Romich Prepping in Vermont

New England Recruiting Report | Tuesday, June 29th, 2010

One of the best prospects left on the board in the class of 2010 has now joined the class of 2011. 

Groton Dunstable’s senior forward Ryan Romich will head to Vermont Academy for a post-graduate year where he will play for newly appointed head coach Jesse Bopp. 

“I had some options as far as college but I wanted to work on my game and kind of get to where I wanted to go in terms of the level I wanted to play at,” Romich told the New England Recruiting Report. 

And while Romich investigated a few different prep schools, the opportunity to play for Bopp and help the new coach build the Vermont Academy program from the ground up was something that appealed to him. 

“Coach Bopp is just a phenomenal guy,” Romich said.  “He has been working hard for me and he really wanted me there so it was kind of like a no brainer in that I want to do this, work on my game, work on my body, and see where it goes from there.” 

Bopp is a New Hampshire native who returns to New England after having spent the previous two years on the division I level.  He was a graduate assistant to Billy Donovan at the University of Florida during the 2008-2009 season and spent last season on the support staff at VCU in Richmond, Virginia where he was a part of a 27 win season for first year head coach Shaka Smart. 

Bopp played college basketball at Plymouth State and ran AAU programs during that time with prep players such as Pat Saunders (Princeton), Luke Apfeld (UVM), Simon McCormack (American), Devan Bailey (Central Connecuit), and Ronnie Dixon (Dartmouth).

At Vermont Academy, Bopp has already exceeded expectations by landing a player of Romich’s caliber to build his program around in his initial season on the job. 

Other Prep School Commitments

•  East Catholic forward B.J. Cardarelli is heading to St. Thomas More next season.  Cardarelli is a highly skilled six-foot-six forward with a rapidly developing inside-out skill set and a knockdown jumper from behind the arc. 

•  Maine native Stephano Mancini is heading to the New Hampton School next year as a post-graduate according to his AAU coach Carl Parker.  Mancini starred at Falmouth High School this year and was one of the top players in the Maine public school league. 

•  Worcester Academy has landed another local post-graduate in six-foot-six big man David Mack who will be making the trip from Bancroft High School to the NEPSAC.  Mack is a physical interior post player capable of scoring and rebounding inside the paint. 

•  Jabrille Williams will be staying in Connecticut for another year as he heads to South Kent for a post-graduate year after graduating from King.  Williams is a long and athletic swingman with a silky smooth jumper from behind the three-point line.