May 23, 2020
Santa Monica CA
Santa Monica College Head Football Coach Kelly Ledwith announced today that four Santa Monica College (SMC) football players have announced their 4-year-college transfer destinations for the Fall of 2020.
AK Warren Jr, Brandon Collins, Anthony Nesmith and JP Rybus all played for SMC during the 2018 and 2019 Football seasons and will be transferring to a mixture of NCAA Division 3, Division 2 and NAIA programs.
Brandon Collin's was a 2019 All-Pacific League Wide Receiver this season and will be transferring to Southeastern University in Lakeland, Florida. He led the Santa Monica in Receptions, Yards and Touchdowns this year and ended his Santa Monica career on a high note finishing with 5 catches, 120 yards and a TD against Pierce College. The game included a key 3rd and long reception over the middle and a 40 yard catch and run TD. Collins came to SMC from Westchester High School in Los Angeles. Head Coach Kelly Ledwith said, "Brandon really came a long way during his time here at Santa Monica. He came in as a talented freshman and by the end of his sophomore season he was a real leader in meetings and a showed his advanced understanding of the game in his final couple of games with us. I'm so excited to see him play for Coach Rivas this Fall."
AK Warren Jr, from St. Bernard's High School in Playa Del Rey, will be transferring to California Lutheran and will compete for Head Coach Ben McEnroe. Warren played WR at Santa Monica and shared in the kick return duties in his two years. Despite his sophomore season being cut short due to injury after just half a season, he still tied for the team lead in TD receptions. Coach Ledwith said, "I was really excited to watch AK this year. He had a great off season and came out firing on all cylinders to start the Fall off. He will be a big-time player at the next level and I look forward to watching him."
Anthony Nesmith of Fair Lawn High School in White Plains, New York has signed with Gannon University in Erie, PA. Nesmith was the Corsairs leading rusher during league play in 2019 with 33 carriers, 215 yards and a 6.5 yards per carry average. Nesmith's four best rushing games came over the final 5 games of the season. Coach Ledwith said "Anthony stepped up big for us this year. In 2017 he was supposed to play DB for us but suffered a non-sports injury that kept him out until the spring of 2018. When he returned, he came and played a few different defensive positions for us. But as we closed in on Fall camp this past August, we had an unexpected need for a running back. Anthony offered to move if it would help our team. He worked extremely hard to get to ready to play and help our team and you can see how it turned out for us to end the season. He had his best games at the end of the year."
JP Rybus came to Santa Monica College from St. John Bosco in Bellflower, CA and now will be headed to Forest City, IA to play for Waldorf University. Rybus was a two-year starting Punter for SMC before suffering a season ending knee injury early in the 2019 season. He has applied for a medical hardship waiver that – if granted – would allow him to compete for three more college football seasons. When asked about Rybus Coach Ledwith said, "JP is one of the most dedicated workers we have had around our program in the last three years. He came into the 2018 season with the goal to be our punter and earn a scholarship. He had to fight for that job as a freshman and he ended up winning it outright and playing well. You could tell though that he was not happy just sitting on his freshman year performance. He embarked on one of the most grueling offseason camp circuits I have seen anyone take and it paid off big for him. He was really booming some kicks before he got hurt and I can't wait to see him get out to Iowa and get that ball flying again."
2019/20 Transfers to-date:
AK Warren Jr – California Lutheran University
Brandon Collins – Southeastern University
Anthony Nesmith – Gannon University
JP Rybus – Waldorf University
Tyler Cater – Ottawa University
Dajone Averett – Northern Arizona
Tucker LaRue – University of Hawai'i
Jack Faringer – Arizona Christian University
Josue Castro – Azusa Pacific University
Chimechi Oparanozie – Arizona Christian University
Devin Cox – Arizona Christian University
Chris Nickerson – Southern Virginia University
TK Veal – New Mexico State