St. Petersburg Catholic may not be having the best season, as a team. But that is not keeping colleges away from its biggest stars.
Ryan Green [2013 RB] and Reilly Gibbons [2014 TE] took a trip to South Ben, Ind. together this weekend to watch the Notre Dame Fighting Irish host Air Force.
Ryan Green [5-10 190]: As a sophomore rushed for nearly 1300 yards and 15 touchdowns. Ranked as the No. 3 RB between Hillsborough/Pinellas Counties.
Offers From: Purdue, Virginia Tech, Notre Dame, Kentucky, Florida State
Has Visited: Florida State (FSU vs. OU), Florida (UF vs. Bama), UCF
On Notre Dame Visit: “My visit was awesome. That’s the number one unofficial visit I’ve taken. It was more wild than any other stadium. It was just something about the atmosphere that I liked.”
In one word: “Amazing”
St. Petersburg Catholic is 1-5, coming off a 1-9 season. Green’s breakout game this year was in a 83-6 rout Cornerstone Charter Academy. In the first half (he sat the full second half) Green rushed for 216 yards and six touchdowns.
Tony Alford [Notre Dame coach] has told Green to keep playing, regardless of the success of SPC. “We talked about how they want me to continue playing even though we’re having a rough season and stuff,” Green said. “They tell me to continue to encourage the team because we gonna get better.”
Coach Alford will be at practice on Tuesday and on the sidelines Friday when SPC hosts Cardinal Mooney.
Green said that SPC will continue to get better, but the team losses focus at practice and “plays around too much.” With college coaches making visits though, he says he sees more focus in his team.
“It should be happening no matter but when coaches come to games and practices I definitely see a lot more intensity.”
Green ran into Berkeley Prep prospect Nelson Agholor during his visit. “It’s kinda weird talking to Nelson after they just whooped us, but I got over it.”
Green says the two are friends. “He was mainly saying that he knows im a good player and to just keep my head up and keep playing, just like coach Tony does.”
With so much attention as a junior Green’s focus is on helping SPC improve, rather than focusing on personal goals. “I just want to get my team on the right track. My personal goals are just to get SPC back on the map. I just want to get my team better. I don’t really care about yards or touchdowns because I’m already out there. I just want to get the team better.”
With six touchdowns and 216 yards in two quarters in the team’s only win, Green is doing his part.
Reilly Gibbons [6-6 230]: Gibbons is a transfer from Seminole playing in just his second season of contact football.
“I’m new to football; this is only my second year ever playing contact football because I was always too big for the little league stuff. Last year I was at Seminole and I only got two passes thrown to me so now its just a lot different.”
Gibbons is already one of the biggest past catchers in Hillsborough County, but he says that doctors expect him to get even bigger. He wants to be a tight end, a receiving tight end in college, but is worried he may be too big.
“My only problem is that im growing faster than everyone would expec t. I’m 6-6 now and I haven’t hit my growth spurt yet. I’m projected to be 6-9. Some of the colleges I would assume will want me to play tackle, but if I keep my speed up and I keep lean muscle then hopefully they put me at TE/WR type. I just want the ball in my hands.”
Being so young, Gibbons says that he feels pressure from one of his best friends, not college coaches. “I feel a little bit more pressure because I have Ryan Green to live up to. You know the best in the county. One of the best in the state.As for colleges recruiting me at a young age, its not really pressure it just makes me realize what I have to do. It keeps me in check I guess.”
Like Green, coach Alford has told Gibbons to stay focused on himself, not necessarily the success of the team.
“Coach Alford told us that the best thing we can do for ourselves is just play our game. It makes total sense to me now. Its not necessarily what the team does, but what you do. You can be a state championship team, but not everyone is going to play college. The recruiters are going to find you, you just have to play your game.”
Gibbons thinks that it is a good think he and Green have each other there to push one another.
“He gets on my case when I don’t block for him. I get on his case when he doesn’t score a touchdown. Its fun.. a lot of fun.”
Gibbons visited Florida and UCF with Green and said that he was supposed to go with Green to FSU as well, but his family already had plans to spend time with his grandparents. “Family comes first.”
Green HILITES
Gibbons has his own website