Former Ithaca QB expected to compete for starting job in the fall
MT. PLEASANT -- Central Michigan head coach Dan Enos announced today the addition of quarterback Alex Niznak and running back Austin White to the Chippewas' roster.
Both Niznak and White are enrolled at CMU for the spring semester.
Niznak is a freshman who graduated from nearby Ithaca High School last month, while White is a freshman transfer from Michigan.
Both will participate in spring practice, but NCAA transfer requirements will prevent White from playing in games for CMU during the 2011 season. He can continue to practice with the team during the 2011 season and will have three years of eligibility remaining beginning with the 2012 season.
"We're obviously very excited to have Alex and Austin as members of our football program," Enos said. "They are both very talented individuals and are the type of young men we want to have in our program."
Niznak led Ithaca to a perfect 14-0 season and a Division 6 state championship in 2010. He completed 150-of-219 passes for 2,731 yards and 31 touchdowns and ran for 1,161 yards and 21 touchdowns as a senior. In the Yellowjackets' 45-35 win over Monroe St. Mary Catholic Central, Niznak completed 22-of-26 passes for 251 yards and ran for 138 yards and a state title game record five touchdowns.
He earned Associated Press all-state first team honors, was named the area's offensive player of the year by the Lansing State Journal and Mount Pleasant Morning Sun and was named to the Detroit News Dream Team.
White posted three consecutive 1,000-yard rushing seasons at Livonia Stevenson High School. He ran for 1,494 yards and 21 touchdowns as a senior in 2009, 1,610 yards and 28 touchdowns as a junior and 1,606 yards and 30 touchdowns as a sophomore.
He was the No. 8 player on the Detroit Free Press Fab 50 list as a senior, and he was ranked No. 10 on the Detroit News Blue Chip list in 2009. Scout.com and Rivals.com ranked White as the No. 5 and No. 11 player, respectively, in the state of Michigan as a high school senior.
