A low-profile story it may be, but there aren't many better feeling stories out of National Signing Day than what happened at Bryan Rudder. Rice University had been recruiting Rudder's David Wilganowski, a talented defensive lineman who was also a very good student.
↵The very scary problem happened during last season, when Wilganowski collapsed on the field. His condition improved, but he's not going to be able to play football again. Still, Wilganowski signed with Rice. l'll leave the explanation up to Owls head coach David Bailiff:
↵↵↵"David was an outstanding student-athlete who we got to know at two of our camps and we were excited to have as part of our class when he made his commitment to us. Although his playing career was unfortunately cut short, we are excited to have him bring his great attitude and dedication to the program."
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National Signing Day can become too much about program fits and which program a kid chose over another. It's not often about how these student-athletes are getting a chance to go to college. For Rice to do this gives us a chance to talk about that very thing and to write a better ending to a tragic story.
↵Good for Wilganowski. Good for Rice.
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