Offense or defense, McNamara is excited to be committed to Virginia
After being offered by UVa in the late spring, Red Bank (NJ) Red Bank Catholic defensive end Emmett McNamara said he was being looked at on both sides of the ball. With plans to visit this summer, he was looking forward to the prospect of going in as a jumbo athlete.
Earlier this month, the 6-foot-6, 245-pound lineman took that visit and committed to the Wahoos thereafter despite still not knowing which side of the ball he'll play once he arrives in Charlottesville.
"For me," McNamara told CavsCorner, "it wasn't so much about trying to figure out if I liked them. It was more trying to figure out if I liked the campus or not and if I liked the school and everything about it or not. Obviously I knew it was a Power 5 school and it's a great education. So I just had to fill in all of the other blanks and I think I did that really well.
"I've had some time now for it to sink in on me and I'm just happy to have it all squared away," he added. "I'm really excited to be a part of this thing. It's nice not to have to deal with recruiting any more and just focus on me and my high school season and what's ahead for us. That's the best thing."
The timing of his decision, in the midst of the summer when commits are flying left and right, was no accident.
"I'd seen a lot of schools by that point and I also knew that most people usually commit over the summer," said McNamara, UVa's 19th verbal in the class of 2018. "A lot of schools don't have a lot of spots left. Most people just don't want until after their senior seasons to commit and waiting that long is tough. Virginia had like 20 commits or something and you know there aren't many spots left. So I wanted to jump on board while I could and that's kind of where I was with it."
His experience at camp and on his visit of the school sealed what ended up being an easy decision.
"I was there the 16th [of June] for the camp there and I stayed there for the day and I then waited a couple of weeks to commit," he said. "I just wanted to take my time and make sure I was making the right decision. It took me a little bit longer too [to announce] because once I committed I wanted to call all of the other coaches that had recruited me.
"They had most of their camps at night so I got to do the visit beforehand," McNamara added. "I walked around and got a good look for the place, good feel for the place. It was really nice. Then I got to talk to some of the coaches for a bit and I sat with the D-line coach, Coach (Vic) So'oto for a while, and then I came back later and did the camp for a couple hours. It was a great camp.
Considering that he is still new to football, the fact that UVa liked him both at defensive end and offensive tackle could have muddied the waters some but it certainly didn't seem to slow McNamara down.
"It's kind of tough to say," he explained. "I mean, I've only played for one season but I think it's more of a thing we'll figure out when I get there. I think they just want me to get there because they can really use me on either side of the ball. So, I think it's really like 50/50.
"I can't really say right now [which is better] because I just haven't played offensive tackle but I will this season," McNamara added. "I got moved from tight end to tackle as my secondary position so I should get a chance to see what it's like this year once I'm wearing pads. I'll have a better idea once the season's over, or maybe I won't. But I think what it'll come down to is where they think I have a better upside and where I can help them when I get on the field."
In So'oto, he found a great rep for the school and a coaching staff that seemed bonded by the idea of family.
"He was awesome," McNamara said. "They had me come in and I got to watch some film of how they run their defense and I thought they were all great guys to be around. It was awesome talking to him as well as the other coaches. I think we have a great relationship and they're a bunch of great guys. They all preach family and they all have big families and they will tell you that if you go there, you're a part of a big family and that's pretty cool."
Accompanied by his parents on the trip, he was able to get the best of both worlds in terms of the visit and the camp itself, an experience that he says was pretty challenging.
"Yeah man, this was a lot more like a practice than a combine or a camp," he said. "It was definitely a practice. We did some drills and training but we also worked hard. If you screwed up during a drill or something like that, they had you doing up downs and stuff. It was way more intense than any of the other camps I went to for sure. It was definitely more like a practice."
So with his decision behind him, things get a lot easier going forward now that his recruitment is closed up.
"I think I might come back down sometime in the late summer, like when they start practice and a lot of the commits will come down," he said. "I think I'll definitely be doing that. But other than that, I'm just getting ready for my senior season and looking forward."
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