PHILADELPHIA - When asked what he would focus on to build a championship team at La Salle, coach Longo has consistently answered;  "recruiting".  This year, two primary needs headlined the agenda for the Explorer coaching staff - defensive impact players and kickers.  Eleven states are represented in this year's class of commitments including California, Florida, Maryland, North Carolina, New York, Delaware, Connecticut, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Maine.

 

Defensively, the Explorers have four outstanding commitments on the defensive line; eight linebackers and five defensive backs.  La Salle's top three recruits at kicker have all committed and should impact the special teams immediately.  On offense, the Explorers welcome eleven skill players including three quarterbacks, five receivers and three running backs.  Five offensive linemen will round out a talented group of offensive recruits.   

 

Defensively, Orestes Median (Palisades Park, NJ), Isaias Sostre (St. Thomas More, CT), Derek Chell (Mt. Hebron, MD), Nasir Yard (Philadelphia, PA), and Ryan Kilpatrick (Nazareth Area, PA) are members who will add athleticism to the secondary.  Transfer Rodney Jones (Dean JC - MA) is expected to add depth and maturity to the secondary. The highly-touted corps of linebackers is led by Marcus Ayers (Neptune, NJ),  Anthony Santa Croce (Notre Dame, CA) , Preston Pleveretes (Marlboro, NJ) , Matt Bishop (Bethlehem Catholic, PA), Casey Walsh (Ocean City, MD), Jake Cornely (Eastern, NJ), Wes Emme (Pennsburg, PA), and Tom Gartlan (Shawnee, NJ).  Jon Avolio (Notre Dame, NJ), Carmen Maglio (Gloucester Catholic, NJ), Mike Craig (Lansdale Catholic, PA), and Shadd Jamison (Stratford, CT) report to help strengthen the depth on the Defensive Line.  The three kickers reporting to camp include Nick Scrivens (Winston Churchill, MD), Chip Ingle (Lewisville, NC) and Anthony Perlozzo (Ocean City, MD).

 

Three signal-callers will report to fortify the troops at QB including highly-regarded Mark Julian (Notre  Dame, PA), New Yorker Craig Tufano - 6'5"/205 (Hampton Bays, NY), and local product, Chris Hanson (Lansdale Catholic, PA).  Five talented athletes report to deepen an existing core of receivers, including multi-talented Andrew Ryan (Stonebridge, VA), Kyle Holland (Neptune, NJ), Sean Bannon (Bel Air,MD), Rich Caster (Rockville Centre, NY) and Shane Kendrick (Camden Catholic) NJ.  Three RB's will report including speedster Chris Douglas (Warrenton, VA), and two physical runners in John Scipione (Hammonton, NJ) and CJ Creighton (New Milford, CT).  Kyle McCormick - 6'2"/270 (J.P. Stevens, NJ) leads a group of physical offensive line recruits which also include Jerry Shorts (Newark, DE), Corey Simms (Shawnee, NJ), John Clifford (La Salle College HS, PA) and Bud Hamilton (J.P. McCaskey, PA).