Easton (MD) athlete Michael O’Connor is plenty familiar with the recruiting process having two older brothers already in the college ranks with Kevin O’Connor stepping into his second season at Duke and Ryan O’Connor entering his fourth season as Delaware’s quarterback.
“I went on my brother’s visits with them when I was younger. Definitely seeing it early on, you know what to expect and you know how hard, I’ve seen them work. I know what needs to be done to play at the next level and how hard it really is. They set a really good example and it definitely helps.”
For now, Michael has his attention focused on his other favorite sport: baseball.
The 6-foot-2 athlete, though, was quick to note which sports sits at the top for him. “If an opportunity came to play baseball, I definitely would but I would want to play football more,” O’Connor said.
The in-state athlete made the trip to James Madison for spring ball as the Dukes have shown continued interest in O’Connor, while he made the trip to Lafayette the following weekend for a junior day. “I really liked the intensity and the competition they had at their practice, the atmosphere, it was really nice. It was really cool to see how these different schools operate,” O’Connor said about James Madison. “I plan on visiting Dartmouth and some camps coming up in the summer. I plan on visiting Delaware too, my other brother goes there so it’s been easy to get to.”
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With recruiting gradually picking up for O’Connor, the local quarterback has made his offseason development in football a key part in his daily routine while making the weekly two-hour trip to QB Factory every Sunday.
“Going to QB Factory definitely helps, I definitely enjoy going every week. I’m still going at least once a week. I don’t think it’s that hard to get to. It keeps me going with football and keeps giving me drills that I can do and take home because I’m really trying to balance my time between baseball and football.”
“Each session, I try to work on separate things that either coach Baucia or the other coaches will try to give me tips on or coaches from my high school saying that I need to work on. Kind of each session I’ll try to focus on one or two things to get better at.”
After his junior season was derailed by injuries, O’Connor has been fully cleared for contact. “I don’t have any problems with it and don’t even feel it.”
“Being my senior year, I just really want to get through the whole season first of all. I want to make a deep playoff run, but also just making plays.”
Off the field, O’Connor has put a continued emphasis on academics as he takes his 4.05 GPA into the final month of his junior year.
“I take a lot of pride in my grades. My parents have really pushed me to keep that up and I think it’ll really help because grades are really important, it can definitely help get you in certain places so I always try to keep straight-As for the most part.”