DeMatha’s versatile Cyrus Kouandjio can play anywhere on the line and is ‘no maintenance’

DeMatha’s versatile Kouandjio ‘no matintenance’

HYATTSVILLE, Md., — Bob Milloy can’t wait for Cyrus Kouandjio to finish his senior season and head off to college.

Kouandjio is a 6-foot-7, 300-pound offense tackle at DeMatha High School. Milloy is head coach at Good Counsel, one of the schools on DeMatha’s schedule.

“I’ll be glad when he graduates,” Milloy said. “He’s a very, very imposing player. His brother signed last year with Alabama. That’s about as good as it gets.”

Kouandjio, a native of Cameroon, is on The Associated Press South Region 25 list of top recruits. He is arguably the best prep player at his position and one of the most sought-after linemen in the country.

Kouandjio’s older brother, Arie, is a freshman at Alabama on scholarship. The Crimson Tide would like to have Cyrus, too, but there are other suitors in the mix, including Georgia, Iowa, Maryland, Miami, Fla., New Mexico, Oklahoma, Pittsburgh, Tennessee, USC, Virginia Tech and Virginia.

“He has offers everywhere in the country,” DeMatha coach Bill McGregor said. “He can go anywhere he wants.”

McGregor has placed Kouandjio at right tackle, in part, because the team has a left-handed quarterback. But the coach said Kouandjio can play either side effectively.

“He’s big, athletic and can run,” McGregor said. “Whatever we want him to do, he does. There’s no maintenance.”

On or off the field, apparently.

“I ran into him at a combine and he came up to me and said hello. He was very polite, very respectful. A classy kid,” Milloy said.

Just the kind any college would like to have. Alabama got his big brother, but that doesn’t mean Cyrus will follow him there.

He told Scout.com that he’s not going to base his decision on what his brother did.

“Of course it’s a good thing he is there, but it’s not going to influence my decision,” he said. “If I find another school that fits me like a glove, like Alabama did with Arie, then I will go there. With my brother going there they are going to have something no other school has: family. That being said, I love Alabama. I like Alabama a lot.”