During an official visit to Lehigh University on Dec. 6 and 7, Greg Gamble, a wide receiver for Moorestown High School football, decided he was going to commit to the school.
After making his commitment, he had to wait nearly two months to sign his National Letter of Intent.
Last Wednesday, National Signing Day finally arrived, and Gamble’s long wait to lock in his commitment to Lehigh finally ended.
“The process was long and stressful, but honestly it’s a dream come true,” Gamble said. “I get to play D-1 football.”
Gamble and three other Moorestown student-athletes officially announced their college choices during the winter signing day on Wednesday, Feb. 3. Gamble, soccer goalie Carlie Blessing, bowler Andrew Cannuli and football kicker Ryan Loftus revealed the colleges they would compete for beginning in the 2016–17 school year before a small crowd of families and friends at the Moorestown Athletic Center.
Each athlete committed to different schools at three levels of NCAA athletics. Blessing and Gamble each signed their National Letter of Intent on Wednesday as they will compete for Division I schools. Blessing will be playing soccer at the University of Richmond, while Gamble made his commitment to play football at Lehigh official. Cannuli will bowl at the Division II level for McKendree University in Illinois, and Loftus will be kicking for Division III Gettysburg College’s football team.
Signing day is a formality for many student-athletes. Most make verbal commitments to colleges prior to signing day. However, Division I student-athletes aren’t officially bound to a school until they sign a letter of intent. Last Wednesday gave the athletes a sense of finality.
“I’m in a group chat with all of my soccer teammates who are also signing today,” Blessing said. “So it’s kind of a ‘we’re done’ feeling.”
Blessing, a four-year varsity goalie for the Quakers’ girls’ soccer team, was excited to finally sign her NLI on Wednesday. She said she visited more than 30 schools over the past few years and said it was a relief to finally be locked in to Richmond.
Each athlete was attracted to their schools for different reasons, but all shared the same enthusiasm about their future school.
“I really like the coaches and the size of the school as well as the girls,” Blessing said about Richmond. “It’s just the team environment — overall is very nice.”
“As soon as I visited, I felt right at home,” Gamble said about Lehigh. “I was going to take some other visits, but as soon as I got done from Lehigh, I knew I wanted to go there. I loved the campus, I loved the coaches. It was a great fit for me.”
Loftus has spent the last couple seasons booting field goals and extra points for Moorestown football. Unlike his football teammate Gamble, Loftus is playing Division III football. Even though Division III athletes do not sign National Letters of Intent, last Wednesday was still a very special day for Loftus.
“Just to be able to realize this is reality, this is actually happening, I’m officially going to college to play football, it’s awesome,” Loftus said.
Loftus visited about six or seven schools before deciding to attend Gettysburg. A number of factors attracted him to the school.
“They’re a great academic school,” he said. “Socially, it seemed like somewhere where I could see myself fit in. I really got along with the coach and I really liked the program. It was an easy choice.”
All of the athletes still have a few months of high school left to complete before they can shift their focus to college. However, Gamble admits he can’t wait to get on the football field and compete for Lehigh.
“I’m just ready to get to the next phase, get up there, start working out,” he said.
