Ulises De los Santos knew that he made a complete mess of his recruiting process. The standout Union City High School two-way football lineman had schools like Rutgers, Syracuse and Penn State once interested in his services, but watched that interest wane over the last year.
“It was extremely frustrating,” De los Santos said. “The entire recruiting process was extremely frustrating. I had to deal with a lot of off-the-field issues and things in school. I really wasn’t mature at the time. I thought my highlight tape spoke for itself. But I made some mistakes in my life and I had to face the consequences.”
Eventually, De los Santos grew up and stopped doing the stupid things that made him a persona non-grata on the recruiting scale.
“He certainly had a bumpy road with injuries and had to improve academically, but he buckled down and matured,” Union City head football coach Wilber Valdez said.
Last week, De los Santos was able to fulfill his dream by signing a national letter of intent to attend Delaware State to play football in the fall and will be a defensive lineman at the school.
“Delaware State came at the very end,” De los Santos said. “I met the coaching staff about five days before I signed. They said they had me on the radar all along.”
In the closing days, De los Santos received offers from Old Dominion and Rutgers, but decided to remain loyal to Delaware State.
“I was considering a late visit to Rutgers, but I made the decision to go to Delaware State and stay with it,” De los Santos said. “I loved the place. It was the first place that felt like home. I had been searching for that.”
Valdez was pleased with De los Santos’ decision.
“He has seized the opportunity of earning a [NCAA] Division I scholarship,” Valdez said. “Now, the challenge is to remain consistent and improve as a player, student and a young man. I have confidence that Uli can have a fine career at Delaware State. He’s a D-I talent for sure. But it’s about progressing in life and a degree is vital to his future. It’s certainly exciting and fulfilling that through hard work of our staff and our teachers and the Union City community that we are able to open up doors for our football players to go to college.”
Three other Union City players signed with NAIA school Avila University of Missouri, namely running back Raven Josiah, wide receiver/defensive back Isaias Alberto and defensive lineman Keven de la Cruz.
After enduring the process, de los Santos is happy with his choice. He will have local company there, as former St. Anthony standout Nate Ortiz is a junior at Delaware State.
“He’s going to be like my brother there,” de los Santos said. “I feel like the entire world has been lifted off my shoulders.”…
Lincoln also had an event at signing day, but it was a little convoluted, since Frank Darby was not yet academically eligible to sign with the University of Iowa and may now have to attend prep school before he heads to Iowa.
Defensive back Kareem Gaulden was eligible and in fact signed with Temple.
Versatile Jason Harrison is headed to Iowa Western Community College, quarterback Zymire Gordon is headed to Fort Scott Community College and defensive end Nyheem Riley is off to Highland Community College.
A local newspaper reported that five players signed letters of intent, but as everyone knows, JUCO players only commit to schools and do not sign. The school was also wrong for promoting it as such…
Former McNair Academic girls’ basketball player Amissa Epperson is making a huge splash right away at Pratt Institute in New York.
Jersey City native Epperson has been named the Hudson Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Women’s Basketball Rookie of the Week for the third time in the past month. The 6-foot-2 Epperson had 18 points and 14 rebounds in two consecutive games against Yeshiva and King’s College. Epperson averaged four blocked shots per game this season, leading the league, and her 11.7 rebounds per game ranked second…
We reported last week that Hudson Catholic standout junior guard Tyheem Burno had scholarship offers, but mentioned the wrong schools. Burno’s offers are indeed from Iona, but also from Wagner, not Siena, as reported. Apologies to all involved…
There’s a new football coach at North Bergen and we will have more about the hiring of a familiar local face next week…
Hudson Reporter Boys’ H.S. Basketball Top Five: 1. St. Anthony (21-0). 2. Hudson Catholic (18-3). 3. Union City (19-4). 4. St. Peter’s Prep (12-8). 5. Snyder (14-7).
Hudson Reporter Girls’ H.S. Basketball Top Five: 1. Bayonne (17-2). 2. Lincoln (16-3). 3. Secaucus (17-5). 4. North Bergen (15-5). 5. Marist (16-7). – Jim Hague
Jim Hague can be reached at OGSMAR@aol.com.