Northeast Spotlight: Prospects take center stage as high school season begins

There are certain times of the year when the recruiting spotlight shines brightly, and the start of the season is one of those times. Let’s take a look at which prospects will be in the spotlight, continuing this series with five prospects from across the Northeast.

This series: High school season kicks off, Midwest prospects take center stage Southeast Prospects | South Central Prospects | Florida State Prospects | Western Prospects

Auburn four-star cornerback Blake Woodby competes against St. Francis College (Baltimore, Md.) in arguably one of the toughest national schedules in the country.

The Panthers are hoping to improve from a disappointing 2023 season, but things haven’t been easy early in the season. St. Francis plays a strong Penn State program at Pittsburgh Central Catholic, then St. Joseph Regional in New Jersey, before playing cross country in California against Orange Lutheran. The next two games come against powerhouse Duncanville (Texas) and Matt Day (California), two teams that have lost just one game in 2023. .

St. Francis has also arranged for Princeton Hunn School (New Jersey), Center Grove (Indiana), Clearwater Central Catholic School (Florida), IMG Academy (Florida), etc.

Against that kind of competition, Woodby will have plenty of opportunities to prove why he’s rated as a top-40 prospect nationally and a top-five cornerback in the cycle, while perhaps also making a case for himself being ranked higher. Now as a senior, Woodby will likely be viewed as a leader by his teammates and be in the spotlight regularly in 2024.

With many of the top prospects in 2025 already committed to schools, the class of 2026 is sure to be watched even more closely in 2024. (Zion Elee).

Elie was teammates with Woodby at St. Francis and will obviously compete nationally against the same elite level mentioned above. As a top-100 overall prospect in his class, Elee will be closely watched throughout the season, and it will be interesting to see if he takes a bigger leap as a junior. Eli also ranks as the third-ranked player in the state of Maryland and the sixth-ranked weakside defensive end in the 2026 class.

On August 3, Elee, who had more than 30 scholarship offers throughout his recruitment, announced a list of top five schools including Alabama, Georgia, Ohio State, Oregon State and Penn State. Still, he doesn’t have a commitment timetable in mind.

Cardinal Spalding four-star quarterback Malik Washington decided to stay home and head to Maryland in June with his high school teammate, three-star defensive back Jaden Heaps.

Washington and Archbishop Spalding will face a tough task at the start of the 2024 season as the Cavaliers will open the season against Ohio State Archbishop Hoban (13-2 in 2023). Spalding also has early games against Dematha Catholic (Md.), Archbishop Stepinac (N.Y.) and McDonogh (Md.), followed by a matchup with Concordia Prep (Md.) – the school’s only 2023 Lost to Spalding.

Washington is the No. 4 prospect in the state of Maryland in the 2025 Rivals250 class and the No. 16 pro quarterback this cycle. Washington also earned a spot as one of the top quarterbacks in the country as an Elite 11 finalist and now looks to cap off his high school career with a stellar senior season.

Not many in the Class of 2026 are stronger than five-star Georgetown Prep (North Bethesda, Md.) offensive tackle Immanuel Iheanacho, who stands tall 6 feet 7 inches, 365 pounds. Opponent five stars Event in Jacksonville at the end of June.

Despite Iheanacho’s size, he moves well and has good feet, which complements his outstanding length. this five stars This was Iheanacho’s first time truly competing against elite competition on a national level, and he more than held his own. Now, it will be interesting to see how that translates when the pads come on this fall.

On paper, Georgetown Prep’s 2024 schedule doesn’t look as daunting as some of the other schools mentioned in this column, but there are some interesting matchups on the schedule, including a matchup against Victoria who lost just once and won. Virginia Independence’s Benedictine team competed for the VISAA Division I state championship. Georgetown Prep will also face Episcopal (Va.), Loyola Blakefield (Md.) and Woodberry Forest (Va.) teams that include No. 1 running back in the 2026 class Savion Hiter, another 2026 Rivals250 wide receiver Hands rookie Daizel Carter and three-star athlete Sheldon Robinson.

As a five-star recruit and a top-10 player nationally, Iheanacho will be closely watched regardless of the game.

Cameron Smith recently transferred his commitment from Duke to Penn State. Now, the question for the three-star athlete/linebacker and U.S. Army All-American is, can he establish himself as a four-star this fall as a senior? He will have plenty of opportunities to make his case based on his performance.

Smith, who plays at St. Joseph’s Preparatory School in Philadelphia, hopes to lead the Eagles to their third consecutive Pennsylvania Interstate Athletic Association (PIAA) Class 6A state championship.

However, the schedule was challenging. St. Joseph’s begins the 2024 season at Ohio State’s St. Edward’s, a team that went 15-1 and won the Ohio High School Athletic Association (OHSAA) Division I state championship in 2023. against New York’s Erasmus Hall, which went 10-2 last year, then dates Marist Conscience (Md.), which lost just one game in 2023 (to St. Edward’s) and won against Washington Catholic Games champion.

There will certainly be a lot of attention paid to the new Penn State commit and the St. Joseph’s Prep team as a whole, especially with the many interesting games early on. The Eagles dominated Pennsylvania, winning eight state championships in 11 years.