Julie McCombs
Mario Cusano signed to play football at Presbyterian College. His family attended the ceremony at Greer High School.
Julie McCombs
Dorian Lindsey had his family join him for the signing ceremony to attend Wofford College.
Julie McCombs
Tony Pride, Jr., left, joined his teammates, Mario Cusano, center, and Dorian Lindsey at a signing ceremony at Greer High School. Coaches from the left are, Head Coach Will Young, Mazzie Drummond, Travis Perry and Erie Williams.
Then, the former Greer High quarterback quickly became a recruiter for Blue Hose Head Coach Harold Nichols, targeting Yellow Jackets teammate Dorian Lindsey.
"I tried to get him to flip," Cusano said of one of his favorite targets at wide receiver.
Despite Cusano's efforts, Lindsey stayed firm in his commitment to Wofford, signing with the Terriers Wednesday as Cusano signed with PC.
A couple of hours earlier, Greer teammate Troy Pride, Jr., a Shrine Bowler and all-state defensive back, signed as expected with Notre Dame.
For Cusano, a sometimes frustrating recruiting process that left him without an NCAA Division I offer during the fall, ended as he had hoped.
"It was the dream to get a Division I scholarship as a quarterback for me," Cusano said. "It's like a dream come true for me, and I'm ready."
PC's spread offense is similar to the offense Cusano ran three years as a starter under Head Coach Will Young at Greer, and Cusano said PC coaches told him he would have a chance to compete for playing time as a freshman.
The Blue Hose, 2-9 this past season and 1-5 in the Big South Conference, managed only 12.5 points per game in 2015. Three different quarterbacks started games for PC, combining for 1,817 yards, three touchdowns and 12 interceptions.
Cusano was the only quarterback in PC’s 23-player recruiting class. He threw for 2,582 yards, 34 touchdowns and four interceptions as a senior en route to Greenville County Player of the Year.
Cusano also ran for 788 yards and 10 touchdowns, leading the Yellow Jackets to back-to-back perfect regular seasons the past two years.
Lindsey committed to Wofford in the fall and will hope to help the Terriers rebound from a disappointing 5-6 campaign (3-4 in the Southern Conference) in 2015.
"I feel like I'm going to be a great weapon for the passing game," said Lindsey. "When they throw it up, I want to be the one to go up and get it. It's an honor to be able to go there and share my talents."
Lindsey understands that the phrase "passing game" and Wofford have seldom been used together under the tenure of triple-option Head Coach Mike Ayers.
Even so, the Shrine Bowler believes he will fit well into the offense, despite coming from Greer's high-octane spread attack.
Lindsey was Greer's leading receiver as a senior with 63 catches for 1,100 yards and 12 touchdowns.
As a team, Wofford had 54 catches for 760 yards. Leading receiver R.J. Taylor had 14 catches for 186 yards.
Like Cusano, Lindsey said Wofford coaches told him he would have a chance to play as a freshman.
"When they're against tough teams, and they stop the run, we're going to have to pass it -- and when they pass it, I hope they pass it to me," Lindsey said.
Lindsey was the only player from the Upstate in Wofford's 16-player recruiting class.
“We have a total of 16 guys this year in a class that we feel really good about," Ayers stated in a release from the school. "We put in a lot of work on recruiting and it has paid off. We have matched our needs and areas of concern and been able to fill those slots.
"The guys are quality students as well as quality players. They are used to success and had tremendous careers in high school. This was a difficult year in recruiting in that every one of our guys was being recruited by multiple schools and had multiple offers,” Ayers stated. “We had to battle, but they made the choice to come to Wofford."