Blue Hens recruits who had FBS offers but committed to Delaware delighted by CUSA climb

Braden Streeter was recruited by Football Bowl Subdivision programs but opted for Football Championship Subdivision member Delaware.

Now the senior quarterback at Christ Presbyterian Academy in Nashville will actually play for an FBS program.

Delaware recently announced a 2025 move to FBS as a conference USA member.

That’s fine by Streeter and another class of 2024 high school recruit who accepted UD football scholarship offers and will sign a National Letter of Intent on Dec. 20.

Streeter actually chose Delaware over another former FCS school, Appalachian State, which beat Delaware in the 2007 NCAA title game but is now in the FBS Sun Belt Conference.

“I just felt like Delaware was the place for me,” said Streeter, who committed during the summer. “I thought about the [possible] FBS jump a little bit, but it didn't play a huge part.

“Now I’m really excited and really happy that they made the jump because I feel it’ll be a great opportunity to be in Conference USA, and I think we’ll be able to compete really well.”

Braden Streeter has family ties

Streeter is also descended from UD football royalty.

He is the grandson of Barry Streeter, who was head coach at Gettysburg from 1978 through 2017 after starting his career as a graduate assistant on Tubby Raymond’s Delaware staff. Barry Streeter’s late wife, Barb, was the younger sister of UD fullback Chuck Hall, who finished in 1970 with a school record 3,157 yards but died in 1973 from Hodgkin’s lymphoma. Great uncle Tom Hall, Chuck’s brother, operates Newark’s CardioKinetics health care facility.

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Braden’s dad, Jason, was a receiver at Lehigh who played against the Blue Hens at Delaware Stadium and his uncle, Brandon, played quarterback at Clemson.

“I have family up there,” he said, “but that didn’t affect me as much as I just wanted to be up there with great staff, great people on a team that I know is not going to struggle to win a bunch of big games.”

Greg Spiller has same positive reaction

Greg Spiller, a running back and wide receiver from John Champe High in Aldie, Virginia, had the same positive reaction. When he committed to Delaware in July, Spiller had no inkling of UD’s subsequent move up.

He had received several FBS scholarship offers, including from future CUSA rival Liberty plus the SEC’s Missouri and Big Ten’s Michigan State. But the immediate connections Spiller made when visiting Delaware made it an easy choice.

The Blue Hens’ upcoming move to FBS, which he learned from a coach who saw the news on Instagram, is a nice bonus, Spiller said.

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“We both just ended up shouting because he really wanted me to choose an FBS school,” Spiller said. “I just told him that my heart was with Delaware. But I was really excited.”

The 6-foot, 200-pound Spiller rushed for 533 yards and seven touchdowns and had an additional 900 receiving yards with eight TDs as a running back and wideout, plus 164 as a returnman. John Champe went 11-2 and was regional runner-up. Spiller was first-team All-Region as an all-purpose player and district offensive player of the year.

His decision to attend Delaware felt even better after Spiller attended all but one home game this season.

“The football atmosphere and the energy at practice,” Spiller said about what made Delaware appealing. “All the coaches showed me love the first time I met them. I felt like it was just an immediate connection.”

Seven commits so far for Blue Hens

Coach Ryan Carty said Delaware always aimed high anyway in its recruiting ventures, typically targeting prospects such as Streeter and Spiller who were also earning FBS interest.

Knowing a climb to FBS was likely, that was even more the case this year, Carty said.

Delaware has received seven verbal commitments from high school seniors accepting scholarships so far.

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In addition to Streeter and Spiller, they are Colin Gallagher, LB, Middletown South (New Jersey); Kaeden Singleton, DE/TE, Canon-McMillan (Canonsburg, Pennsylvania); Jackson Whitacre, DL/TE, Shore Regional (West Long Branch, New Jersey); Nick Tyree, WR, Thomas Dale (Chester, Virginia); and Tyler Burnham, OL, Red Bank Catholic (New Jersey).

Also, Middletown quarterback Austin Troyer and Saint Joseph’s Prep kicker/punter Skyler Shoulder are coming as preferred walk-ons.

Another incoming recruit, Red Bank's Burnham, chose Delaware over a slew of FBS offers including from schools in Power Four conferences such as the ACC and Big Ten.

“We were always trying to recruit that person,” Carty said of FBS prospects. “If we were recruiting against too many other CAA schools for a kid, sometimes it worked out that was a guy we evaluated and that’s the best one. But I think most of the time our battles ended up coming down to Group of Five places and us.”

On the FBS map

CUSA is among the so-called Group of Five leagues along with the Sun Belt, Mid-American, American Athletic Conference and Mountain West.

Delaware is joining a league that will, barring further expansion, have 10 other members in nine widely spread states. Liberty in Lynchburg, Virginia, is the closest to Delaware on the map, followed by Middle Tennessee and Western Kentucky.

As a Nashville resident, Streeter is right in the heart of that new geographic footprint which, Carty has said, should help Delaware expand its recruiting reach. It makes Delaware, CUSA’s northernmost member, not seem so far away.

“We’re gonna be able to grab guys from all over,” Streeter said. “I know there have been kids on my team that have been talking to me that I know could play at a Delaware level. There's a ton of kids interested in Delaware even down south and I know that they'll be able to pull guys from down here.”

Christ Presbyterian Academy went 13-1 in 2023 and won the state Division II-AA title. The 6-foot-2, 190-pound Streeter completed 112 of 196 passes for 1,811 yards with 22 touchdowns and just three interceptions this season.

Streeter’s decision to choose Delaware came down to the strong connection he quickly felt with UD coaches, not what NCAA classification it might play under, he said. But he knew the possibilities.

“I knew that Delaware would be a great school that could make that jump and not have a couple of rebuilding years,” Streeter said. “They'd be able to make the jump and compete pretty soon.”

Have an idea for a compelling local sports story or is there an issue that needs public scrutiny? Contact Kevin Tresolini at ktresolini@delawareonline.com and follow on Twitter @kevintresolini. Support local journalism by subscribing to delawareonline.com and our DE Game Day newsletter.

This article originally appeared on Delaware News Journal: Delaware recruits Braden Streeter, Greg Spiller love FBS, CUSA climb