Shepherd's Howard Jones is regarded as one of the top small-college prospects in the 2014 NFL Draft.

Notre Dame College senior Doniel Gambrell is already receiving attention as a 2015 prospect because of what he did against Jones.

First let's start with details on Jones. He's 6-foot-2 1/2 and weighs 235 pounds. He attended the NFL Scouting Combine as a defensive end, running the second fastest 40-yard dash among players listed at the position behind South Carolina's Jadeveon Clowney. Jones posted a swift 4.6 seconds.

Some NFL scouts view Jones as a defensive end. Others view him as an outside linebacker. NFLDraftScout.com ranks Jones as the 170th best prospect in the draft class. If that ranking holds, he would be selected in the fifth round.

Jones helped Shepherd finish 12-0 in the regular season and win the inaugural Mountain East Conference title. Shepherd played Notre Dame College and defeated the Falcons, 57-17. Jones faced one of his biggest challenges that afternoon, which is where Gambrell enters this draft tale .

Jones had seven tackles and a sack against the Falcons. But Notre Dame College coach Adam Howard said Gambrell, a  6-foot-6 right tackle, provided enough resistance to attract attention from the scouts who tracked Jones last season.

"Scouts are looking at him because of that game," Howard said. "He had a good game against Jones. Doniel is 6-6 and has an incredible wingspan. His measurables are off the charts."

Gambrell has an intriguing background. He attended Glenville High School and started his college career at Division I Eastern Michigan. He will enter next season as a three-year starter at NDC.

In short, he could become the first player in NDC's five-year football history to receive a serious NFL look.

-- Guy Cipriano | @newsheraldguy

Expect to see plenty of Gilmour Academy players on Division III football rosters.

Four key parts of a Gilmour team that went 9-3 and reached the Division V regional semifinals solidified their college choices on April 16.

Two Lancers are staying close to home as fullback/linebacker Frank Grk and safety P.J. Volpe committed to John Carroll, which went 9-2 in 2013. Volpe was an honorable all-state selection in 2012.

Offensive lineman Zach Saliba gives the Lancers three OAC-bound players. Saliba has committed to Catholic.
 
Four-year letterwinner Patrick Mohorcic isn't leaving Ohio, either. The offensive lineman committed to The College of Wooster of the North Coast Athletic Conference.

Gilmour coach Shawn Dodd has spent plenty of time talking with college coaches since last summer. Defensive back Ishmael Hargrove signed with Division I Buffalo and safety Jimmy Rooney signed with Division I-AA Georgetown in February.

-- Guy Cipriano | @newsheraldguy

North Carolina stages its annual spring game on April 12.

Consider it the biggest scrimmage of Mentor graduate Mitch Trubisky's football career.

Trubisky is involved in an ultra-competitive race with Marquise Williams to become North Carolina's starting quarterback. Trubisky and Williams are fighting for the job vacated by Bryn Renner, who should land in an NFL training camp this summer.

The winner of the quarterback derby could be in position to become a multi-year starter for the Tar Heels. Trubisky is a redshirt freshman, Williams is a junior. The loser might have to wait for an injury to receive a chance to operate the first-team offense.

Williams started the final five games last season after Renner suffered a shoulder injury. The Tar Heels went 4-1 with Williams as the starter and defeated Cincinnati in the Belk Bowl. Williams' 2013 statistics were promising: 104-of-187 passing for 1,527 yards.

Trubisky has displayed promise his entire career and enrolled early at North Carolina to participate in 2013 spring drills. As expected, he redshirted last season despite Renner's injury. North Carolina exhausted significant recruiting resources to lure Trubisky, the 2012 Mr. Ohio Football, to Chapel Hill, where he has been reunited with former Mentor teammate Brandon Fritts, a 2014 early enrollee.

North Carolina coach Larry Fedora told The Charlotte Observer that Trubisky and Williams are splitting first-team reps this spring. The Tar Heels will receive a third highly regarded quarterback when four-star recruit Caleb Henderson arrives this summer.

For those who want to evaluate Trubisky and Williams for themselves, ESPN3.com will air North Carolina's spring game on April 12. The scrimmage begins at 3 p.m. The first two quarters are 15 minutes and include normal clock stoppages. The clock will run continuously during the final two quarters.

-- Guy Cipriano | @newsheraldguy

Rutgers and Maryland officially join the Big Ten this summer.

The Scarlet Knights and Terrapins have one purpose: raise the conference's television profile in lucrative East Coast markets.

Both schools bring middling football programs to a conference already filled with gridiron mediocrity. See, Michigan, Northwestern, Penn State and Iowa.

Rutgers also brings public relations nightmares. The school's athletic director wants News Jersey's largest newspaper to die. Julie Hermann is the same selective-memory administrator who denied any knowledge of warning an assistant volleyball coach from Tennessee about getting pregnant. The head coach at the time? Julie Hermann. Last November, Hermann flubbed a bullying incident at Rutgers involving a football player.

Maryland doesn't bring administrative baggage -- or glamorous football and basketball programs -- to the Big Ten. The school's football team has posted three below-.500 records in the last five years, the basketball program has made just one Sweet 16 appearance since winning a national in 2002.

While Rutgers and Maryland prepare to share Big Ten revenues, Connecticut won its fourth NCAA basketball title since 1999 by defeating Kentucky on April 7. The Huskies defeated the Wildcats two days after upending Florida.The Big Ten can use an SEC slayer, even if it's in the wrong sport.

UConn owns more national men's basketball titles than powers Louisville and Kansas, which have three each, and Eastern stalwarts Georgetown, Syracuse and Villanova combined. The Huskies, who endured a postseason ban because of academic issues, are as good as any basketball program in the last 15 years.

Conference expansion decisions aren't driven by basketball. Football pays bills and pads coffers.

Rutgers and Maryland's football programs are known entities. Neither school consistently fields top-25 teams.

UConn is a Division I football newbie. The school became a full-fledged Division I member in 2002. The Huskies have appeared in five bowl games, including the 2011 Fiesta Bowl. Coach Randy Edsall bolted UConn for, coincidentally, Maryland after the Fiesta Bowl. Edsall owns a 13-24 record in three seasons with the Terrapins.

UConn replaced Edsall with a has-been coach in Paul Pasqualoni, who lasted 2 1/2 seasons. Former Notre Dame defensive coordinator Bob Diaco now coaches the Huskies. With the proper coaching and recruiting, UConn has top-25 potential.

Connecticut, unlike New Jersey and Maryland, doesn't have any major professional sports franchises. Storrs, Conn., is one of the few spots on the East Coast besides State College, Pa., and Syracuse, N.Y., where college sporting events are major draws. Being in the same state as ESPN's headquarters doesn't hurt the attention-grabbing possibilities, either.

The UConn men's and women's basketball teams play before capacity crowds. Play the right teams -- and win enough -- and the same fervor would extend to football.

Rutgers brings fervor, none of which stems from on-field triumphs, to the Big Ten. Maryland brings UnderArmour money. Snug apparel isn't likely to turn Maryland into a must-watch athletic department.

Everybody who cares about college sports watched UConn on April 7. The saw one of the last desirable pieces in the expansion puzzle capture another major title.

-- Guy Cipriano | @newsheraldguy

Matt Campbell begins his third season as Toledo's head football coach on Aug. 30.

The 34-year-old Mount Union graduate has quickly established recruiting roots in at least one Northeast Ohio county.

After practice on March 27, Campbell discussed three players from Northeast Ohio, including two from Lake County in running back Kareem Hunt and defensive end John Stepec.

Hunt played at Willoughby South. Stepec played at Lake Catholic.

When assessing the duo, Campbell made it a point to laud their respective high school coaches.

Campbell said Coach Matt Duffy's system is a big reason why Hunt excelled as a freshman in 2013. Hunt eclipsed 100 rushing yards in five of the Rockets' last six games.

“You look at his head coach in high school," Campbell said. "You come from that program and so much was expected out of you.  He was a lot more mature than a lot of other young men in our football program. I give a lot of credit to Coach Duffy and where he came from, and I certainly appreciate him being ready to go for us because he was certainly a difference-maker for us last year.”

Campbell had similar praise for former Lake Catholic coach Mike Bell, who will coach at Eastlake North in 2014. Stepec was Bell's last Division I recruit at Lake Catholic.

"He's a guy whose career is going to skyrocket as well," Campbell said of Stepec. "Again, you talk about coming from a great high school program, Coach Bell develops players who come into college ready to go. You're getting a first-class player from a first-class high school football program.”

Campbell, a Massillon native, also has a strong relationship with Mentor's Steve Trivisonno. Campbell even brought to Toledo to Mentor for a Friday night practice last spring as a benefit for former Cardinal and Rocket defense lineman Ben Pike's then-fiancee, now-wife, Ashley Barrett, who was battling leukemia.

Toledo didn't land any scholarship players from Lake County in 2014. But it wasn't from a lack of effort or networking.

-- Guy Cipriano | @newsheraldguy

The move never made sense for either side.

UMass, a New England school, joined the Mid-American Conference, which features a Midwest nucleus, as a football-only member in 2012. After two straight 1-11 seasons, the Minutemen have solidified plans to leave the conference.

UMass and the MAC issued a joint announcement on March 26 declaring 2015 as the Minutemen's final season in the conference. UMass tried filling a void when Temple left the MAC to return to the Big East in 2012. The Owls now play in American Athletic Conference.

The only thing UMass created is a hole at the bottom of the conference. The program's lone wins since joining the MAC are against Akron in 2012 and Miami (Ohio) in 2013. Both teams went winless in MAC play. 

Adding UMass hasn't generated interest for the MAC -- or college football -- in New England. The program is averaging 13,590 fans per game since joining the MAC. The Minutemen play in Gillette Stadium, home of the New England Patriots. Coach Charley Molnar was fired after two seasons. His replacement is former Cleveland Browns quarterbacks coach Mark Whipple.

UMass was offered full MAC membership earlier this year. The school declined the offer and will become a football free agent.

"This is not the outcome we anticipated when UMass was admitted as a football-only member," MAC Commissioner Dr. Jon Steinbrecher said in a statement."However, circumstances have changed regarding our football membership and this is a result of those circumstances."

When UMass leaves, the MAC will have 13 football members. Here's some advice for Steinbrecher and university presidents: don't leave your Midwest roots when shopping for a 14th member.

-- Guy Cipriano | @newsheraldguy

Here are links to every Ohio college football recruiting class announced Wednesday. Some schools are waiting to receive information from every incoming scholarship player to release their classes. Division III schools are non-scholarship and don't participate in national signing day events. Division I-AA Dayton also doesn't offer football scholarships.

Division I

Akron

Cincinnati

Bowling Green

Kent State

Miami

Ohio State

Ohio University

Toledo

Division I-AA

Youngstown State

Division II 

Ashland

Central State (Did not release its class)

Findlay

Lake Erie College

Malone

Notre Dame College

Ohio Dominican (Did not release its class)

Tiffin

Urbana (Did not release its class)

Walsh

-- Guy Cipriano | @newsheraldguy