Jersey LB favors UNC
Freehold (N.J.) Freehold Township outside linebacker Matt Hardison has always wanted to attend a certain ACC school. Which one and why?
The 6-foot-3, 220-pounder has already received interest from schools including Maryland, Duke, Stanford, North Carolina, Virginia, Rutgers, Boston College and Akron.
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What does he want out of a school?
"I want to go to a school with a winning team of course," he said. "I'd like to make an impact my freshman year and also get a good education."
It appears Hardison has one school at the top of his list, even before recruiting started.
"Before anybody sent me any letters," he said. "I always wanted to go to North Carolina period, that's just somewhere I've always wanted to go."
So far Hardison has visited both Rutgers and Virginia's Junior Days.
"I thought it was great," he said. "Rutgers has amazing facilities and I really liked the coaches, and Virginia had an amazing campus and I liked their coaches too. Both visits were great experiences."
This season Hardison helped Freehold Township to a 6-4 record.
"The team had a pretty good year, it was the third winning record in the school's history," he said. "I think I had a pretty good year too, I moved to linebacker and even led in sacks for a while in the area. I got faster and worked on my strength and footwork a lot more this year."
As for what he'll play in college, he's being in a few different positions.
"I think Rutgers is looking at me for either linebacker or defensive line, while Virginia wants me as a linebacker."
What would he rather play?
"I like them both," he said. "I enjoyed linebacker this past year, maybe because it's different, but both positions are good."