Sports -U Basketball

Succasunna (N.J.) Roxbury junior offensive lineman Angelo Mangiro has started off his recruitment with a bang, scooping up a handful of offers thus far.

"I have five official offers right now, Rutgers, BC, Maryland, North Carolina and North Carolina State," he said. "I'm going to Penn State on the 14th to see the Indiana game. I don't have anything else planned, I want to go up to BC and Maryland because they offered but I haven't gotten a chance to get up there yet. I want to get to a lot of places in the spring."

Mangiro and Roxbury are 8-0 on the season

The 6-foot-3, 295-pound prospect has taken one visit so far this year, an unofficial to Notre Dame in September. "I visited Notre Dame earlier in the year, that was cool," he said. "It was for the Michigan State game. I loved it out there, it was really nice." Despite the offers and interest, Mangiro said that he is focusing on his junior season right now, and the recruiting will come later. "Not really any favorites right now, I want to concentrate on my own season," he said. "My team is 8-0, so I'm pretty excited about that. We're looking to make a run in states. As far as favorites go, I want to wait until the end of the season to see some places, and see what kind of offers I can get before I choose where I want to go. I'll probably start narrowing it down in the spring and summer, and have a decision going into my senior year."

Though Mangiro plays tackle at the high school level, his talents will likely transfer over to the interior of the offensive line at the next level.

"Most of them say offensive line, I play tackle right now, but they're saying guard or center, maybe defensive tackle," he said. "Wherever they need me, but most are offensive line."

Penn State offensive line coach Dick Anderson has already established contact with Mangiro, and the two talk on a fairly regular basis.

"I talk to Dick Anderson, I try to call him at least once every two weeks just to stay in touch with him," he said. "He said that they really like me, but they don't offer juniors yet. I'm fine with that, I'm not in any rush here. He invited me up to some games, whenever I want to come, and the Indiana game is just a weekend I was free, so I'm going to get out there."

Mangiro has never taken in a Penn State game in person.

"I haven't been to a game up there, but I've heard it's pretty crazy," he said. "My coach was telling me there's 110,000 people in Beaver Stadium, that's pretty crazy."