When Lavar Lobdell and Bruce Williams walked into school yesterday at Christian Brothers Academy, they had a secret. Some of their closer friends and family members knew what they would announce and some speculated at what they would not confirm – that they were committing to play football at Syracuse.

For them, it was a fun way to add to the excitement that Greg Robinson restored at SU. The two receivers who consider themselves brothers and spend their free time together wanted to surprise everyone.

At a press conference yesterday, Lobdell and Williams signed letters of intent to play football next fall at Syracuse. Lobdell was the prized commitment of Robinson’s first recruiting class, while Lobdell says Williams will be the most underrated Orange next year.

‘It was very exciting,’ Lobdell said. ‘I held everybody off. I just wanted to surprise everyone – that’s what it’s all about.’

Williams said most CBA students had speculated Lobdell would become an Orange. After all, Robinson’s pursuit of the 6-foot-2 gem was no secret. He called and visited Lobdell about a week after accepting the head coaching job at Syracuse and Lobdell had come to campus to meet with Robinson multiple times. Meanwhile, Lobdell held off on offers from Miami and Florida to entertain an offer from Syracuse.

But that first visit to Lobdell’s Cambridge Street home proved to be beneficial for Williams as well. Williams was over at Lobdell’s house that day and he met Robinson for the first time. Where former coach Paul Pasqualoni’s staff had failed to recruit Williams at all, Robinson never wrote him off.

‘They never gave me a serious look. They said I was too short,’ said the 5-foot-11 Williams of Pasqualoni’s staff. ‘They didn’t have any interest in me.’

‘The old coaching staff hadn’t given Bruce a decent look at all,’ Lobdell said. ‘That’s not a knock, but they didn’t get the job done. Robinson really picked up the sleeper in the draft.’

But there was still work to be done. Lobdell, his father, Michael, and CBA quarterback Greg Paulus each played an important role in getting Robinson to offer Williams a scholarship. All three helped convince Robinson of what the numbers already showed.

Williams owns state records for most receptions in one season (103), most reception yardage in one season (1,546), most touchdown catches in one season (24), most career receptions (227) and most career receiving yards (3,405).

So when Robinson did offer Williams a scholarship – on Tuesday – Williams was ready. He had decided the day before that he would accept if offered.

Williams said he expected Lobdell to commit to SU even if he didn’t – their decisions were mutually exclusive – but none of the signing day excitement would have been present with Pasqualoni still at the head of the program.

‘Not to knock (Pasqualoni’s) program,’ Lobdell said, ‘but, they just didn’t give me that sense of feeling that it was headed in the right direction. The players seemed like they were bored.’

Now, all that has all changed.

‘Before I got offered, I had a good feeling in my stomach about this coach,’ Williams said. ‘He was so energetic and wise – he was a live-wire. He wants to do something and change this city around.’

Published on February 2, 2005 at 12:00 pm