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The Daily OrangeRecruit | Former teammates lobbying for touted local recruit Sales
By Michael Bonner
Posted: 10/3/07, 10:28 PM EST Section: Sports
Most people like to get advice from others when making an important decision, especially from people who have been in a similar situation before. Marcus Sales from Christian Brothers Academy in Syracuse is no different.
The 6-foot-2, 185-pound Sales, a four-star wide receiver according to Scout.com, still has not decided where he'll play after this year, his final year of high school. Sales is being recruited by Syracuse, Pittsburgh, Louisville, Boston College and North Carolina.
Being from Syracuse, Sales makes the trip to the Hill often, especially to meet up with former CBA standouts, Lavar Lobdell and Bruce Williams.
"We're real comfortable," Sales said. "They're kind of like older brothers to me."
Sales has seemingly formed a rather extensive football family. He said he knows quite a few players at the schools that are recruiting him.
Lobdell and Williams have to compete with fellow CBA graduate and current North Carolina backup quarterback, Mike Paulus. Sales also has a connection at Boston College: Jolonn Dunbar, a graduate of local rival Corcoran High School.
"They let me know the pros of the school," Sales said. "They don't really tell me any cons, but it's always good to have somebody who went through it."
Not everyone seems to think Sales' former teammates trying to lure him to their respective schools is a good thing. Coaches are well aware of his connections at various schools and try to sway him from listening to them.
"(Coaches) try to tell me, 'Don't listen to Mike Paulus,'" Sales said, laughing. "'Go to the place where I feel good.' And they always think its Syracuse or Pittsburgh or wherever (the school) is."
The CBA wideout has conversations with Lobdell and Williams at least once a week. Usually, they don't talk about Syracuse, but more about life and how Sales is doing.
"They just tell me to keep my head up and just take it slow," Sales said. "'Just don't listen to other people, just do what your family tells you.'"
Sometimes football unavoidably does come up, but the talk doesn't involve the Orange. Lobdell or Williams will call Sales before a CBA game to see how their former team is doing.
This year, the Brothers have been struggling, but Sales has continued to produce for the 2-4 team. Sales has nearly 300 yards and two touchdowns this season. But with only two games remaining, Sales probably will not reach 600 yards receiving for the third straight season, despite the school's seven-game regular season schedule each year. Last year, Sales eclipsed the 600-yard mark despite only playing five games due to injury.
Sales' success in the past is exactly why he has so many of his former teammates and friends vying for him to play with them next year. For all his success on the football field, he has actually had just has much on the hardwood. Sales averaged 23 points, five assists, five blocks and six rebounds a game for the CBA basketball team. With basketball on the backburner, Sales could reach his full football potential in college.
"He's a raw kid with a lot of potential," CBA head football coach Joe Casamento said. "He's an athlete, but not as strong. Maybe redshirt him and get him in a weight room because he's played a lot more basketball than football."
Sales said he has no problem redshirting, especially if it will make him better for the future. If Sales and his future college team do decide to redshirt him, once again he could turn to Lobdell for advice. The wide receiver was granted a medical redshirt for his freshman year at SU after injuring his arm.
It seems at every step of Sales' recruiting process he has a person he can turn to that will help him in his decision making. The experience that his former teammates and friends can tell him is something extremely important because Sales is talking to people who care about him and are not going to sugarcoat anything.
"I think it's real important," Casamento said. "The people who are there will give him the real skinny of what's going on there."
There's no sugarcoating Syracuse's resume compared to the other schools Sales is looking at. But Sales doesn't put too much into SU's record and said he thinks as long as they keep working, success will follow.
Lobdell and Williams both hope Sales will follow them up to the Hill as well. Even though the three don't often talk about recruiting or football, there are circumstances where the duo can't help but pitch their own offer to Sales.
"Yeah, they're trying to get me to go over and see how things are, just not to cut Syracuse short," Sales said. "I already know I'm not, but just because they are the backyard school, you still have to go over and see them."
Saddler Takes SU off list
Rumors were stirring on football recruiting Web sites Rivals.com and Scout.com that four-star running back Cameron Saddler of Gateway (Pa.) High School was removing Syracuse from his short list of potential schools. It seems the Orange may have actually broken off ties first.
"They were on the list at the beginning because there was a lot of contact with them," Saddler said in an e-mail. "And then once the season began, the contact really died down, and I don't know if they want or need me as much as they did in the beginning."
As a junior, Saddler totaled more than 2,500 all-purpose yards, surpassing the 1,000-yard mark in both rushing and kickoff returns. That same year, he found the endzone a total of 22 times in just 11 games.
Perhaps talks between the Orange and Saddler were cut off because SU's chances were not strong to begin with. Saddler said he wants to stay as close to home as possible so his family can watch him play on Saturdays.
Saddler has also set up three dates to officially visit schools that currently rank higher on the football scale than Syracuse: Michigan, West Virginia and Virginia, according to Scout.com.
The 6-foot-2, 185-pound Sales, a four-star wide receiver according to Scout.com, still has not decided where he'll play after this year, his final year of high school. Sales is being recruited by Syracuse, Pittsburgh, Louisville, Boston College and North Carolina.
Being from Syracuse, Sales makes the trip to the Hill often, especially to meet up with former CBA standouts, Lavar Lobdell and Bruce Williams.
"We're real comfortable," Sales said. "They're kind of like older brothers to me."
Sales has seemingly formed a rather extensive football family. He said he knows quite a few players at the schools that are recruiting him.
Lobdell and Williams have to compete with fellow CBA graduate and current North Carolina backup quarterback, Mike Paulus. Sales also has a connection at Boston College: Jolonn Dunbar, a graduate of local rival Corcoran High School.
"They let me know the pros of the school," Sales said. "They don't really tell me any cons, but it's always good to have somebody who went through it."
Not everyone seems to think Sales' former teammates trying to lure him to their respective schools is a good thing. Coaches are well aware of his connections at various schools and try to sway him from listening to them.
"(Coaches) try to tell me, 'Don't listen to Mike Paulus,'" Sales said, laughing. "'Go to the place where I feel good.' And they always think its Syracuse or Pittsburgh or wherever (the school) is."
The CBA wideout has conversations with Lobdell and Williams at least once a week. Usually, they don't talk about Syracuse, but more about life and how Sales is doing.
"They just tell me to keep my head up and just take it slow," Sales said. "'Just don't listen to other people, just do what your family tells you.'"
Sometimes football unavoidably does come up, but the talk doesn't involve the Orange. Lobdell or Williams will call Sales before a CBA game to see how their former team is doing.
This year, the Brothers have been struggling, but Sales has continued to produce for the 2-4 team. Sales has nearly 300 yards and two touchdowns this season. But with only two games remaining, Sales probably will not reach 600 yards receiving for the third straight season, despite the school's seven-game regular season schedule each year. Last year, Sales eclipsed the 600-yard mark despite only playing five games due to injury.
Sales' success in the past is exactly why he has so many of his former teammates and friends vying for him to play with them next year. For all his success on the football field, he has actually had just has much on the hardwood. Sales averaged 23 points, five assists, five blocks and six rebounds a game for the CBA basketball team. With basketball on the backburner, Sales could reach his full football potential in college.
"He's a raw kid with a lot of potential," CBA head football coach Joe Casamento said. "He's an athlete, but not as strong. Maybe redshirt him and get him in a weight room because he's played a lot more basketball than football."
Sales said he has no problem redshirting, especially if it will make him better for the future. If Sales and his future college team do decide to redshirt him, once again he could turn to Lobdell for advice. The wide receiver was granted a medical redshirt for his freshman year at SU after injuring his arm.
It seems at every step of Sales' recruiting process he has a person he can turn to that will help him in his decision making. The experience that his former teammates and friends can tell him is something extremely important because Sales is talking to people who care about him and are not going to sugarcoat anything.
"I think it's real important," Casamento said. "The people who are there will give him the real skinny of what's going on there."
There's no sugarcoating Syracuse's resume compared to the other schools Sales is looking at. But Sales doesn't put too much into SU's record and said he thinks as long as they keep working, success will follow.
Lobdell and Williams both hope Sales will follow them up to the Hill as well. Even though the three don't often talk about recruiting or football, there are circumstances where the duo can't help but pitch their own offer to Sales.
"Yeah, they're trying to get me to go over and see how things are, just not to cut Syracuse short," Sales said. "I already know I'm not, but just because they are the backyard school, you still have to go over and see them."
Saddler Takes SU off list
Rumors were stirring on football recruiting Web sites Rivals.com and Scout.com that four-star running back Cameron Saddler of Gateway (Pa.) High School was removing Syracuse from his short list of potential schools. It seems the Orange may have actually broken off ties first.
"They were on the list at the beginning because there was a lot of contact with them," Saddler said in an e-mail. "And then once the season began, the contact really died down, and I don't know if they want or need me as much as they did in the beginning."
As a junior, Saddler totaled more than 2,500 all-purpose yards, surpassing the 1,000-yard mark in both rushing and kickoff returns. That same year, he found the endzone a total of 22 times in just 11 games.
Perhaps talks between the Orange and Saddler were cut off because SU's chances were not strong to begin with. Saddler said he wants to stay as close to home as possible so his family can watch him play on Saturdays.
Saddler has also set up three dates to officially visit schools that currently rank higher on the football scale than Syracuse: Michigan, West Virginia and Virginia, according to Scout.com.
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