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This was Dantae Chin’s first season playing high school football, and the newest Rutgers verbal had a standout season at left tackle for Cypress Bay High School in Florida.
Chin, who lived in Jamaica till he was 14-years old, played soccer when he was 12-years old before focusing on basketball. A power forward on the high school team, he transitioned to football at the urging of head coach Rocco Casullo, who liked the player’s size and athleticism.
Cypress Bay is a very solid 6A program that finished 7-3 this season.
The transition to the gridiron seems to have been successful.
At least, judging from this week’s news.
“I got the phone call [on Sunday night]. I was sitting down with my parents. Coach Schiano called, and he was telling me how much he loved my run game and telling me that they’d love to have me there,” Chin told ‘Rutgers Wire.’
“He gave me an offer. I’m telling him ‘That’s amazing, I’m committing.’ I love Rutgers. They prioritize academics, that’s perfect. The school is huge. I love this coaching staff. The hospitality they’re showing is amazing. Plus, I love the leadership and what they stand for: Family, Trust and ‘CHOP.’ It’s amazing.”
Chin said that after the call, he was so buzzed by the news that he was up at 3 A.M. – “just all my adrenaline pumping in – it didn’t feel real yet.”
Rutgers was his first offer though he was hearing from Florida Atlantic, Syracuse and Rice.
Chin will sign in December during the early signing period. The official visit on campus will be next weekend
He hopes to enroll for classes in January.
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Watching Chin on tape, his athleticism pops out, in particular his footwork. It shouldn’t be a surprise that he was a standout basketball player who was a part of Jamaica’s U16 national team. He moves efortlessly.
And while there is some work to be done in terms of refining his skills, Chin plays with a clear nasty streak to the whistle. He absolutely levels edge rushers, flattening them out of view.
It is a surprise that he plays with such a mean streak given how thoughtful and respectful he is during a phone interview. He compliments his coaches at Cypress Bay, talks about majoring in cyber security and how his mom worries when he comes home from games with minor cuts and bruises.
That same nice, respectable young man is just downright nasty on the field.
“You talk to any of my friends, my coaches, I’m literally in person personality-wise – they just call me a big teddy bear,” Chin said
“But on the field, it is just a different mentality thanks to our coaches. Because honestly, my coaches tell me what to do and I just do it.”
News of Chin’s commitment was broken on Monday morning by Brian Dohn of 247 Sports.