Since Mustafaa Dais was a child playing on Nyack’s Valley Cottage Indians, a youth football program, he has always been among the elite players. After a stunning junior season last year, it was hard to imagine how he could go much further up. Over the summer, however, Mustafaa blossomed not only into one of the best players in his league, but into one of the most sought-after recruits in the Hudson Valley.
“My coach always told me to get ready for when other coaches were knocking on my door,” Mustafaa said. “And after the season finished and I went to a few camps, he wasn’t lying.”
It’s no surprise that Mustafaa has had visitors at his doorstep. The 6-foot-2, 175-pound senior ran the 40-yard dash in a stunning 4.42 seconds at The University of Connecticut this past spring. In the latest NFL Combine, the fastest 40-yard dash speed for a wide receiver was 4.27 seconds, the fifth-fastest speed being a 4.42.
Hackley football coach, Phil Treglia, has worked with some of the area’s top recruits in the last decade after being a guidance counselor and former coach at Iona Prep.
“He’s tall, he’s long, he’s fast, but he really blossomed coming into his junior year,” Tregila said. “He just grew into his body, was more focused, and saw the gifts that he had and took off.”
If that isn’t enough to prove him to be one of the elite in the state, then look at his offers. Before his senior season started, he already received nine Football Bowl Subdivision scholarship offers, including UConn, Army, and Temple. In addition to his BCS offers, Lafayette, Fordham, James Madison, Albany, Penn, Dartmouth, and Harvard have all extended offers.
“My family and I are trying to decide if going Ivy is the best decision for me,” Mustafaa said. “It’s an opportunity you can’t look past.”
The recruitment process hasn’t been all smooth sailing for Mustafaa, however. Aside from focusing on his talent on the field, he also needs to stay concentrated on his work in the classroom, now more than ever during a rigorous senior fall.
“There’s definitely a lot of pressure on the first trimester as well as on the ACT and SAT,” he said. His recruitment has had a greater impact than on just him, however. “It has allowed more exposure to the school and the team and has allowed players on the team to get better looks,” he said.
One of the players on the team who has benefited from Mustafaa’s recruitment is sophomore Elijah Ngbokoli. As a sophomore he has already received a letter of interest from Temple University.
This exposure is especially important for younger players on the team because, as Mustafaa experienced, the sophomore and junior seasons are more important than the senior season.
“If I didn’t do as well my junior season and waited until my senior year to break out, this whole process would be a lot harder right now,” he said.
Mustafaa took off on the track last spring as well. He didn’t only break school and state records in the 100, long jump, high jump, and triple jump, but he also recently received All-American honors for track. It’s no surprise that he’s received offers for track from the likes of Notre Dame, Cornell, and Penn. Despite these impressive offers, Mustafaa has decided that he will play football in college.
“I’ve been playing football ever since I was able to walk,” he said. “I can’t see myself stop doing something that I love and have been doing almost all my life.”
