Central WR Joe Griffin Scores BC Offer
Golden Eagles sophomore Joe Griffin picked up his first Power Five scholarship offer on Tuesday. It won’t be his last.
The Central High School football program has shined in recent years, capturing back-to-back Massachusetts state championships in 2018 and 2019, the first ones ever for the region.
The future is even brighter though, which says plenty for a program that saw a trio of seniors sign with high-academic schools, a junior announce his verbal commitment to a Power Five program and a freshman quarterback earn well-deserved praise and attention from some of the biggest college programs in the country.
Still, sophomore wide receiver Joe Griffin could have as bright of a future as anyone.
“That dude is different,” one Division-I college assistant coach said. “If he was in a metropolitan area, he’d probably have 30 offers right now.”
As of Tuesday morning, the 6-foot-4, 188-pound sophomore had two after landing his first Power Five offer from Boston College to go with an earlier offer from UMass.
Griffin learned of the offer during a phone call first with his recruiter Joe Sullivan and then ultimately from head coach Jeff Hafley.
“He told me I was the first person in my class to get the offer,” Griffin said of Hafley. “He sees I have a bright future.”
Even though Griffin had an idea of what might be coming heading into the call, he was still excited.
Last month, Central’s Mahari Miller, Isaac Boston and Dante Bolden signed with Columbia, Dartmouth and Holy Cross respectively.
Earlier this week, junior defensive lineman Terry Lockett verbally committed to Syracuse University, representing the first player from Western Mass., to commit to a Power Five program since former Clemson star and current Miami Dolphin Christian Wilkins.
And freshman quarterback Pop Watson has garnered plenty of well-deserved headlines after helping Central to titles on the gridiron and the basketball court. Watson now has scholarship offers from UMass and Boston College with more on the way.
Griffin, who also was a major contributor on the Central hoops squad this winter, picked up his first offer after tearing up a UMass camp back in the summer.
He’s also receiving interest from schools like Penn State, Ohio State and Michigan among others.
“He’s just electric,” the Division-I assistant said. “He’s got a smooth approach to how he competes. He’s long, so he’s got the physical intangibles. He’s a helluva player.
“That kid is different, man.”
As for those 30 offers he would have right now if he played in a national recruiting hotbed, it’s only a matter of time before he has those too, according to the coach.
“Hell yeah,” he said. “There’s no question.”
Griffin caught 37 passes for 739 yards and eight touchdowns as a sophomore. He credits the hard work he put in over the offseason with Excel strength & conditioning coach Christian Ferrara.
“He works you for sure,” Griffin said of Ferrara. “He doesn’t let anybody slack. You can’t be late. You can’t do anything, no talking back. You do exactly what he says and get it done. He just always wants you to go 100 percent.”
Griffin also participated at showcase camps put on by Excel Sports Academy.
“It definitely helps with route-running, my 40-time,” he said.
The NCAA instituted a mandatory dead period in response to COVID-19 concerns, which prevents any prospects from making any college visits until at least April 15th and likely longer. But when the restrictions are lifted, Griffin expects to hit the road.
“I want to visit every school, every school that that is trying to talk to me, I want to go see,” he said.
It’s early and several more scholarship offers are surely on their way, but Griffin already knows what he’ll be looking for when it comes to choosing a college.
“How much I like the school, the offense they run, how much they throw the ball, the coaches, that’s a big factor, the coaches, and academics.”
