Friday, May 22, 2009

Sleeper of the Day: safety Damon Magazu


Our Sleeper of the Day item targets under-noticed Carolinas football recruiting prospects. It will run regularly to start with, then morph into a Sleeper of the Week and finally, as we exhaust the possibilities, maybe into a Sleeper of the Every Now and Then. As always, if you have a candidate, email me at solson@charlotteobserver.com.

DAMON MAGAZU, safety, Providence High

Magazu’s inclusion on this list is a bit unusual, since he recently committed to East Carolina. But had he waited to make his choice, other area schools would have offered as well. Duke and Wake Forest were already interested. Magazu, though, had such a comfort level with the ECU coaches and the school itself that he saw no need to.

The Pirates are getting a player with great bloodlines. His dad Dave is the Carolina Panthers offensive line coach. And his two older brothers are both playing college football.

Damon Magazu began attracting attention in a big way last season, when he made 11 interceptions from his strong safety spot. He also piled up 124 tackles, broke up seven passes, forced two fumbles and recovered two.

Taking advantage of his excellent quickness and 4.55-second speed in the 40-yard dash, Providence also used him on offense—usually in a formation where he could catch the ball—and he scored six touchdowns. He returned punts as well.

Magazu, who is 5-foot-11 and 175 pounds, is also an outstanding point guard on the basketball team.

—Stan Olson

No comments: