Unlike my good friend, Kevin Stone, I do not like to speak in hyperbole. I like to shoot straight and tell it like it is. That is why I believe that the 2023 Recruiting Class is the greatest recruiting class in Massachusetts High School Football history. Just look at the amount of FBS, Power 5 talent that is signing today.
Let’s start with BB&N’s Ronan Hanifan who is signing with Clemson. Hanifan is not the only ISL recruit who is signing his letter of intent with a Power 5 program. Milton Academy tight end Andrew Rappleyea is signing with Penn State, Thayer offensive tackle Samson Okunlola is signing with Miami today. Governor Academy tight end Holden Symonds is signing with Boston College. Jackson Connors-McCarthy out of Brooks has decommitted from Buffalo and his recruitment is still open.
Central Catholic’s Preston Zinter and Catholic Memorial’s Boubacar Traore are both signing with Notre Dame. Traore’s teammates, Datrell Jones, Max Tucker and Jaedn Skeete are signing with Boston College. Zinter’s teammate Jaden Wiggins is signing with UMass today. Joenel Aguero from St. John’s Prep is signing with Georgia. His teammate, wide receiver Jesse Ofurie is signing with Rutgers. Springfield Central’s William Watson is signing with Virginia Tech, while teammates Jayden Bass and Josiah Griffin are signing with Syracuse and Boston College respectively. Tucker McDonald is signing his letter of intent with UConn today as well.
Of course this doesn’t include all of the local talent that is signing with FCS schools today as well. Xaverian tackle Jon Mould, BB&N’s Isaiah Kacyvenski and Milton Academy’s Jack Crowley all committed to Harvard, Reading quarterback James Murphy has committed to Brown, Bishop Feehan defensive lineman Case Mankins and Catholic Memorial running back Carson Harwood both signed their letters with URI today. Catholic Memorial tackle Timothy Bruen has committed to Cornell. St. John’s Prep defensive end Mikey Nabbout has committed to Columbia and Milford’s Ryan O’Connor is going to be signing his letter of intent with Bucknell today. There are countless other players in the state who will be signing today as well.
The class featured two five star recruits according to 24/7 in Okunlola and Aguero. Traore, Hanifan, Rappleyea and Jones were all rated as four star recruits according to 24/7. Zinter, Watson, Ofurie, Skeete, Griffin, Bass, Tucker and Symonds were all three star recruits according to the recruiting service.
Massachusetts High School Football is gaining national recognition for the type of talent it is producing. While it may not be on par with New Jersey, Texas, Florida, California and Ohio, the state is still producing a lot of top end talent. Talent that has gone on to make an impact on the biggest stage of college football.
It truly is a golden age for football talent in Massachusetts. It is why Power 5 programs from around the country now recruit Massachusetts routinely. We will continue to see more Massachusetts recruits getting Power 5 offers in the coming years but I am not sure we will see this much talent in one class again for a long time. The Class of 2023 was truly special.