Stepec adds first BCS offer
Mentor (Ohio) Lake Catholic defensive end John Stepec is no stranger to receiving scholarship offers, but Wednesday brought about a first for the 6-3, 246-pound prospect in the recruiting process - an offer from a BCS program.
"I just got an offer from Syracuse and that's a big one," Stepec remarked. "They just contacted me a week ago and then I visited them last Saturday. My head coach told me [Wednesday] that they were going to offer me."
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Saturday's visit to Syracuse has given context to the scholarship offer for Stepec, and increased his excitement about the opportunity.
"It was awesome - the facilities there, the campus was awesome," Stepec said. "What I really liked were the coaches, especially the d-line coach who would be coaching me if I go there, Tim Daoust. He has great enthusiasm and is just an awesome coach."
As a junior, Stepec finished with 80 tackles and 12 sacks. The Orange coaches are open to seeing how he develops before projecting him to a position.
"They said I am a tweener and I can either be a defensive end or a d-tackle," Stepec said. "It depends on how much weight I gain and what happens."
The offer from Syracuse is Stepec's sixth of the recruiting process. He had previously been offered by Bowling Green, Toledo, Kent State, Western Michigan and Miami (Ohio).
"Bowling Green and Toledo I really like because of the coaching staffs, again," Stepec said. "Then, their campuses were awesome."
More college campuses will be explored next week during Stepec's spring break. He plans to start with Purdue on Monday, then travel to Northwester, Western Michigan, Central Michigan and Miami (Ohio).
"Purdue has contacted me and sent me emails," Stepec said. "The same with Northwestern and Central Michigan."