Lucas Niang
TCU Horned Frogs – No. 77 | |
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Position | Offensive Tackle |
Class | Senior |
Personal information | |
Height | 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) |
Weight | 328 lb (149 kg) |
Career history | |
College |
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Bowl games | |
High school | New Canaan High School (New Canaan, CT) |
Career highlights and awards | |
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Lucas Niang is an American college football offensive tackle who currently[when?] plays for the TCU Horned Frogs.
Early years
Lucas Balthazar Niang grew up in New Canaan, Connecticut, where he became a football star at New Canaan High School. He was born in New York and lived in Geneva, Switzerland from the age of 4 to 6. His family moved to New Canaan, Connecticut, when they returned to the US. Niang started to play football with the Pop Warner league in New Canaan in 3rd grade. Playing both offensive and defensive line in high school, he helped lead the Rams to state championships in both 2014 and 2015 before committing to play college football at TCU.[1] Both parents of Niang are French citizens who moved to the US in the mid 90s. Niang has both the French and American citizenship and is fluent in French. His mother, FATOU BA NIANG, is a well known USTA tennis player in Southern Connecticut.
College career
Niang was highly recruited coming out of high school. He had around 40 scholarship offers (TCU, Penn State, Auburn, Miami, Georgia...) and decided to go TCU. After enrolling at TCU in 2016, Niang played in 12 of the Horned Frogs' 13 games as a true freshman that fall. He became a starter midway through his sophomore season in 2017, helping lead the Frogs to the program's first-ever berth in the Big 12 Championship Game and a win in the 2017 Alamo Bowl over Stanford.[2]
Starting all 13 games at right tackle for TCU as a junior in 2018, Niang didn't allow a sack the entire season[3] and earned 2nd Team All-Big 12 honors [4] before helpling lead the Frogs to a win over California in the 2018 Cheez-It Bowl.[5]
Prior to his senior season, Niang was named 1st Team Preseason All-Big 12[6], and The Athletic named him as one of the top offensive linemen in college football [7]. Hall of Fame NFL executive Gil Brandt has named Niang as one of the top offenisve line prospects for the 2020 NFL Draft [8], and ESPN draft expert Todd McShay has projected Niang as a first-round selection[9] (No 13 overall prospects and best offensive tackle)
References
- ^ "Niang announces he'll play football at TCU". New Canaan Advertiser. January 27, 2016.
- ^ "TCU Comes Back to Win Valero Alamo Bowl". GoFrogs.com. December 29, 2017.
- ^ "NFL's top overall pick? TCU's Lucas Niang determined to prove he's worthy". Fort Worth Star-Telegram. July 28, 2019.
- ^ "2018 All-Big 12 Football Honors Announced". November 28, 2018.
- ^ "Frogs Overtime Winners in Cheez-It Bowl". GoFrogs.com. December 27, 2018.
- ^ "2019 Big 12 Preseason Football Honors Announced". July 9, 2019.
- ^ "NFL Draft Summer Scouting: Offensive tackle will be a potential juggernaut position next April". The Athletic. August 13, 2019.
- ^ "TCU's Lucas Niang considered a top OL by Gil Brandt". 247Sports.com. May 17, 2019.
- ^ "McShay's preseason 2020 NFL draft rankings: Top 32 prospects". ESPN.com. August 14, 2019.