Minnesota DT holds two early offers
Minnesota prospects usually have to wait longer than their peers to pull out-of-region offers, but Minneapolis (Minn.) De La Salle junior defensive tackle Drayton Carlberg landed his first two offers from schools out East.
The first school to offer the 6-foot-4, 280-pound Carlberg was Rutgers. That offer came through earlier this fall.
Advertisement
"Rutgers was one that has been contacting me for awhile now," Carlberg said. "They had been sending me a lot of mail so I knew they were going to offer me eventually, it just happened quicker than I thought it would.
"It was really exciting when I got my first offer. It was right before a game and my coach came and told me. I was jumping for joy, but it was also a sigh of relief because as a football player you wait for that first offer to happen. Once it happens, it's a weight off your shoulders."
Carlberg will reciprocate the Scarlet Knight's interest when he flies out to Piscataway for an unofficial visit the weekend of Dec. 7. He will attend their home game against South Florida, and looks forward to exploring the campus and meeting the coaching staff.
The offer from Rutgers was followed up just three weeks ago when Pittsburgh tendered their own scholarship offer.
"The Pittsburgh offer was out of the blue," Carlberg said. "They had not contacted me at all, but my coach knew someone who coaches there and they called him up and said they wanted to offer me. It was kind of a shock."
Carlberg has not been able to do much research on Pittsburgh yet, but plans to do that in the near future. His most immediate action following the conclusion of his junior season last weekend has been scheduling visits.
"I am going to the Gopher game on Saturday," Carlberg said. "On Tuesday I am driving down to Northern Illinois University to see them play. Friday after Thanksgiving I am going down to Nebraska."
The hometown Minnesota Golden Gophers have not yet offered Carlberg, but contact with their coaching staff is frequent and the class of 2015 prospect has attended four of their home games this season.
"I have a lot of family members who are Gopher fans, and I grew up watching them," Carlberg said. "A lot of my family are hard-core, especially my grandpa."
Other schools that have contacted Carlberg this fall include Iowa, Iowa State and Michigan State.
De La Salle reached the state semifinals this weekend before bowing out of the playoffs and finishing with a 10-2 record. Carlberg played on both lines for his team, and could project to either side of the football in college.