A recurring series where we will profile every player on Maryland's roster, counting down to kick-off against William & Mary on September 1. Thanks to OBNUG for the idea.
Today we profile a player who entered spring camp as the starter at center.
Sal Conaboy, Sophomore (RS), Center, #65
via grfx.cstv.com
Stats:
Height: 6'4"
Weight: 285
Major: Criminal Justice
Twitter: None that we could find
Collegiate Stats: Five games (two starts)
High School Stats (Senior Year): N/A
Recruiting Ratings: Three stars by Rivals (#18 in Pa., #17 OG), Scout (#12 OG), ESPN (#21 OG)
High School: Abington Heights
Hometown: Clarks Summit, Pa.
High School Highlights:
None that we could find.
How'd He Get to College Park?
Sal Conaboy started out his high school career as a tight end, playing two years at the position before moving to the offensive line. Less than a year later, Maryland (led by Lee Hull) became the first of what would eventually be 17 schools to offer him a scholarship, and Conaboy committed in August of 2009.
Conaboy is a part of a very active humanitarian family - he organized his school's Relay for Life fundraiser and on the day he announced his commitment to Maryland, his dad was returning home from helping with the earthquake relief effort in Haiti.Conaboy also had offers from Oregon, Pittsburgh, Michigan State, Illinois and West Virginia, among others. He was named first team all-state after his senior year, and won the Hokey Reap Award in 2009, awarded to the top offensive lineman in Lackawanna County.
Conaboy redshirted in 2010, and played in five games last season, including two starts. He enters this year with a chance to see major playing time, as evidenced by his spot on top of the depth chart.
Nickname:
Sal "Paradise" Conaboy
Career Highlight:
Being named the starter on the spring depth chart.
Career Lowlight:
N/A.
Dream Season:
Conaboy holds on to the starting spot, moving Bennett Fulper over to guard and giving Maryland a much more balanced line.
Nightmare Season:
Conaboy loses the job to Fulper, and is relegated to bench duty.
2012 Prospectus:
Sal Conaboy is listed as the starter on the spring depth chart, and that was one of the bigger surprises of the spring. Bennett Fulper started the first ten games of the year at the position last season, and started a good amount of games in his first two years, but Conaboy has been reportedly impressive throughout his Maryland career, and he finds himself up on top of the depth chart.
The more we think about it, the more it makes sense that Conaboy might end up the center. We talked yesterday about how little depth Maryland has at offensive guard, especially with Nate Clarke and Stephen Grommer switching positions, and Fulper has plenty of experience at guard.
If the coaches decide to move Fulper to guard, he'll likely start along side either Pete White or Josh Cary, with Conaboy at center and back-ups of Evan Mulrooney and Grommer in the middle. At guard, De'Onte Arnett then doesn't become a necessary immediate back-up for both positions, but instead can hang back and provide depth. That certainly looks like much better overall situation than four scholarship centers and four scholarship guards. But hey, we'll just have to wait and see.
Up Next:
Our next player's mother played basketball at Maryland.
T Free is on the board.
Standings:
Maryland1206 - 7
kbuts151 - 6
Dirty_Terps - 3
ClickClack62 -2
bubbasparks - 2
T Free - 1
Terpsfinish - 1
Mdak06 - 1
clevesanterp - 1
CSB Jack - 1
Terpsonfire - 1
Everybody else - 0