Former rivals together again
Workout partners from the Baltimore area both transfer to Danes
ALBANY — Aamir Hall and Daesean Winston are offseason training partners who went to rival high schools in the Baltimore area.
That they transferred together into the University at Albany football program is a happy coincidence.
Hall, a cornerback from the University of Richmond, and Winston, a safety from Temple, are among the 19 new players Ualbany introduced Wednesday on National Signing Day.
“I’ve gotten a chance to know
(Hall) and have a good relationship with him,” Winston said. “Once I found out he was coming here, too, it was an added plus.”
They played against each other in high school when Hall, a Baltimore native, attended Mount St. Joseph’s and Winston, from Edgewood, Md., was at Archbishop Spalding.
“My trainer back home, we’ve got a lot of good work in over the years, just trying to develop as DBS,” Hall said. “It’s been fun working out with him, just getting to know each other . ... Just building that relationship, I feel like that’s going to help us here on the field and going forward.”
Hall and Winston didn’t even know they were on the same flight from Baltimore for their recruiting visit to Ualbany in December. Great Danes cornerbacks coach Darrin Walls told Hall only there was a “guy from Maryland” coming in the same weekend.
They finally recognized each other after the plane landed. “Small world,” Winston said. “I guess it was kind of a coincidence but, I mean, it all worked out in both of our favors,” Hall added. “I’m excited for the opportunity to be able play with him and just ball here, man. I’m excited.”
Ualbany coach Greg Gattuso was enthused to add quality depth in the secondary.
“We’re excited about the players we have coming back and the people we’ve added to that group is impressive,” Gattuso said.
Ualbany returns 20 starters, including specialists, from a team that went 3-8 overall, 2-6 in the Colonial Athletic Associa
tion a year ago. The secondary brings back cornerbacks Brad Igweike of Guilderland, Isaac Duffy and Bill Hackett and safeties Larry Walker Jr. and Semaj Brown, among others.
Hall gives Ualbany a 6-foot-1, 180-pound cornerback who was named to Phil Steele’s Freshman All-america team. He started for Richmond, a CAA rival of Ualbany, at the beginning of last season before getting injured. Hall returned to grab an interception in Richmond’s Football Championship
Subdivision playoff loss to Sacramento State.
Hall said he was looking for a new opportunity to play somewhere.
“When you watch some of how (Hall) moves and how he runs, he’s got great size, makes a lot of plays and we’re really, really happy to have him in our program,” Gattuso said.
Winston, who is 6-1 and 200 pounds, played in 11 games for Temple last season and made 16 tackles. Like Hall, he also plays on special teams, an area that has hurt the Great Danes the past two seasons.
Gattuso mentioned Winston was a three-star recruit in high school.
“We’re excited about him and his potential and having him join our football team and, again, a bunch of guys that can rotate and play on our back end and make us a better football team. Physical,” Gattuso said.
Winston said when he visited Ualbany, he sensed that all the players really wanted to win after a bad season last year. Winston, who also visited Stony Brook, has the same motivation after Temple finished 3-9 last season playing in the American Athletic Conference.
“I want us to be conference champions,” said Winston, a graduate student in
communications. “It’s my last season, my last goaround. I want to walk off with a ring on my finger.”
Ualbany’s recruiting class includes three Section II products: linebacker Troy Berschwinger from Guilderland, offensive lineman Anthony Schrom of Shaker and safety Cam Stodghill of La Salle Institute. The Great Danes also added quarterbacks Trey Lindsey, an Auburn transfer, and Jordan Rae of CBA in Syracuse to back up starter Reese Poffenbarger.