By Joseph Staszewski
Old Dominion’s courtship of Brent Priester was swift and convincing.
The school only began recruiting the Christ the King linebacker a week before National Signing Day and immediately made a strong push and an impressive presentation during a home visit as well as his visit to the school last weekend. Priester said ODU blew him away and beat out Stony Brook, New Haven, Southern, Rhode Island and Maine for his services
“It’s high D-I football,” Priester said of the FCS school. “They can help me advance in my academic career. They showed how I can develop into their system. They are growing and I want to be a part of their growth.”
Priester ended the whirlwind week by signing a National Letter of Intent with the Monarchs alongside teammate Garfield Hall (heading to Wagner College) and girls’ soccer star Medina Mulic, who will play at C.W. Post next season. For Priester and Hall it capped a year that saw the Royals’ football program finish 10-1 and reach its first CHSFL Class AA final since 2003.
“We are on the right path,” Christ the King coach Jason Brown said.
Priester made a team-leading 10 tackles per game, including 11 in the “AA” title game. He also had two sacks. Hall made 32 tackles and collected four interceptions.
Hall’s commitment to Wagner was much different than the way things played out for Priester. The Seahawks began recruiting the defensive back at the beginning of the season and kept in touch with him. Hall, also the starting center fielder on the Royals’ baseball team, had to decide if he was going to pursue football in college. He originally hoped to play both, but chose the gridiron at Wagner over Fairleigh Dickinson and Stony Brook.
“I guess it was the way Wagner presented everything to me and that’s why I made this decision,” Hall said. [I liked] the atmosphere at Wagner. Everyone was easygoing and there are a lot of opportunities there.”
Muilic took the opportunity to remove all the stress of the recruitment process. LIU-Post, unlike other schools, didn’t place a deadline on her committing after seeing her play with her Brentwood Freedom travel team. It was an approach Mulic appreciated and she rewarded the Pioneers by committing as a junior. The midfielder, who said she will have a chance to play right away if she moves to defense, never wavered on her commitment.
“So I didn’t have to worry about this year,” Mulic said. “All I’d have to worry about was grades. I wanted everything to be done with so I can be on top of my game.”
She certainly was. Mulic, the reigning TimesLedger All-Queens Player of the Year, will go down as one of the best girls’ soccer players ever at the school. She led CK to four straight Brooklyn/Queens titles and two consecutive trips to the Catholic state finals. Mulic scored 11 goals and dished out 11 assists last season.
