BOGOTA — Ashanti Caviness is keeping the college dream alive for North Jersey football players from small schools.
Surrounded by family, the Bogota senior quarterback signed a letter of intent to play for Monmouth University during a ceremony Wednesday afternoon in the tiny school gym.
“It really feels surreal,” Caviness said while wearing a mask and social distancing during an interview with NorthJersey.com, “because I didn’t see myself in this position just two years ago.”
“For a small school, this is huge for us,” Bucs football coach Brian Appleton said. “It does show that if you put the work in, buy into the program, you can get it done.”
Caviness is a 6-foot-5, 210-pounder who earned second-team All-Bergen as a quarterback after starting his first three seasons at tight end. During the pandemic-shortened season, he led the Bucs to a 4-1 record and NJIC Union Division title.
“We wanted to get him the football as many times as possible and he thrived at it,” Appleton said. “He had a great year at the quarterback position for us.”
Caviness is among Bogota’s most notable football recruits of the 21st century, and he might be the biggest since Dan Sabella – current coach at Don Bosco – signed with Monmouth in 1993.
“It’s a tremendous accomplishment for this young man,” said Sabella, who set multiple passing records at Monmouth and is in the Hawks’ Hall of Fame. “I’m definitely excited to see somebody come out of Bogota. This was definitely a young man who we heard about early in his career.”Caviness also was being recruited by Long Island University, Sacred Heart, and as a preferred walk-on at Rutgers, Appleton said. He also was being recruited as a linebacker and defensive lineman, the coach said.
Caviness expects to shift back to tight end at Monmouth, which is located in West Long Branch and competes in the Big South Conference.
“I’m fine with it,” Caviness said of playing tight end. “They showed me a lot of film on the recent and previous tight ends and they see me as a prospect that could possibly do the same things.”
This past season, Caviness rushed for 824 yards, scored 11 touchdowns and ran for seven two-point conversions. At linebacker, he had 42 tackles, including 14 for losses, and forced four fumbles.
Caviness is also an all-league standout in basketball. He’s in his fourth year as a starter, and he had 797 career points after scoring 14 in last week’s season-opening victory over Palisades Park.
“He’s been involved in [59] wins as a varsity player and he’s never come off the court,” Jay Mahoney, in his 42nd season as the Bucs’ basketball coach, said prior to Wednesday’s game against New Milford. “He’s as good of an athlete as I’ve ever coached, especially his jumping.”
Bogota’s biggest recruit of the past 30-plus years is 1990 graduate Pat Sullivan, the former New York Knicks assistant coach now with the Minnesota Timberwolves.
The 6-foot-8 Sullivan was a Parade All-American for the Bucs his senior year of 1989-90 and signed with North Carolina and played for legendary coach Dean Smith. Sullivan helped the Tar Heels win the 1993 national title.
