Prep Profile – Worcester Academy

New England Recruiting Report | Friday, October 12th, 2012

Five programs into our NEPSAC Class AA previews and a common theme seems to be reoccurring – the league is wide open this year.  

So far we’ve profiled Kimball Union, Vermont Academy, Wilbraham & Monson, Marianapolis Prep, and Cushing Academy and examined how each and every one of those programs could potentially make a run come March.  

Another such program is Worcester Academy, who has as much depth and experience as any team in the class.  Of course it all starts with senior guard Rene Castro, one of the most decorated players in all of New England.  

Castro’s first season at Worcester was a major success as he captured headlines with a string of 30 point games that extended throughout the vast majority of the month of February.  It was more of the same this spring and summer as Castro starred for the BABC during the Nike EYBL season, leading them in scoring at just under 17 points per game.  

He’ll be the focal point of virtually every opposing defense this season but he won’t be without help as the Worcester backcourt has plenty of firepower.  

Ben Mesuda is another senior guard who returns to the fold and he’ll be joined by two incoming post-grads in Matt Mobley and Matt Panaggio, both of whom have already made division I commitments since arriving at Worcester last month.  

Mobley put up big numbers last year as well, averaging over 23 points per game while starring from nearby St. Peter Marian High School.  This summer he showed the physical tools to allow his game to translate to higher levels of competition and it didn’t take Central Connecticut long to scoop him up.  

Panaggio , a six-foot-four scoring swingman from Dayton Beach, Florida who made a recent commitment to Lipscomb University, is a pure slasher who excels at knifing through the defense to get to the rim.  

Devon Williams, who is repeating his junior year after transferring from Thayer Academy, will add a true point guard to a backcourt full of accomplished scoring guards.  

While Worcester’s backcourt is deep and talented, their frontcourt has similar weapons.  

Thomas Rivard and Matt Cimino both return from last year’s team, and appear ready to play significant roles.  Rivard has had a particularly great fall during open gym season, landing his first division I offer and currently visiting James Madison University.  Cimino, who already has multiple high-major offers heading into his junior season, is another inside-out style big man who specializes in stretching opposing defenses out beyond the three-point line.  

Darryl Reynolds is a six-foot-nine post-graduate big man from Lower Merion High School in Pennsylvania, the same program which produced Kobe Bryant, and he has the type of power and athleticism inside the paint that should present the perfect complement to the skills and versatility of Rivard and Cimino.  Junior forward Tyriek McCauley is a bouncy hybrid big man who can impact the game on both ends of the floor.  

Add it all up and Worcester Academy head coach Jamie Sullivan will have at least nine different potential impact players at his disposal and that’s a recipe that will allow him to play the same up-tempo pressure style which his teams have become known for in recent years.  Whether or not that will lead to a NEPSAC championship is something that only time will tell.