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Florida talent pool still producing for Pirates
Rutgers, Syracuse,
Temple, others lose out on Ft. Lauderdale Cardinal Gibbons safety C.J.
Maybin
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By
Sammy Batten
©2014 Bonesville.net
All rights reserved.
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C.J. Maybin has always liked to hit
people on the football field, even when it wasn’t appropriate.
“When I was younger my Dad started me
off by signing me up for flag football,’’ Maybin recalled recently. “But
it wasn’t fun to me just grabbing somebody’s flag. I wanted to hit. So I
immediately started tackling the other players.
“The other parents did not like it.
So they moved me up to the tackle league.’’
Maybin’s natural aggression and
physical size — he now stands 6-foot-4 and weighs about 195 pounds —
helped him develop into a major college prospect at Cardinal Gibbons
High School in Fort Lauderdale, FL.
A senior safety, Maybin entertained
scholarship offers from Bethune-Cookman, Florida International, Georgia
State, Ohio, Rutgers, Syracuse, Temple and Western Michigan before
making a verbal commitment to East Carolina on August 15.
Maybin made the pledge, even though
he’s never set foot on East Carolina’s campus. He’s scheduled to make
his first visit to Greenville an unofficial one for the SMU game on
October 4.
But the proximity to Florida and a
familiarity between the Cardinal Gibbons and ECU coaching staffs
prompted Maybin’s decision, which he relayed to the Pirates on his
mother’s birthday.
“Everything they had to offer was
right for me,’’ Maybin said. “The campus is not that far away from home,
so my parents can drive up there and see a few games.
“I really liked the coaching staff.
My coaches here are very familiar with them because they’ve (ECU) been
recruiting at my school for a while.’’
The Pirates have actively recruited
Florida under Coach Ruffin McNeill and currently have seven scholarship
players from the Sunshine State on their roster. ECU signed Maybin’s
former Cardinal Gibbons teammate, offensive lineman Erik Lenzen, in
February. Lenzen is now a freshman at ECU.
The Pirates have recruited Maybin as
a safety with the possibility of moving him to an outside linebacker
position in their 3-4 defense if he continues to add weight.
“In the next couple of years, I might
move down into the box and play the SAM (strongside linebacker),’’
Maybin said.
Maybin actually began his football
career as a linebacker in the Florida youth leagues. But his development
at that position was interrupted suddenly due to an injury that occurred
during his sixth-grade year. During a recreation league game, Maybin
suffered a shattered right kneecap.
Amazingly, Maybin continued to play
in the game before the injury was diagnosed later.
“My parents and coaches didn’t know
anything was wrong with me,’’ Maybin said. “I wanted to stay on the
field, so I played the rest of the game.
“That weekend, though, it started to
swell up and that’s when they found out I had shattered my kneecap. It
took me about a year to come back, and once I did I favored it (knee) a
little bit. Then, I reinjured it again. By the time I got to high school
as a freshman, I was sort of starting over.’’
It was during his freshman season
that Maybin converted to the safety position with the Cardinal Gibbons
junior varsity. He made the varsity as a sophomore and has seen
extensive action the last two seasons, even though he wasn’t a starter.
Maybin served in a reserve capacity
until moving into the starting lineup last season for the state
playoffs. He finished the season tied for the team lead in interceptions
with four.
Despite his impressive play last
season, it wasn’t until this spring when his highlight tapes reached the
hands of college coaches that recruiting really picked up. He also
benefited from a strong performance with the Florida Fire North
seven-on-seven team that produced several tournament wins.
“Even though I didn’t start last
year, every time I got in I’d made a big play or make something
happen,’’ Maybin said. “Plus, I’m a 6-4 safety. There aren’t many of
those out there who can move like I do.
“I sent out a highlight tape to a lot
of college coaches. I think that's where the (recruiting) interest
started from.''
Maybin believes the Cardinal Gibbons
coaches passed his highlight tape on to the East Carolina staff, who
extended him a scholarship offer in late May.
Cardinal Gibbons is off to a 2-0
start this season and Maybin has played a big role in that success. He's
still attracting attention from college recruiters, but says ECU is
still his school.
“Right now I'm not really looking at
anybody else,'' he said. “If something comes along, I would look at it,
and talk with my parents and my coaches to decide what's best for me.
But right now I'm pretty locked in with East Carolina.''
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09/17/2014 05:05 PM |
