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Worth the weight

SHERMAN OAKS, Calif. – Most people spend most of their life trying to lose weight. Sherman Oaks (Calif.) Notre Dame blue-chip junior offensive lineman Sam Demartinis doesn't have that problem. He knows if he wants a shot at playing early in college, he must tack on an addition 30 pounds before he graduates next year. Read up on the big 2007 prospect, who is receiving interest from Brigham Young already.
Weight Watchers? Whatever.
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A low-carb diet? What's that?
Demartinis, who has an amazing 6-foot-5 ½ and 252-pound frame, is eating everything in sight and is trying to prepare himself for the next level physically. His game already puts him as one of the best underclassmen in Los Angeles, but he knows if he wants to play against the best in college he has to get bigger.
"I'm working hard and feel like I'm finally starting to grow into my body," Demartinis said. "I still need to gain some weight. I think this is how tall I'm going to be. I just need to grow into it. I have some room to grow no question.
"At the end of high school, I would like to be at 280 and then at the end of college around 295. I'm working on it. We light weights twice a week on Mondays and Tuesdays, and I'm just eating like crazy. I'm eating everything and anything I want."
His favorite is mom's lasagna.
"I eat that up," he said. "That's the best."
Demartinis could be the best by the time he departs Notre Dame next season. Notre Dame is a school known year after year for producing big time players and this year is no exception. There are at least three players that will sign with major college programs this season, and Demartinis leads a strong junior class.
He proved at the Los Angeles NIKE Training Camp this past April that he has the goods to be something special. Despite only going into his junior season, Demartinis wowed everyone at the camp with his great fundamentals, great footwork and solid punch. He said he's actually improved quite a bit since that performance.
"I think that I'm able to finish blocks a lot better than last year," he said. "I hustle down field and help the running backs out. I think that I can get low and drive people off the ball. I might be really tall, but I have the ability to stay low, get down and drive the defender to the turf."
Demartinis does not have any scholarship offers at this point, but that's sure to come as he's already getting mail from many of the nation's top programs.
"I'm getting letters from Oklahoma, Nebraska, Florida State, BYU, Notre Dame, Arizona, Washington and Oregon," he said. "I'll have a lot of options, so I don't know what I'm going to do. I'm not tied to California and places like UCLA and USC, but I'm going to keep my options open.
"I want to work toward a degree that will allow me to manage my own business some day. I'm not really sure right now what type of business, but one that definitely makes money."
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