Howard Offers Longview Offensive Lineman Kendall Starling

Kendall Starling is the latest local football player to receive an NCAA Division I offer.

Howard did the honor Wednesday evening, the senior Longview offensive lineman announced through his personal Twitter account, and joined a portfolio that already consisted of NCAA Division II programs Arkansas Tech and Southwestern Oklahoma State.

Starling (6-3, 310), in his second year as a starting center, has helped pave the way for Longview toward a 5-1 overall record. His team is the only squad in District 11-6A that remains undefeated through three weeks of league competition.

Howard football did not have a sparkling first month, but it did defeat Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference rival Norfolk State last week for its first win of the year and a 1-4 record ahead of Saturday's game against Monmouth.

An FCS program seeking its first winning season since 2012, the Bison opened their campaign with back-to-back games against FBS opponents Maryland and Rutgers.

While Howard has not flourished in a football sense recently, it is an elite academic institution located in Washington, D.C. The university is widely regarded as one of the best historically black colleges and universities in the country and is consistently ranked as a top university nationally for its all-encompassing programs.

Alumni include Nobel-Prize winning author Toni Morrison, U.S. Supreme Court justice Thurgood Marshall and many politicians both domestically and abroad.

Renowned sports broadcaster Gus Johnson calls Howard home as well.

The football program, which played its first game in 1893, has sent more than 20 players to the professional ranks.

Howard and the rest of the MEAC abstain from the FCS playoffs after the end of the regular season. Instead, the MEAC champion faces the winner of the Southwestern Athletic Conference in the Celebration Bowl for the historically black colleges and universities' unofficial national championship.

The Bison program claims five such titles.

Starling, like all high school football players currently in their senior year, will become eligible to sign with any program that offers him in February.