LIU lands three on preseason All-NEC football team
LIU's Owen Glascoe scores on a 19-yard pass from Camden Orth to take a 7-0 lead in the first quarter on the way to a 28-14 victory over Wagner on Saturday, Oct. 30, 2021. Credit: Jim McIsaac
Three Long Island University football players were named to the All-Northeast Conference preseason team, the conference announced Wednesday. Redshirt junior tight end/halfback Owen Glascoe, redshirt sophomore offensive lineman Tedi Kushi, and redshirt sophomore kick returner Shemar Paul were all selected.
Glascoe, a Massapequa High School alum, caught 36 passes for 555 yards and three touchdowns in 10 games last season.
“Both sides of the ball are looking fast,” Glascoe said before LIU’s first fall practice on Monday.
Paul averaged over 17 yards per kickoff return on 28 attempts, including returns of 44 and 38 yards, last season.
LIU is entering its third full season in Division I, and first under head coach Ron Cooper. Cooper, who was hired in January, was a senior analyst on Nick Saban’s staff at Alabama last season and has also coached at Notre Dame and LSU.
“He comes fired up every day,” said quarterback Derek Green, a graduate transfer from SMU and the son of former NFL quarterback and current NFL analyst Trent Green. “He brings a good energy and he's just done a great job getting everybody at the school fired up about the team. Administration has really backed us up. So, that's been the best part, the juice [Cooper] brings.”
Lynbrook High School alum Jonathan Cabral-Martin, a sophomore safety at Central Connecticut, was also named to the team.
LIU and Wagner were both picked sixth out of eight teams in the NEC preseason poll. LIU finished 2-5 in conference last season, good for seventh place. Wagner, the last place team in 2021, was 0-7. Stonehill, who was picked eighth in the preseason poll and is still transitioning to full Division I status, is not NEC title-eligible this season.
LIU opens on the road September 1 against Toledo, an FBS opponent. Their home-opener is scheduled for September 10 against Villanova, a recent FCS powerhouse.
