Central's Nosovitch declares for South Carolina

FROM THE MORNING CALL

Central Catholic quarterback Brendan Nosovitch never narrowed his college choice to four or five programs. He didn't need to debate between two or three schools.

South Carolina jumped to the lead in recruiting the rising senior a while ago. While many schools continued to pursue him, he continued leaning toward the Gamecocks.

Nosovitch cemented his preference for South Carolina on Tuesday, giving his oral commitment to play football there starting with the 2012 season. Virginia and Maryland were among the schools that offered him scholarships and stayed in the hunt for him, but no one could sway him from a chance to play in Gamecocks coach Steve Spurrier's offense.

"After my first visit, I really liked everything about the school," Nosovitch said by phone Tuesday afternoon. "I liked the coaches a lot. I liked the campus. It's a great place to play football. They keep doing better every year. It's a good school as well. Everything kind of fell into place."

South Carolina was one of the first schools to recruit Nosovitch after his junior season ended in December with Central Catholic finishing 16-0 and winning the PIAA Class 3A title. He orchestrated the Vikings' prolific offense, throwing for 3,111 yards and running for 1,647 while accounting for 68 total touchdowns. By season's end, he was named The Morning Call's player of the year, the Pennsylvania Gatorade player of the year and the Pennsylvania sportswriters Class 3A player of the year.

South Carolina went 9-5 last season, winning the Southeast Conference Eastern Division title before ending its season with back-to-back losses to national champion Auburn in the SEC title game and Florida State in the Chick-fil-A Bowl.

Nosovitch, who plans to major in business in college, first visited South Carolina in April. He also attended camp there in June, solidifying his preference for the school.

His decision became easier as both Virginia and Maryland received oral commitments from quarterbacks before he was ready to select a school.

"Some schools that offered really didn't have a preference [for a quarterback]," Nosovitch said. "South Carolina was always the school that said, 'You're our No. 1 guy and we want you first.' That kind of helped a little bit too, knowing that they really wanted me."

Central Catholic coach Harold Fairclough said Nosovitch was his typical self over the last seven months, never giving any indication of whether the recruiting process had become tiresome. Fairclough and his staff even had a hard time pinning down Nosovitch on a final list of schools.

"Brendan is Brendan," Fairclough said. "He's just kind of a quiet, humble kid who doesn't give you a whole lot of information. It was great working with him and his dad.

"We just tried to guide him in the right direction and told him to take his time and make a decision when he was ready," he added. "Hopefully it would be before the [2011] season. He did that. It's just great. He deserves everything he gets."

With his college decision made, Nosovitch will spend the next few weeks relaxing and prepping for football season. He is headed to Maryland for a quarterback skills competition Sunday and will travel to Alabama next week as Central Catholic competes in the National Select 7-on-7 Championships.

Three weeks after that, PIAA football practice will be underway.

"To get this done with and be set on it, committed to it, now I want to focus on senior year and setting goals again and doing big things again," Nosovitch said.

Added Fairclough: "This is the first time in a long time we've had a big-time Division I recruit. It feels good to have coached him. It feels really good to have another year with him. Everything worked out."

http://www.mcall.com/sports/varsity/mc-nosovitch-south-carolina-0712-20110712,0,4478178.story