Another MU football recruit/courtesy Gloucester County Times/link posted by blogger
Raider senior headed to MU
Wednesday, January 31, 2007
By Matt Cosentino
mcosentino@sjnewsco.com
Months removed from a record-setting career by one Paulsboro High School defensive back, the Hawks are adding another.
All-county cornerback Shane Mitchell has made a verbal commitment to continue his career at Division I-AA Monmouth next year. Mitchell has been offered a full scholarship and will officially sign next week.
Mitchell made a visit to Monmouth last weekend and fell in love with the school and football program immediately.
"What I really liked is the tradition and the winning atmosphere it really reminded me of Paulsboro," he said. "It's a close-knit group, they all get along. The coaches are involved with you all year long, not just during football season. They're strict when they have to be but they also can joke around with you.
"They also had the major I wanted criminal justice with a concentration on forensic science. And for a Division I school, the campus wasn't that big. You can get around pretty easy."
Mitchell was a three-year starter for Paulsboro and was named to the Times All-Area First Team the last two seasons. As a senior he led the Red Raiders with five interceptions giving him 10 in the last two years to go with 65 tackles and a fumble recovery as Paulsboro went 10-2 and won the NJSIAA South Jersey Group I championship.
The impressive numbers led to interest from a number of schools, including Temple, Lafayette, the University of New Hampshire and the University of Delaware. Monmouth, which showed early interest before falling off, jumped back into the picture last week, and the fact that the Hawks have won the Northeast Conference three of the last four years and are a consistent winner played a big role in Mitchell's decision.
"That was real important the tradition and the way they rally around football is just like Paulsboro," he said. "Temple was recruiting me and I could have ended up there, but winning one game a season when you're used to winning 10 would've been hard. I hope to continue at Monmouth where I left off at Paulsboro."
Mitchell is also hoping to follow in the footsteps of David Jiles, that other former Paulsboro star who went on to a terrific career at Monmouth. Jiles completed his career last fall with 13 interceptions a school record and was named all-Northeast Conference twice.
Jiles was also the first one to point Mitchell in the direction of Monmouth when the two worked out together last summer in Paulsboro's weight room.
"Coach (Kevin) Callahan said as a player and a person, I remind him a lot of Dave," Mitchell said. "He said we played the same style physical, fast, we know what we're doing on the field. They really liked him up there and they're hoping to get somebody comparable."
Mitchell will join a growing group of Monmouth players with county connections.
Washington Township graduate Jonathan Dunn and Gateway product Nick LoCastro both start on the offensive line and will be entering their final seasons with the Hawks in the fall. Ryan Folsom, the son of West Deptford coach Clyde Folsom, will be a redshirt freshman quarterback.
"More than half their team is from New Jersey and they really try to keep the local talent," Mitchell said. "They've won the conference three of the last four years, so it must be working."
Wednesday, January 31, 2007
By Matt Cosentino
mcosentino@sjnewsco.com
Months removed from a record-setting career by one Paulsboro High School defensive back, the Hawks are adding another.
All-county cornerback Shane Mitchell has made a verbal commitment to continue his career at Division I-AA Monmouth next year. Mitchell has been offered a full scholarship and will officially sign next week.
Mitchell made a visit to Monmouth last weekend and fell in love with the school and football program immediately.
"What I really liked is the tradition and the winning atmosphere it really reminded me of Paulsboro," he said. "It's a close-knit group, they all get along. The coaches are involved with you all year long, not just during football season. They're strict when they have to be but they also can joke around with you.
"They also had the major I wanted criminal justice with a concentration on forensic science. And for a Division I school, the campus wasn't that big. You can get around pretty easy."
Mitchell was a three-year starter for Paulsboro and was named to the Times All-Area First Team the last two seasons. As a senior he led the Red Raiders with five interceptions giving him 10 in the last two years to go with 65 tackles and a fumble recovery as Paulsboro went 10-2 and won the NJSIAA South Jersey Group I championship.
The impressive numbers led to interest from a number of schools, including Temple, Lafayette, the University of New Hampshire and the University of Delaware. Monmouth, which showed early interest before falling off, jumped back into the picture last week, and the fact that the Hawks have won the Northeast Conference three of the last four years and are a consistent winner played a big role in Mitchell's decision.
"That was real important the tradition and the way they rally around football is just like Paulsboro," he said. "Temple was recruiting me and I could have ended up there, but winning one game a season when you're used to winning 10 would've been hard. I hope to continue at Monmouth where I left off at Paulsboro."
Mitchell is also hoping to follow in the footsteps of David Jiles, that other former Paulsboro star who went on to a terrific career at Monmouth. Jiles completed his career last fall with 13 interceptions a school record and was named all-Northeast Conference twice.
Jiles was also the first one to point Mitchell in the direction of Monmouth when the two worked out together last summer in Paulsboro's weight room.
"Coach (Kevin) Callahan said as a player and a person, I remind him a lot of Dave," Mitchell said. "He said we played the same style physical, fast, we know what we're doing on the field. They really liked him up there and they're hoping to get somebody comparable."
Mitchell will join a growing group of Monmouth players with county connections.
Washington Township graduate Jonathan Dunn and Gateway product Nick LoCastro both start on the offensive line and will be entering their final seasons with the Hawks in the fall. Ryan Folsom, the son of West Deptford coach Clyde Folsom, will be a redshirt freshman quarterback.
"More than half their team is from New Jersey and they really try to keep the local talent," Mitchell said. "They've won the conference three of the last four years, so it must be working."
posted by Tony Graham at 12:42 AM
1 Comments:
With all of these standout New Jersey football players now committing to MU, any chance this will help spread the word out to the NJ standouts about MU basketball as a future destination?
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