Four Somers seniors are headed to play football at the next level. They are:
Somers —
Matt Deiana, RB/S, Blair Academy (prep school)
Andrew Madigan, LB, Pace
Christian Smith, DL, Muhlenberg
Colin Tullgren, WR, SUNY Cortland
For other Section 1 football players headed to college, click here or here. For CHSFL players, click here.
But I want to just take a second to talk about Matt Deiana, because a lot of you asked questions about him. Here’s how he diagramed it for me:
In the end, he had received offers from Army, Albany, Wagner, Sacred Heart and Marist and had an opportunity to go to UConn, Temple and Akron as a preferred walk-on.
Unsatisfied with those options, Deiana chose prep school. There appear to have been three major reasons why.
1. He had received interest from some Division I-A programs. His list: Clemson, Kansas, Illinois, Wisconsin, Marshall, Bowling Green, Northern Illinois and BYU. So Deiana asked at least some of those coaches if they believed he could boost his chances if he went to prep school. Their response played a major role in his decision to attend Blair Academy.
2. He also hopes to garner interest from Ivy League and Patriot League D I-AAs but needed to boost his academic portfolio to become a stronger candidate for those programs.
“By going to prep school, I decided I would have a better chance of going to a I-A school, and if not I will be able to go to a top academic I-AA school,” Deiana said.
3. As many of you know, Deiana also played defensive end at Somers. He succeeded there despite his size, but that’s clearly not where his future lies if Deiana plays defense in college. So in addition to opening up his options and improving his grades, the former Somers star hopes to prove he can play in the defensive backfield, too.
“I will be playing defensive back at prep school mainly because that is my natural defensive position,” he said. “A few coaches inquired about me for defense, but weren’t comfortable taking me without seeing me at defensive back on film.”
19 Comments
I think the scouts have seen enough tape on the young man. Hes started for 5 years. His coach also has the ear of many programs. Albany is becoming a top 1aa program and from what I have seen of him, it would take a few years for him to play RB for the Danes. They have tremendous talent coming in next year and have some very fine RBs there now.
The year of prep never hurts, I wish him well
Here is some more news on the class A and AA front. With ramapo’s budget going down by 3000 votes, there is a very good posibility that spring valley and ramapo will either merge or cancel their seasons. If that happens, then the class A and AA schedules and leagues might have to get re-done again. Next weeks budget issues might cause some major problems with sports for numerous districts.
Great decision by this kid..but that recruiting list seems a little crazy… Clemson? Not sure he is an SEC caliber
clemson is acc
Does a year of Prep school equal to another year of HS play? If not, why does it not count towards college, meaning you have 5 years to finish 4 years of football or you lose your eligibility?
The body is still getting stronger at 18 so probably not a bad idea to stay behind, especially if it helps boost grades. Think about it, what was the alternative even if a D-1 school was offering, red shirt as a freshman. Hopefully he stays healthy and good luck!
Turning down Connecticut and Albany, all I can say is, “one in the hand is worth more than two in the bush”
Playing the fifth year always comes as a “PG” year at private prep schools. It’s really a good option for athletes playing basketball and football, because in football very few JUCO schools offer football as a stepping stone to a division 1 offer, and in basketball the JUCO transfer isn’t as popular as it is in lets say baseball.
In baseball, a great player who just needs a little refining athletically or academically can play very competitive junior college baseball for a year or two as a step to professional or d-1 baseball. In hockey there is an entire junior circuit for these years between high school and college, where kids can play different levels of junior hockey.
just a fact
Your college eligibility starts the first semester you enroll in college, if you start college at 25, so be it, you have 4 years from that point. So any post-grad work doesnt count towards your years unless you enroll in ju-co.
important question regarding the combine..uhm if i pay the day of do i bring the form and a hundred dallars cash or a check maile dto section`1recruiting inc? please someone help me out
Class A Fan thanks. So I guess it is the equivalent of playing at New Ro then going to Iona Prep for a year??? I don’t know, sounds like UCONN is a very good option if you ask me. But I am sure there is more to the decision making for the kid and his family.
just a fact
Iona prep isn’t a post-grad school, so no it isnt the same. sometimes if you transfer from a public to a private they will keep you back a grade, but that is not post grad. because you didnt graduate from high school. but a place like blair is post-grad. and they will keep you for a year.
real music 93,
You can download the registration forms at http://www.Section1Recruiting.Com and if you mail them by Tuesday May 18th the fee is still $60. If you are going to register the day of the Event, you must bring the signed registration forms and the $100 fee to the New Rochelle High School game field.
To all the High School Football Players out there,
Right now we only have 20 pre-registered players!! I cannot fathom why. If you have any interest in playing college football at any level and you are currently in high school this is a CAN’T MISS event! As of now I have 14 coaches total coming from Cortland, Utica, Castleton State, Rochester, St. John Fisher, WPI, Union, USMMA, Widener, and Buffalo State coming. I also am expecting coaches from Amherst, AIC, Southern Connecticut, Pace and New Haven (just waiting on final confirmation from those schools). I also am receiving word back every day from other schools that were invited. ALL of those coaches have friends at the FBS and FCS (IA & IAA) level. If you can play at that level they will let their friends that coach at that level know you can play and you will probably get an invite to one of those schools camps. For $60 this is an unbeatable bargain! High School football players in the tri-state area that want the best bargain to be seen by college coaches NEED to attend this event if they want to play college football! Hope to see you all there!
class a fan,
I heard that Ramapo and Spring Valley will be merging football teams this year. That info came from a very reliable source.
Wow, can’t believe 10960 is is letting others report stuff about Spring Valley and Ramapo before him. Must be up to his neck with the books.
If those two schools merge to one team, just bring a camera crew, because you know the first week of triples will be a lot of fighting, drama, ect, ect..
Who is going to Coach this team? Even if/with the merge the team at best might make the playoffs with a first round exit. Based on 2009 enrollment #’s Spring Valley/Ramapo combined puts them around 2k, still under New Ro and North Rock. Closer to MV. Should be interesting to see (and watch).
so keith fagan if i bring a check i send it to new rochelle game field???
lebron bryant,
If you bring a check on the day of the event, it must be made out for $100. If you mail it in with the form to P.O. Box 347 White Plains, NY 10602 by Tuesday May 18th it should be made out for $60.
A merged Spring Valley and Ramapo football team is just a total disregard of kids. There has never been problems in getting good sized rosters for these teams and they have always been competitive. It would just be an outsized shame if this was to happen.
its either that or no football at all…..
Harrison has two kids playin ball next year
Dennis Rinaldi and Jack Molloy Western New England and Buffalo.
NO matter where Deiana ends up, sure he will do well.saw him play over the years, he’s one tough ,talented player and I wish him all the best in his future.