When Tom Sweeney committed earlier this week, I mentioned that is was nice to keep the Don Bosco connection strong. The idea got me thinking, what are the most important programs to BC's success? The reality is that BC takes kids from all over and has to look beyond friendly programs to find talent. But I do think there are a few high schools that will always be important.
Don Bosco
Don Bosco is a national power, coached by a BC parent and it is a Catholic High School in a densely populated area three and a half hours from campus. Bosco wasn't great at football prior to Toal coaching the team. Since he got the job though, the program has been a nice foundation for BC. The team camps at BC every year so the staff usually has a good feel for the players and their capabilities. When Toal retires, it will be important the BC keeps close ties with his replacement.
St. Xavier (Cincinnati)
TOB's deserves a lot of credit for opening doors at his Alma Mater. The entire Cincy area has been important to BC for nearly two decades, but St. X has really been our anchor. The large Jesuit school is a perfect place to recruit. We know the kids can handle the academics and play in a very competitive high school league.
Everett
There have been other nice high school programs in Massachusetts, but Everett remains the most consistently good and of late has produced the most BCS talent. The school has a long history of football success, but their coach John DiBiaso is the driving force.
These things also shift and change too. When I was at BC in the 1990s the team was heavy on Xaverian players. Yet we haven't had an impact player from Xaverian since Derrick Knight. Kiwi and Trueblood came from Cathedral High School in Indianapolis but we never capitalized on their success with more players/ We have two incoming recruits from Atlanta's Westminster, but in my opinion that will be an anomaly. (I think the Atlanta Catholic schools do have promise though.) There are BC coaches sprinkled around some key high school programs that might help, but no one has built a Bosco equivalent yet.
Let me know where else we should have pipelines or programs that I might have missed.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
11 comments:
I'm biased, having grown up there, but I think the Chicago Catholic League (St. Rita, Mt. Carmel, Loyola, Br. Rice, et al.) and the East Suburban Catholic League (Joliet Catholic, Providence and Marist, etc.) could be much more fertile ground for BC than it already is.
'm always shocked BC doesn't mine its jesuit schools better than it does. We are the only jesuit bcs school, and if we received the pick of the litter of our nation's jesuit high school's we'd field an awfully competitive program. BC needs to work that end harder; from the top of my head, that would include BC High, Gonzaga (DC), Rockhurst (KC), Dallas Jes, Sacremento Jes, Ignatius (Cle), Desmet (Hou).
Agreed Catab, add to that Creighton Prep, SLU High, McQuaid in Rochester, Marquette U High, New Orleans Jesuit... All schools that produce non-athlete BC kids every year. If we just took a third to half of the top-tier talent these schools produce, BC would have one of the best pipelines in CFB.
I live in Mobile, AL; the Jesuit presence is strong here (Spring Hill College) and there is an excellent Catholic High School, Mc-Gill-Toolen, that has become a consistently strong football power. I would love to see us establish a relationship with the school's athletic program; a number of stellar non-athletes have come to BC from the school, including a very recent Presidential Scholar.
The football culture is strong here and I would love for BC to at least make an effort.
I want to put in a pitch for DeSmet (St. Louis) as well as SLU High. Both of these programs have developed some high caliber recruits elsewhere. Christian Suntrup was recruited out of Chaminade Prep (Brothers of Mary) in St. Louis where David Lee (Warriors) and Bradley Beal (Wizards) have come. BC from other comments has not been mining for gold at very high caliber Jesuit institutions.
As a proud Bosco grad (Class of '64), it is almost painful to recommend our traditional rival; i.e., Bergen Catholic. The other "BC" has a history of success. More recently, St. Joe's of Montvale has moved into the upper ranks of NJ Catholic HS football.
St. Peter's Prep is no slouch as well.
Keep working in New Jersey.
Although it is not Jesuit, St. Thomas Aquinas HS in Ft. Lauderdale, with its National Championship status a couple of times in the last few years and its numerous state championships should be a recruiting hot bed for BC (remember Darryl Porter). This is a premier prep program. ND always has a couple of "Raiders" on its roster.
The Catholic Conference in Eastern Massachusetts has been the most import:
Off the top of my head
1)Xaverian: Hasselbeck's, Derrick Knight . . .
2)St.Johns Prep: St. Pierre
3)Boston College High School: Zukauskas
4)Catholic Memorial: Cherilus and LV Whitwork
Chaminade (Mineola, NY) beat St. Anthony's (Huntington, Steroidtown, USA) for the first time in a dozen or so years to take the Long Island CHSAA championship. Looks like there is a Griff Rogan Jr. WR on the team, and they have recruited someone this year. Stephen Boyd is the head coach, BC, All-Pro legend, and a really nice guy. Helped me with my squats once. We should be able to get a few athletes from here, even if they are a terror on campus.
I don't think the staff should limit itself to Jesuit schools. All Catholic schools should be a target. Notre Dame, Michigan and Iowa pluck guys from my alma mater and I would love to see BC come in and make them at least consider us. It would force Notre Dame to fight a little harder in an area they take for granted.
I agree that we should own the Jesuit High Schools. Why not do a coaching clinic every year with invites to those programs (and other catholic high schools? Loyola in Los Angeles is consistently one of the top programs in the state as is Loyola in Chicago. Dallas Jesuit is also a great program. Plus, you know what these kids are getting in a high school education. It would seem that we should take advantage of one of the things that we do have in common with these schools that could be a differentiator.
Post a Comment