LB Hardison lands UConn offer
Freehold (N.J.) Freehold Township linebacker Matt Hardison has added his third offer of the season from the Big East.
The 6-foot-3, 226-pounder picked up the offer from Connecticut.
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"It's exciting because I thought I did badly at the combine, but I guess I did better than I thought," he said. "I think the offer is pretty good, I talked to the coaches on the phone and it went pretty good. I'm looking at heading to their junior day on June 18th."
Besides Connecticut, Hardison is looking to visit Virginia, Syracuse, Maryland, North Carolina and Delaware this summer.
What does the linebacker like about Delaware?
"They are close to home and a good school," he said. "One of my coaches went there and it's a pretty good program. The coach seemed pretty cool and he even talked about me playing basketball too. I'm really interested in playing basketball in college maybe even walking on."
Hardison averaged 10 points and seven rebounds a game last year in a down season. He was a top 100 player in the state after his sophomore year.
Hardison recently attended the Lafayette football camp and is looking at visiting Penn State, Virginia and Rutgers this summer. The prospect is also looking to attend a bunch of one-day basketball camps as well.
Currently, Hardison is taking a hard look at Connecticut, Rutgers and Cincinnati, the three schools who have offered him, as well as Virginia and Maryland. The prospect was particularly impressed with a handful of schools during the evaluation period.
"I liked the coaches from Virginia Tech, Maryland, Connecticut, Syracuse and Rutgers; they were all really down to earth guys."
The prospect is still a bit unsure where he'll play when he heads off to college.
"Some schools are looking at me for linebacker or defensive end, and some are saying tight end," he said. "To tell you the truth, I'd prefer to play offense, but it doesn't really matter to me."
Hardison just finished the championship for track where he placed seventh.
"This was my first year throwing the shot putt and I thought I could have done better, but I had a good year."
The linebacker prospect is looking to improve his speed next season in preparation for college.
"I'm working on my foot speed, right now I run a 4.6 and I'd like to get it down to a 4.4," he said. "I also want to get bigger so that I can hit harder."
Hardison is expecting to make a decision sometime after the football season.