River Hill All-Metro lineman Max Coale has committed to play football at Princeton after narrowing a list of all-star academic schools to a final four that included Colgate, Lehigh and Brown.

For the 4.0 student who plans to become a doctor, finding a school that put academics ahead of sports was a top priority.

"One of the biggest questions I asked was, 'If I had a class that I could only take at such-and-such a time and it ran 35 minutes into practice, would you let me take it? They were, "Of course. You have to take it.'"

Coale visited Princeton a couple years ago and, he said, fell in love with the campus and was impressed with the world-class faculty in the academic fields in which he was interested.

When he met the team on his official visit, they sealed the deal.

"Everyone was like me," Coale said. "It's been hard oftentimes to find people who have a very good balance of academics and athletics. Everyone there fits that mold."

While playing football and lacrosse, Coale was also an Advanced Placement Scholar with Dinstinction, a member of the National Honor Society and the Science National Honor Society. His 4.0 average is unweighted -- straight A's.

At River Hill, Coale, 6-foot-4 and 245 pounds, played on two state champion football teams and the Hawks reached the state semifinals in November. During his three years, the team went 40-1. He was key to an offensive line that led the way for a unit that gained 3,889 yards this past fall.

Coale would like to stay close to sports after he becomes a doctor by going into the orthopedic field. He said that would give him a chance to work with athletes.

"I know I'm probably not going to play professionally. Few do. The numbers are so small. What better to fall back on than a degree from Princeton?"