Football: The peculiar recruitment of CAI DL Sean Sevillano Jr.
LARGO — Sean Sevillano Jr.’s recruitment is, well, peculiar.
The Clearwater Academy International rising senior, ranked No. 42 overall and the No. 5 defensive lineman on the USA Today Florida Network top 100, has offers from some of the premier programs in the nation.
CAI rising senior center Jason Zandamela, one of the top interior linemen in the country, says Sevillano is the best defensive tackle he’s faced.
"I think he's the best D-tackle in the nation because of his drive, his strength, his I.Q. on the field," Zandamela said. "He’s probably my toughest competition and he’s my teammate. That says a lot about Sean."
Sevillano just doesn’t seem to be drawing much interest from in-state colleges.
Miami and USF are the only in-state schools to offer Sevillano, who also holds offers from Auburn, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Stanford and several others.
“Honestly, I don’t know what it is. It could be my height,” said Sevillano, who had 50 tackles for loss and 22 sacks in 2022. “It could be, I don’t know, maybe they see something. I don’t know what it could possibly be. To me it doesn’t matter. Regardless, I’m coming here to play ball because I love football not because I’m coming out here to impress somebody or whatever. Along the way, that’s my plan. I want to look as good as I can while I’m out here. But I love playing football whether I have 27 offers or not.”
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Sevillano stands 6-foot-1½ and weighs 300 pounds. Knights coach Jesse Cinchar says if Sevillano were just 1½ inches taller, he’d be one of the top recruits in the country.
“He’s the strongest player we’ve ever had in the program,” Cinchar said. “He’s the hardest working kid we’ve ever had in the program. He has a 4.0 GPA. Unquestioned leader of the team. For a big guy like that he has a ridiculous amount of twitch and explosiveness.
“People are just afraid of a guy who’s 6-foot-and-half. … To be honest, those are great programs, but the programs that are on him are the ones he wants on him anyways, so it works out.”
Sevillano says Notre Dame, Ohio State, Miami and Auburn have had the most contact with him recently and he’s working on scheduling official visits to all four programs.
“I’m enjoying the recruiting process,” he said. “It’s tough at times because I have big decisions to make, but I’m very grateful for the position I’m in.”
Sevillano’s recruitment started to pick up in January when Stanford, Wake Forest, Louisville, Cincinnati and a handful of Group of 5 schools offers in an eight-day period.
Ohio State offered on March 3. Notre Dame followed suit less than two weeks later. Miami and Auburn offered earlier this month.
“I always believed in myself that one day this would happen,” Sevillano said. “At times, it looked like maybe it doesn’t because I’m getting close to when I want to commit. But the past three months, from that time on, it turned a lot of heads. It certainly got a lot more eyes on me. I appreciate it. But at the same time, where were you a year ago? You know? But it’s been an eventful three months and I’m very grateful to be in the position I’m in.”
This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Football: The peculiar recruitment of CAI DL Sean Sevillano Jr.
