Predicting Which School 5-Star Defensive End Darius Hamilton Will Choose

Being a northeastern New Jersey resident, about once a year I take the opportunity to make the trek up to Ramsey to see the state’s top high school football powerhouse, Don Bosco Prep, dominate some unlucky opponent. 

This past season, I went up to see the Ironmen square off against their rival Bergen Catholic on a Friday night in late September.

I was anxious to see many of the big-name recruits who Bosco had to offer, such as wide receiver Leonte Carroo, who is committed to Rutgers, S Elijah Shumate, who is committed to Notre Dame and cornerback Yuri Wright, who is still uncommitted.

But the one player I was the most excited to see was defensive end Darius Hamilton, the state’s No. 1 overall prospect, and one of the most coveted recruits in the country.

Here’s what I had to say about him after seeing him in action:

"Darius Hamilton is widely considered to be one of the top defensive line prospects in the country and after I got a close look at him in person, it’s easy to see why.  

Although Hamilton lined up inside at defensive tackle for Don Bosco, he’s going to make the move out to defensive end in college.

He wasn’t exactly as dominant as I thought he would be, but the big senior still showed flashes of his enormous potential.

I saw Hamilton get his arms up and knock down one of Jonathan Germanaro’s passes in the second half but his most impressive play came on a fourth-down run when he burst through the line to make a crucial stop.

Hamilton has the type of frame to grow into a versatile defensive end, who will be able to play the pass and the run equally well. He’s just going to need to learn how to harness his strength and fight off blocks on a regular basis.

Once he learns some more moves, Hamilton has a chance to really be a big-time force in the collegiate ranks."

The only question left to answer is what uniform will the coveted 6'4", 245-pound high school senior be wearing when he becomes that force?

Hamilton, whose dad Keith played for the New York Giants for 12 years, has narrowed his college choices down to three schools—California, Florida and Rutgers.

Although he has given no strong indication of where he wants to go yet, I have a feeling that it will likely come down to either Cal or Florida, and that the home state Scarlet Knights will end up missing out on the coveted Jersey native.

I don’t think Hamilton could go wrong with choosing either school, as both programs should be back on the rise in the coming years, but if I were in his shoes, I would head down to Gainesville to play for Will Muschamp at Florida.

The Gators certainly didn’t have the type of season that they were hoping for in 2011, but Muschamp looks like he’s stabilized the program after the sudden exodus of Urban Meyer, and he should have Florida back on track and back competing in the SEC East sooner than later.

We’ve seen plenty of talented defensive ends come out of Florida in recent years, and Muschamp certainly knows how to mold defensive stars, judging from his time at Auburn, LSU and Texas.

Hamilton is the type of player who could develop into a force on Florida’s defensive line, whether he puts on weight and moves inside to defensive tackle, or mans the hybrid Buck position after Ronald Powell leaves.

Overall, I think Florida is the best fit for Hamilton, but we’ll just have to wait and see where the talented defensive lineman ultimately ends up.