The Shore Daily, 2/3/15
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On the eve of National Signing Day, it's time to take a look at how the Shore Conference Class of 2015 has turned out now that just about all the top prospects have made their college decisions.
The class is headlined by six FBS scholarship commits, who are all expected to sign their binding National Letter of Intent with their schools tomorrow without any last-minute surprises. Clearly, linebacker was the position with the most talent this season, with Barnegat's Manny Bowen (Penn State), Manasquan's Tanner Cowley (Virginia) and Red Bank Catholic's Jamie Gordinier (Miami) being three of the six FBS commits. Also, Lakewood's Chapelle Cook has been recruited as an athlete to Temple and could wind up as a linebacker as well.
The other FBS commits are Barnegat offensive lineman Sam Madden (Georgia), and the rare kicker to get a full ride, Manalapan's record-setting Mike Caggiano, who is headed to UMass.
Two other recruits headed to FBS programs as preferred walk-ons are a pair of Shore Regional teammates, kicker Jake Monteiro (Rutgers) and linebacker/long-snapper James Bedell (UConn).
Four or five FBS recruits per class has been about the norm for the Shore Conference, with the high being nine in the Class of 2011. A three-star recruit from that class has turned out to be the best of them all - Middletown North grad Shilique Calhoun. He is an All-Big Ten defensive end for Michigan State who decided to come back as a fifth-year senior instead of enter this year's NFL draft.
That class also included RBC's Jack Tabb, who had a solid career as a tight end at North Carolina, St. John Vianney's Sean Tobin, who was a starting long-snapper at Georgia Tech, and Point Boro's Ryan Malleck, who has had an injury-plagued career at Virginia Tech but has been a solid contributor when healthy.
Raritan's Shane Mertz has been in the offensive line rotation at Northwestern but also has battled multiple injuries in his career, and Long Branch's Miles Shuler played slot receiver at Northwestern this fall after transferring from Rutgers. Barnegat's Nick SanGiacomo went to Tulane for one season and then transferred to Central Connecticut State. Manalapan quarterback Mike Bimonte was at Rutgers, seeing time only as a holder on kicks before deciding to transfer for his final season. One other recruit from that class, Neptune's Charles Davis, committed to Rutgers but never ended up playing FBS football.
Out of this year's group, there look to be 21 players headed to FCS programs, but not all of them are on football scholarships. Some received some academic money, while others are preferred walk-ons. Lakewood defensive end Datrell Reed will make it 22 when he announces his choice tomorrow on Signing Day. He most recently visited William & Mary among his choices.
There was a reason that Jackson Memorial, Red Bank Catholic and Manalapan all ended up as state champions ranked in the top three of the final Shore Sports Network Top 10 as they all have multiple scholarship athletes and look to have 20-plus players playing college football combined.
It is a thin class as far as the offensive skill positions are concerned. There is only one quarterback signing tomorrow and that's Barnegat's Cinjun Erskine, who is headed to Bucknell. The only wide receiver who earned a scholarship was Monmouth Regional's Isaiah Searight, a Fordham recruit and first-team All-Shore pick who led the Shore in catches and yards. (Update: Rumson running back Charlie Volker is not on scholarship at Princeton, meaning Cook may be the only scholarship running back if he ends up playing there for Temple).
This year's class was mainly about the defensive side of the ball, with defensive ends, linebackers and defensive backs serving as the bulk of the FBS and FCS recruits. As for the potential of the FBS recruits, with Cowley and Cook, it's mainly about settling into a specific position at the college level after getting recruited more for their all-around ability. Bowen had a disappointing senior season, but he has Shilique Calhoun-level potential at Penn State if he progresses accordingly. Gordinier has the tools to have a strong career under RBC graduate Al Golden at Miami whether he ultimately settles in at linebacker or as a pass-rushing defensive end.
Madden has imposing size (6-7, 345) and solid agility but is still a very raw prospect. At an SEC program like Georgia that brings in high-level players every season, he will need to improve rapidly to not get passed on the depth chart, but if things click with him, clearly he has major potential given his frame. As for Caggiano, it's mainly about opportunity, and he has a good chance to be UMass's starting kicker early in his career.
If you care about the star-rating system (I don't), Bowen is considered a four-star recruit (out of five) by Rivals.com, while Madden, Cook, and Gordinier are rated as three-star recruits, Cowley is a two-star recruit, and Caggiano has no rating, which is not unusual for kickers.
The latest commitments from yesterday included Jackson Memorial WR/DB Matt Castronuova (Monmouth University); Red Bank Catholic WR/DB Nick Lubischer (New Hampshire) and RBC kicker Vince Gallo (Stonehill College). All of them are preferred walk-ons.
Castronuova was a second-team All-Shore pick by SSN for the No. 1 Jaguars who had 69 tackles, including four for a loss, and intercepted a pass in just eight games for the Central Jersey Group IV champions. Also a home-run threat as a receiver, he caught 17 passes for 309 yards and two touchdowns, and ran for 206 yards and two touchdowns on just 12 carries.
Lubischer makes it nine players from RBC's senior class committed to play college football so far, as he joins Howell lineman Mike McGuinness among the incoming group at New Hampshire, which is one of the top FCS programs in the country. Lubischer, who was a third-team All-Shore selection, was a big-play weapon for the Non-Public Group III champion Caseys. He caught 18 passes for 379 yards and six touchdowns on an average of 21 yards per catch. He played his best in RBC’s biggest games, catching three passes for 118 yards and two touchdowns in a regular-season win over Manalapan and making four receptions for 122 yards and a touchdown in a 45-20 win over Delbarton in the sectional final.
Gallo is an interesting story as he was a starting varsity soccer player who didn't come out for the football team until his senior year. He went 65-for-71 on extra points and hit three field goals with a long of 37 yards in his only season for the Caseys. That was enough to get him a chance to play college football at Division II Stonehill.
More on Tuesday:
- Central athletic director Vinnie Casale has been suspended with pay by the superintendent for an "internal" problem. It will be discussed further at the next Board of Education meeting on Feb. 19.
- Bob Badders has a new wrestling Top 10 in the aftermath of the Shore Conference Tournament.
- Reminder for the millionth time for recruits: Acting like an idiot on social media could have coaches stop recruiting you or get your scholarship dropped.
- No one from the Shore got flipped this season, but flipping recruits to different schools after they verbal is a regular part of the recruiting game.
- A look at the Temple recruiting class that includes Lakewood's Chapelle Cook. Former Neptune star Keith Kirkwood also plays wide receiver for the Owls after transferring from Hawaii this past season.
- If you think recruiting is intense now, it's got nothing on back in the day when assistant coaches were punching each other on people's front lawns to land big-time players.
- A running back recruit for Minnesota has taken an unconventional route: Born in Africa in Sierra Leone and played high school ball in Canada.
- Pretty amazing bowler from up at Manchester Regional HS in North Jersey. He has two prosthetic legs and arms that end at his elbows yet still has rolled a team-high this season.
- The guy who got a "back-to-back Super Bowl champs" Seahawks tattoo: I have no regrets.
- There's now Tough Mudders for kids. I'm assuming the barbed wire is Fisher Price and the electric shocks are only mildly incapacitating.
- Old friends and co-workers of Patriots Super Bowl hero Malcolm Butler remember him from the days of working at Popeye's with no career only four years ago.
- The next generation of our drone operators who will be firing deadly missiles are currently being found at video game conventions.
On tap for tonight: The weather wiped out yesterday's games, so in boys basketball, the game between No. 8 Toms River South at No. 4 Toms River North in Class A South that looks to have division title implications is now on for tonight at 6:30. Also in A South, Southern will look to avenge an earlier loss to Brick Memorial and stay undefeated on its home court while remaining in striking distance of the division title.
Also, No. 4 Freehold Township heads to upstart Howell for another tough game as it tries to stay in front for the Class A North public title. In Class B North, No. 7 Red Bank Catholic heads to Neptune, which has won five straight. Point Beach will try to make it 39 straight divisional wins in Class B Central when it heads to Keyport, and No. 2 Lakewood travels to Central in a bid to win its 34th straight game in Class B South.
In one nondivisional game, St. Rose welcomes Raritan in a game that is important for both teams' Shore Conference Tournament qualifying hopes. Teams must have a .500 record or better by Feb. 14 to qualify for the SCT.
In girls basketball, it's round two of the titanic battle between St. John Vianney and Manasquan in Class A Central. The two top-five teams in the state will meet at 6:30 p.m. on Manasquan's home court after St. John Vianney won the first meeting. As for wrestling, this is the calm before the storm as teams tune up with regular-season duals before the NJSIAA Tournament gets underway next week.
I'll end with the top plays from the incoming class at Penn State, which includes Barnegat's Manny Bowen. For some reason it won't embed, so just watch it here.
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