Football Recruiting Report Thursday, Septembert 11, 2014 By Sammy Batten

Florida talent pool still producing for Pirates

Rutgers, Syracuse, Temple, others lose out on Ft. Lauderdale safety C.J. Maybin

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By Sammy Batten
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C.J. Maybin has always like to hit people on the football field, even when it wasn’t appropriate.

“When I was younger my Dad started me off by signing me up for flag football,’’ Maybin recalled recently. “But it wasn’t fun to me just grabbing somebody’s flag. I wanted to hit. So I immediately started tackling the other players.

“The other parents did not like it. So they moved me up to the tackle league.’’

Maybin’s natural aggression and physical size — he now stands 6-foot-4 and weighs about 195 pounds — helped him develop into a major college prospect at Cardinal Gibbons High School in Fort Lauderdale, FL.

A senior safety, Maybin entertained scholarship offers from Bethune-Cookman, Florida International, Georgia State, Ohio, Rutgers, Syracuse, Temple and Western Michigan before making a verbal commitment to East Carolina on August 15.

Maybin made the pledge, even though he’s never set foot on East Carolina’s campus. He’s scheduled to make his first visit to Greenville an unofficial one for the SMU game on October 4.

But the proximity to Florida and a familiarity between the Cardinal Gibbons and ECU coaching staffs prompted Maybin’s decision, which he relayed to the Pirates on his mother’s birthday.

“Everything they had to offer was right for me,’’ Maybin said. “The campus is not that far away from home, so my parents can drive up there and see a few games.

“I really liked the coaching staff. My coaches here are very familiar with them because they’ve (ECU) been recruiting at my school for a while.’’

The Pirates have actively recruited Florida under Coach Ruffin McNeill and currently have seven scholarship players from the Sunshine State on their roster. ECU signed Maybin’s former Cardinal Gibbons teammate, offensive lineman Erik Lenzen, in February. Lenzen is now a freshman at ECU.

The Pirates have recruited Maybin as a safety with the possibility of moving him to an outside linebacker position in their 3-4 defense if he continues to add weight.

“In the next couple of years, I might move down into the box and play the SAM (strongside linebacker),’’ Maybin said.

Maybin actually began his football career as a linebacker in the Florida youth leagues. But his development at that position was interrupted suddenly due to an injury that occurred during his sixth-grade year. During a recreation league game, Maybin suffered a shattered right kneecap.

Amazingly, Maybin continued to play in the game before the injury was diagnosed later.

“My parents and coaches didn’t know anything was wrong with me,’’ Maybin said. “I wanted to stay on the field, so I played the rest of the game.

“That weekend, though, it started to swell up and that’s when they found out I had shattered my kneecap. It took me about a year to come back, and once I did I favored it (knee) a little bit. Then, I reinjured it again. By the time I got to high school as a freshman, I was sort of starting over.’’

It was during his freshman season that Maybin converted to the safety position with the Cardinal Gibbons junior varsity. He made the varsity as a sophomore and has seen extensive action the last two seasons, even though he wasn’t a starter.

Maybin served in a reserve capacity until moving into the starting lineup last season for the state playoffs. He finished the season tied for the team lead in interceptions with four.

Despite his impressive play last season, it wasn’t until this spring when his highlight tapes reached the hands of college coaches that recruiting really picked up. He also benefited from a strong performance with the Florida Fire North seven-on-seven team that produced several tournament wins.

“Even though I didn’t start last year, every time I got in I’d made a big play or make something happen,’’ Maybin said. “Plus, I’m a 6-4 safety. There aren’t many of those out there who can move like I do.

“I sent out a highlight tape to a lot of college coaches. I think that's where the (recruiting) interest started from.''

Maybin believes the Cardinal Gibbons coaches passed his highlight tape on to the East Carolina staff, who extended him a scholarship offer in late May.

Cardinal Gibbons is off to a 2-0 start this season and Maybin has played a big role in that success. He's still attracting attention from college recruiters, but says ECU is still his school.

“Right now I'm not really looking at anybody else,'' he said. “If something comes along, I would look at it, and talk with my parents and my coaches to decide what's best for me. But right now I'm pretty locked in with East Carolina.''

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PAGE UPDATED 09/11/14 03:42 AM.