Inside Recruiting: Players tell their stories

B eing recruited to play college sports can be a fantastic, nerve-wracking, eye-opening, stressful time, and athletes in all sports in both southeastern Pennsylvania and South Jersey traditionally attract major-college recruiters.

Here are some of their stories from both sides of the Delaware River:

With the return of several key contributors from last season, the Archbishop Wood boys' basketball team is optimistic heading into the 2016-17 campaign.

Seth Pinkney, a 6-foot-10 junior forward, has scholarship offers from La Salle, Massachusetts, St. Joseph's, and Temple. Cincinnati, Delaware, and Robert Morris are also involved.

"He likes to compete. He gets his hands on a lot of shot attempts, and he rebounds well," Wood coach John Mosco said.

Tyree Pickron, a 6-3 junior guard who missed time during the summer's live recruiting period due to a foot injury, has offers from Delaware State, Drexel, and Stony Brook. Delaware, Hofstra, Maryland-Baltimore County, and Robert Morris are also involved.

Pickron averaged 14.7 points last season while earning second-team all-Catholic League honors.

Karrington Wallace, a 6-6 junior, has an offer from New Jersey Institute of Technology. Robert Morris, Stony Brook, and UMBC are keeping tabs.

"He's a lefty. He's long and athletic, and he's got a soft touch around the basket," Mosco said.

The Vikings, who went 14-10 overall and advanced to the Catholic League quarterfinals last season, also bring back junior guard Andrew Funk and senior guard Collin Gillespie.

Mosco said Funk has an offer from Lafayette and interest from Colgate, Columbia, Princeton, and William and Mary. Gillespie, a third-team all-league choice, has heard from Albany, Maine, and a number of Division II programs.

- Rick O'Brien

"My story is so weird," Maggie Daeche said, starting to tell the account of how she decided to continue her soccer career at Drexel.

Turns out that the Neshaminy center back becoming a Dragon isn't that strange.

The senior started looking during her sophomore year, originally contacting about 20 schools. She focused on Ivy League universities such as Columbia and Dartmouth at first, but the list expanded before she narrowed the large field to just four: Pitt, James Madison, Columbia, and Drexel.

"It was different things from different schools," Daeche said about what attracted her to each program. "The coaching. The team. They all had different weights for me."

After the tapering came the visits, occurring the summer before her junior season.

"The first time I visited Drexel I loved the soccer part of it but wasn't sure how I felt about the city," Daeche said. "Then I went again in the summer, and I fell in love with it. I just loved it. I loved the coaches. I loved the girls that I talked to."

She also loved the academics part of the equation as she'd be able to do a four-year undergraduate physical therapy program and then a two- or three-year graduate program as well.

"Academically and soccer-wise, it is the best fit for me," she said.

So what happened during her initial visit to her eventual college choice?

"It was rainy and cold," she said.

Just some bad weather, not so weird, after all.

- Kate Harman

Cardinal O'Hara lineman Desmond Holmes had a full list of Division I FBS offers, and he ended up committing to Penn State in August.

He said he attended a camp on campus in mid-July, was offered a scholarship on July 28 and took an official visit on the day he committed, Aug. 7th.

Holmes said his final choices came down to Maryland and Penn State, but he knew being a part of the Nittany Lions was best for him.

"It just felt like family from Day One," Holmes said. "I was introduced to everything. I went everywhere on campus. It was a great feel, and I just loved it."

- Patrick Paul

Caroline McGovern of Council Rock South is no stranger to Boston College. As a child, McGovern watched her eldest sister, Caitlin, play field hockey at Boston College, and Caroline would run up and down the sidelines, volunteering to be a ball girl and playing on the field during halftime.

McGovern's family played a big part of the recruiting process for her. Her two older sisters played college field hockey at Boston College and Catholic University in Washington, and her brother currently studies at Drexel.

"Visiting my sisters, who both played at city schools, made me realize I wanted to be in a city early on," McGovern said.

After looking at the ACC and Ivy League, she narrowed her search to Boston College and Penn, which both fit her needs for a city school with reputable academics.

"Penn is a great school. It's an Ivy, but I felt like I fit in more at BC from a field hockey standpoint," she said.

This season alone, McGovern has scored 37 goals and added nine assists. Now, she will have the opportunity to follow in her sister's footsteps while still making her own impression.

Caitlin McGovern said she "could not be more excited" to have her sister continuing the McGovern legacy at her alma mater.

"Everyone at my games knew Caroline: my coaches, teammates, their parents, even the groundskeepers," Caitlin said of her sister's commitment. "I feel like it was meant to be for her to go there."

- Alexa Ross

Malvern Prep offensive guard Jake Glavin committed to James Madison in July, and he has not wavered on his decision. But he did have plenty of options at the time of his choice.

Glavin took unofficial visits to Penn State and Rutgers and also had offers from FCS schools such as Robert Morris and St. Francis (Pa.). After taking some time to think which was best for him, he said he knew JMU was the best fit for his skill set.

"Once they offered me, I fell in love with the place," Glavin said. "I fell in love with the coaches and could not see myself going anywhere else."

- Patrick Paul