Senior Andy Ritter attended an NFL combine last spring and opened the eyes of many with a vertical jump of 44.8 inches. ESPN interviewed Ritter and ranked him number one in the top five high school football players in the vertical jump aspect of the game and combine.
“It’s pretty insane,” Ritter said. “I always knew I could jump, but I never would’ve guessed that I would have the top vertical in the nation.”
A vertical jump tests players’ ability to jump as high as they can and helps them get noticed by colleges or professional scouts. Compared to average heights, Ritter’s vertical almost doubles other’s with the average leap being from 26 to 28 inches. Even for elite high school football players their verticals normally range from 30 to 32 inches which still doesn’t come close to Ritter’s 44.8 inch jump.
“I was excited and happy at first but the excitement kind of wore off,” Ritter said. “Don’t get me wrong, it’s still awesome to say I have the number one vertical in the nation, but I don’t get as pumped about it as I used to.”
Ranked 18 in the class of 2012 and with an SAT score of 1850, Dartmouth, Cornell, Princeton and Harvard have all shown interest in Ritter, but even the college which stood out most when he was visiting, Cornell, still didn’t feel right.
“I decided not to go to an Ivy League School since they are too far away,” Ritter said. “My top two choices right now are Rice and Baylor.”
Baylor offers 151 degree programs at the undergraduate level with 76 master’s and 33 doctoral
programs. Baylor, also a Division 1 school which competes athletically in the Big 12, had a total football record for 2011 of 10-3 with a conference record of 6-3. Rice’s total football record for 2011 was 4-8, but where Rice doesn’t perform on the field they pick up the slack with their studies having a 92% graduation rate over the past six years.
“Its really crazy to think I’m going to be playing college football,” Ritter said. “I always thought I was going to play college baseball or basketball, but I love football and I can’t wait until I get back on the field.”
