Jan. 16, 2009
ORLANDO, Fla. - The UCF football program announced on Friday that seven scholarship student-athletes have joined the team for the spring semester. The group includes four student-athletes who graduated high school a semester early in offensive lineman Renato Cunha (Miami, Fla.), cornerback Josh Robinson (Lauderhill, Fla.), safety Jarrett Swaby (Belle Glade, Fla.) and tight end Jim Teknipp (Painesville, Ohio). Also amongst the seven are two student-athletes who signed National Letters of Intent to join UCF last February in defensive lineman Chris Martin (Fort Walton Beach, Fla.) and wide receiver Marquee Williams (Ocala, Fla.) and one who attended junior college in running back James Poe (Orlando, Fla.).
Cunha played left tackle and defensive tackle in high school for Miami Jackson. He was selected for the Dade-Broward All-Star game. Cunha should know plenty about the UCF program before arriving as Jackson head coach Thomas Balkcom played for George O'Leary at Georgia Tech and coached under him with the Knights.
Robinson, who announced his commitment to UCF following a Sunday church service, played both wide receiver and cornerback for Plantation. As a junior in 2007, he caught 15 passes for 286 yards and two touchdowns, had 13 carries for 136 yards one touchdown and scored three touchdowns on kick returns. Despite missing time with an injury as a senior, Robinson still made 18 catches for 364 yards (20.2 average). He was picked for the annual Dade-Broward All-Star game as he helped Plantation to the state 6A playoffs.
Swaby was an honorable mention all-state and all-county pick as a junior after making 105 tackles and five interceptions as a defensive back. Earned all-area accolades by the Palm Beach Post as a senior after making 77 tackles with nine pass deflections and two fumble recoveries. He has also played some as a running back. Swaby helped Glades Day to the 1A state playoffs as a junior and senior and the state championship as a sophomore.
Teknipp attended Riverside High School and earned second-team Associated Press all-district recognition this past year in Division I. He played his junior season at Henry County High School in McDonough, Georgia before returning home to the Cleveland-area for his senior year.
Martin played at Choctawhatchee High School and signed with UCF last February. He spent his first two prep seasons at offensive tackle before making the transition to defensive tackle for his junior and senior seasons. As a senior, Martin posted 92 tackles, 21 sacks, 27 tackles for loss and a fumble recovery. He earned All-Northwest Florida honors as a junior and senior and was named to the Junior All-America second team in 2006 after registering 86 tackles, 12 sacks and 14 tackles for loss.
Williams also signed with UCF last February after a stand-out career at Vanguard High School, the same alma mater as former UCF quarterback Daunte Culpepper who went on to an All-Pro career in the NFL. Williams was named first-team all-district as a senior and first-team all-county by the Ocala Banner. He split time between quarterback, wide receiver and safety as a senior but was the team's primary signal caller for two-plus seasons.
Poe will return home to Orlando where he was a star at Freedom High School before moving on to Georgia Military College for the past two seasons. Poe had originally committed to Louisville out of Freedom which he helped lead to the 6A state playoffs in 2005.
For the latest news on the Knights, log on to UCFAthletics.com - the official site for UCF varsity sports. The site, which also contains ticket and Golden Knights Club donor information, is also the home of UCF's new online apparel store. Also visit UCFPhotos.com, the exclusive fan source for UCF action sports pictures.