O'Hara's Thaddius Smith commits to Boston College

THESE DAYS in college athletics, coaches aren't the only recruiters.

Right up there on the importance meter are players . . . even those who've yet to don a uniform.

Thaddius Smith, a 5-10, 170-pound junior at Cardinal O'Hara High, Monday announced his commitment to Boston College.

Quite crucial to the woo-him process, of course, were coach Steve Addazio and assistant Ryan Day (both formerly of Temple), but so were Marcus Outlow, a running back from Connecticut, and Darius Wade, a quarterback from Delaware.

They earlier said "yes" to BC, then kept saying "come join us" to Smith.

"They were big in this," Smith said. "They told me about the nice things we could do together. The ACC is one of the top conferences you can find on the next level. We'll be looking to help BC make some noise."

Smith, projected to play slot receiver or wideout (he's also a d-back), had offers from seven schools. Rutgers was first, he said, but BC jumped into the lead the instant an offer was made in January.

"I went up there for their Junior Day," he said. "Coaches Addazio and Day had been talking to me a lot, so I had a good feeling an offer would be coming. We were in our groups, then they called a few of us into the office. Pretty exciting.

"I felt I had a strong relationship with [Addazio/Day]. I felt I could trust them, that they were always being truthful with me."

Smith, who lives in Yeadon and plans to major in business management or architecture, has no relatives in the Boston area.

"No problem," he said. "I'll be excited to meet new people."