Nassau Community College head coach Curtis Cuilliam said Chad Mavety loved Syracuse right out of high school and dreamed of playing there. Even the family of the star-studded, JuCo offensive lineman attended SU back in their day. The 6’6”, 320 pounder still has Syracuse high on his wish list despite high interest from top heavyweights across the country.
The 4-star bulldozer tackle fields offers from Ohio State, Alabama, Florida State, Michigan State, and Oklahoma. That’s the cream of the crop, with several other programs attempting to land the Garden City, NY native. Guilliam tells The Fizz Mavety is looking at all schools on an equal playing field:
“He’s just looking for the right fit with his position. He’s looking for a good staff. He’s going to be a star no matter where he goes, it’s just a matter of him getting comfortable in the right schemes.”
Mavety‚Äôs¬† stock has increased considerably since high school and he‚Äôs a perfect example of mastering the JuCo route. Mavety attended Sparta High School in New Jersey at the beginning of his young career. Now, he‚Äôs arguably the #1 JuCo offensive lineman in the ’14 class. In terms of his own individual game, Guilliam tells The Fizz he‚Äôs got to put on some more meat and strengthen his mechanics:
“Chad’s got to develop and get stronger. Technique wise he needs to make some adjustments at the line of scrimmage.”
But there’s already plenty of upside and not much room for error in some aspects of Mavety’s game, according to Guilliam:
“He’s naturally a very good athlete. He can run and he’s big. You don’t find that very often. That separates him from everyone else. For example, he could only bench 225 pounds two or three times when he first got up here. Now he can do it 22 times. He’s worked off the baby fat and his work ethic when coaches are or not around is exactly what somebody at the next level is looking for.”
Mavety’s in-state connection obviously helps the Orange in its recruiting pitch. Guilliam has always been a fan of the Nassau-SU connection over the years. He even mentioned that his squad wears the same orange and blue, and looks to add jersey numbers to the side of their helmets just like the Orange. He thinks Mavety could enhance that link even more if he seriously considers Syracuse. While Brooklyn’s Thomas Holley replaces Ebenezer Ogundeko in SU’s race for New York City’s top prize in this year’s class, Mavety could be setting his own standards for the general, N.Y. State connection. Guilliam finds the in-state connection to be invaluable to SU.
“The experience of playing in the local area is great. Recently we’ve has four guys go through the whole thing. Put it this way: it’s either you want to be a big fish in small pond or a regular fish in the sea. The connection between here and their coaching staff will always be strong. We love Syracuse.”
The decision isn’t easy. Do you head to an established program like Ohio State or Alabama, or consider a program like Syracuse where your presence is felt immediately although winning might not come all that fast? As a JuCo transfer, Mavety might not be around long enough¬†to see the Orange “storm the ACC” as Shafer likes to put it. However, the ferocious lineman does have some recruiting connections in his class.
Nassau RB Travis Lock is very high on Syracuse, and could supply depth to the running back position when PTG and Rome Smith depart. Mavety’s also very tight with 4-star commit A.J. Long, particularly with social media. Thanks to Long, Syracuse football fans blew up Mavety’s Twitter page trying to convince the standout lineman to play for the Orange and potentially bring home an ACC Championship.
@Aj_Long3: “#cusenation go follow and blow up @chadmavety55 page he will be the next Justin Pugh!!!”
In response to all the love, Mavety tweeted:
@chadmavety55: “Soo much love from #OrangeNation its awesome! Cuse fans are wilddd.”
In a text message conversation, Long told The Fizz the odds for Syracuse to get Mavety are good.
“Very high and [there’s] a very great chance to land Chad Mavety.”
A comparison to first round pick Justin Pugh says a lot about the next-level potential of Mavety. And you can’t help loving Long’s enthusiasm to try and load up this 2014 class. He’s demonstrating his all-out commitment and dedication to the football program already. The highly sought OT Mavety has a scheduled visit with the Buckeyes in late November. So a decision date could still be a ways away for the JuCo star. Luckily with NY State linkage and some encouragement from potential classmates, there’s no reason to not believe Mavety could possibly be the next big thing up at Syracuse.
Posted: Brendan Glasheen
