Focus '09: Leon Kinnard

Leon Kinnard is one of the top athletes in the Class of 2009 for the state of Maryland and the Baltimore native already has a list of programs that he is either hearing from, or would like to hear from over the next 18 months. We caught up with this prolific athlete recently to see how his summer went and which schools he holds in high regard.

As a sophomore at Loyola High School, Leon Kinnard played quarterback and completed 103 of 185 passes for 1415 yards, 11 touchdowns and six interceptions and also ran for 303 yards and 11 more touchdowns. He was selected first-team All-Conference, All-Metro and All-County for his performance and also got a second-team All-State nod. While this 5-foot-9, 180-pound athlete will certainly be making the transition to cornerback at the collegiate level his athleticism and production are not go be overlooked.

“I camped at Temple this summer and also attended a camp at Lafayette, although it was not for the school specifically, but a showcase that over 200 college coaches attended to watch players,” Kinnard said. “I have also received early interest from Pittsburgh and Connecticut and a few others have sent out questionnaires to me.”

“The seven schools I am most interested in at this point are probably Rutgers, Maryland, West Virginia, Florida, Notre Dame, Akron and Virginia,” Kinnard explained. “I also like Penn State, Clemson, North Carolina, North Carolina State, Connecticut, Pittsburgh and Temple. It’s early at this point, so obviously I am keeping all of my options open, but those are the programs off the top of my head that I am thinking about right now.”

While Kinnard did not go into detail about all of the programs he has early interest in, he did take an opportunity to talk about his camp experience at Temple and two other schools that he mentioned to us.

“Temple camp went really well, however they spent their time focusing on the upperclassmen a lot, so I just spoke to the coaches from other schools that were helping out with the camp,” Kinnard stated. “I liked the campus and the team is on the upswing right now. I was at Rutgers and really liked their campus and football facilities as well. They also have my preferred major which is sports management. Notre Dame is another school that I am really interested in because they have my major and I know that they have an excellent academic program and are among the top schools in the country in that regard.”

Kinnard reports a 4.43 40-yard dash and a 4.09 short shuttle. He can do 11 repetitions of 185 pounds on the bench press and maxes out at 260 pounds. His max squat is 430 pounds.

He also reports a 3.0 core GPA.