Riddick Confident to Find Role with Irish
by Nick Ironside
Nick Ironside talks with high school running back Theo Riddick who recently committed to Notre Dame.
On April 23, Notre Dame received good news for their football program. Theo Riddick, a 5-foot-10, 185 pound running back from Somerville, NJ, committed to the Irish.
But Notre Dame obtained more than just a running back.
As Riddick put it, he’s a “humble, positive, and social” person off the field. On the field, he’s a competitor.
Riddick, who ran for almost 1,200 yards his junior season at Somerville Immaculata committed to Notre Dame for numerous reasons.
“I verballed to Notre Dame because you can’t find a program anywhere else like that,” he said. “But basically because they have a good football program and their academics have high standards.”
Riddick went to South Bend prior to the team’s spring game on April 19. As well as the football program and academics, Riddick liked the campus and mentioned his favorite part of seeing the campus was “Touchdown Jesus.”
“I thought the campus was great – it was really nice, it wasn’t too big and it wasn’t too small, so that was nice,” Riddick said. “Everything was walking distance, so I loved it.”
Although Riddick did not get the chance to see the Irish in action during their spring game, Riddick is confident the team will be improved this upcoming year.
“I’m pretty sure they’ll improve,” he said. “I’m positive they’ll be better because everyone has their down year, and I think honestly that (2007) was their down year and they’ll improve.
“Only time will tell I guess.”
Riddick said although the team already has a top recruit at running back in Cierre Wood, he picked Notre Dame because he has confidence in his ability.
“I have a lot of confidence in myself,” he said. “I think everyone else will be playing, but I think I’ll be playing as well.
“And with Cierre and I in the backfield I think we’ll be very dangerous, so that’s one of the reasons why I committed to Notre Dame with Cierre Wood.”
Questions or comments? E-mail Nick@NewEraScouting.com