Profiles In Terpage – A Countdown To The Football Season: Sal Conaboy
By petevolk
A recurring series where we will profile every player and coach on Maryland’s roster, counting down to kick-off against Miami. Thanks to OBNUG for the idea.
Today we profile Maryland’s backup center.
Sal Conaboy, Freshman (RS), Center
Stats:
Height: 6’3″
Weight: 265
Ratings: Three stars, #18 in Pennsylvania, #17 offensive guard by Rivals; three stars, #12 offensive guard by Scout; three stars, #21 offensive guard by ESPN
40-yard dash time: 5.0
High School Stats (Senior Year): N/A
High School: Abington High School (Clark Summitt, Pa.)
How’d He Get To College Park?
Sal Conaboy was one of the top offensive lineman in the state of Pennsylvania in the 2010 class. He started out as a tight end, playing his freshmen and sophomore years at the position, but was moved to the offensive line before his junior season. Less than a year later, Lee Hull and Maryland became the first of what would eventually be 17 schools to offer him a scholarship, and Conaboy stuck with that first school, committing in August of 2009.
Conaboy is a part of a very active family in the humanitarian world – he organized his school’s Relay for Life fundraiser and on the day he announced his college decision his dad returned home from Haiti, where he was helping with earthquake relief effort.
Conaboy chose Maryland over Oregon, Pittsburgh, Michigan State, Illinois, West Virginia and others. He redshirted last season, and made a strong impression on the practice squad.
More after the jump.
Nickname:
Sal “Paradise” Conaboy
Career Highlight:
Winning the district championship during his senior year with Abington.
Career Lowlight:
Bennett Fulper has two more years of eligibility.
Arbitrary Top Five List:
Episodes of Futuramas with Sals in thems (chronological order):
1. Put Your Head On My Shoulders
2. The Honking
3. The Cryonic Woman
4. Parasites Lost
5. Bendless Love
Dream Season:
Conaboy earns some playing time as a reserve center, staking his claim over Evan Mulrooney as the center of the future.
Nightmare season:
Garbage time in the Towson game.
2011 Prospectus:
Center is a position where you don’t often see the backup get playing time. It’s also a position that you don’t notice until it goes wrong. Sal Conaboy has the unenviable spot of backup center, behind the very good Bennett Fulper, for probably the next two years. The good news for Conaboy is that he has the inside track to be the starting center for the following two years after that. The bad news is he is going to have to fight off Evan Mulrooney, coming in this year, to keep it.
There’s very, very little chance Conaboy sees significant playing time this year. Fulper was the starter for most of last year, and we just don’t see him giving that position up. That being said, if Fulper gets tired or hurt, there’s very, very little chance anyone but Conaboy gets the chance to fill in for him. Chris Pressley is currently third on the depth chart, but it’s unlikely the walk-on will be able to overtake Conaboy, and Maryland will probably want to preserve Mulrooney’s redshirt.
Conaboy is a talented player who specializes in run blocking, and as a former tight end he’s quick. He’ll get a shot as a Terp, it probably just won’t come this year.
Up Next:
Our next player was a star basketball player in Florida during high school.