Cyrus Kouandjio is good enough right now to be the No. 3-ranked high school football player in the nation by CBS/MaxPreps recruiting analyst Tom Lemming.
Lemming calls him "a prototype left tackle. He's thin at 300 pounds and very athletic. He has real good feet, long arms and quick hands. He's smart, aggressive and a hard worker. It's tough to find those guys."
However, the 6-foot-7, 300-pound senior offensive tackle from DeMatha (Hyattsville, Md.) is just scratching the surface of his immense potential, according to his coach, Bill McGregor.
DeMatha High's Cyrus Kouandjio.
Photo by Tom Lemming
"He's not there yet, but he's going to be a pro," McGregor told MaxPreps. "He won the skills test at the Under Armour All-Star Game (which included all the top offensive and defensive linemen). His potential is unlimited. Some day he's going to be able to do anything he wants."
The force behind one of America's premier programs for many years, McGregor adds an exclamation point when he says, "He has as much potential as any player I've ever had. He could go in the first round (of the NFL draft)."
Kouandjio was born in Cameroon, West Africa, but his family moved to Maryland when he was 4 years old.
"I don't remember much," he told MaxPreps. "I kind of picked up the (American) language pretty quick because I was such a young age."
Video of Cyrus KouandjioCyrus and his older brother, Arie, couldn't play Pop Warner football because they were too big. They did, however, begin playing the sport for the Laurel (Md.) Boys and Girls Club when Cyrus was in seventh
grade and Arie in eighth grade.
"I played offensive guard and defensive tackle," Cyrus recalled. "They put me there because I was big. I started right away. They told me to block this guy and I did whatever they told me. It wasn't tough. They told me to get this guy and I got him. All I had to worry about was the gaps."
As a freshman Cyrus made the varsity at High Point (Beltsville, Md.). He was a two-way starter, but was not pleased with the season.
"We won zero games," he sighed. "I kind of got tired of that."
Continue reading
