Frankfort (Ill.) Lincoln Way East senior running back prospect James Kwiecinski (5-foot-11, 180 pounds) had a highly productive 2021 junior season for the Griffins, and Kwiecinski will again be asked to provide both leadership and production for one of the state's top programs this fall. Get to know James Kwiecinski in this latest recruiting update.
"Our practices have been going great," Kwiecinski said. "We also started back to school this week so we are back to a regular practice schedule. We have been up really early for practices so now I'll actually be able to get a little bit of extra sleep in the morning now that we are back in school."
Kwiecinski filled us in on his latest football recruiting news.
"I have offers from schools like Dayton. Valparaiso and Butler along wioth several D2 schools like Northern Michigan, Minnesota State along with interest from several other D2 schools. I've also been in contact and am getting recruiting interest from several Missouri Valley and Ohio Valley conference schools plus a few MAC schools like Bowling Green and Western Michigan. Eastern Illinois and Murray State seem to be the most interested in me. The MAC and MVC schools all want to see some of my early season video this fall. Just about every school recruiting me likes me at running back, and I'm also going to play some slot receiver.
So what's the next move for Kwiecinski in his recruiting process this fall?
"I'm just going to go out and play my season and focus on my team. I'll get some of my early season video out to the different coaches and see what kind of feedback I receive from them. Once they get a chance to evaluate my video I'll start looking harder at all of my options and offers and move forward with my recruiting."
So how does this team feel differently compared to the 2021 Griffins?
"Last season we just had so many younger guys playing. We are just so much more focused on this team and we have so much more experience now. We have been building up a great bond with each other and just having a full off-season this year has also made a big difference. We are more prepared and just bigger and stronger compared to last year."
So how has Kwiecinski improved his overall game this off-season?
"I've added much more strength for sure and I also added good weight. I started last season at 170 pounds and I'm now around up to 182 pounds. I also worked on my overall speed and broke our team 40 yard dash record (4.34 40 yard dash)."
