is presented by Canon, USA and Black & Decker. The award is hosted by the Boomer Esiason Foundation. Esiason, created his foundation in 1993 to support research and treatment of cystic fibrosis. Esiason and Dave Rimington were teammates on the Cincinnati Bengals from 1984-87. Rimington, the award’s namesake, was a consensus first team All-America center at Nebraska in 1981 and ’82 – years in which he became the John Outland Trophy’s only double winner as the nation’s premiere college interior lineman.

Strickland and the Gamecocks open the season in Nashville when they battle dangerous SEC foe Vanderbilt at 12:30 p.m. (EST) on September 4. The game will be televised by Jefferson Pilot.

2004 Rimington Trophy Watch List

Jim Borrieci                   Akron                            Senior               6'3" 302 lbs.
Andy Brewster               North Texas                   Senior               6'2" 275 lbs.
Matt Brock                    Oregon State                 Senior               6'2" 301 lbs.
Jason Brown                  North Carolina                Senior               6'3" 308 lbs.
Vince Carter                  Oklahoma                     Senior               6'3" 277 lbs.
David Castillo                 Florida State                  Junior                6'2" 301 lbs.
Ryan Cook                    New Mexico                  Junior                6'7" 339 lbs.
Mike Degory                  Florida                          Junior                6'5" 314 lbs.
Greg Eslinger                Minnesota                     Junior                6'3" 280 lbs.
Keoki Fraser                  Arizona                         Senior               6'3" 295 lbs.
Gene Frederic                Memphis                       Senior               6'4" 292 lbs.
Jason Glynn                  Texas                           Senior               6'2" 275 lbs.
Geoff Hangartner            Texas A&M                   Senior               6'5" 303 lbs.
Jasper Harvey                San Diego State            Junior                6'3" 300 lbs.
Jeremy Hines                West Virginia                 Sophomore        6'2" 285 lbs.
Richie Icognito               Nebraska                      Junior                6'3" 290 lbs.
Billy Irwin                      Connecticut                   Senior               6'2" 281 lbs.
Chase Johnson              TCU                              Senior               6'3" 310 lbs.
Todd Londot                  Miami (Ohio)                  Junior                6'5" 305 lbs.
Nick Mangold                Ohio State                     Junior                6'4" 280 lbs.
Mike McCloskey            UCLA                            Junior                6'5" 285 lbs.
Chris Morris                   Michigan State              Junior                6'4" 291 lbs.
Scott Mruczkowsi          Bowling Green               Senior               6'4" 315 lbs.
Jed Paulsen                  North Carolina State       Senior               6'2" 290 lbs.
Marvin Philip                  California                       Junior                6'2" 285 lbs.
Donovan Raiola              Wisconsin                     Junior                6'3" 290 lbs.
Jason Respert               Tennessee                    Senior               6'3" 305 lbs.
Joel Rodriguez               Miami                           Senior               6'3" 289 lbs.
Pat Ross                       Boston College              Junior                6'4" 294 lbs.
Kyle Schmitt                 Maryland                       Senior               6'5" 300 lbs.
Chris Spencer                Mississippi                    Junior                6'4" 310 lbs.
John Strickland              South Carolina               Senior               6'4" 300 lbs.
Russ Tanner                  Georgia                         Junior                6'4" 290 lbs.
Joe Vaughn                   Kansas                         Senior               6'1" 290 lbs.
Ben Wilkerson               LSU                              Senior               6'4" 300 lbs.
Zac Yarbrough               Virginia                         Senior               6'4" 275 lbs.
Kyle Young                   Fresno State                 Sophomore        6'5" 320 lbs.