Woodley Cadet: The Latest Knight

After receiving their third commit of the 2010 class this past Friday, the Knights added their fourth player on Monday, as Woodley Cadet announced his decision to head to UCF. Cadet talks about his reason for giving his pledge to the Knights at InsideKnights.com

One commit, two commit, three commit, four. Yes, the Knights have hauled in commitments at a rapid pace this offseason, as four verbals in May is by far the most the school has ever had. UCF’s latest commit is Woodley Cadet, a ball-hawking safety from Seminole Ridge H.S. (FL).

“It feels good to make this decision,” Cadet told InsideKnights.com. “I have a lot of pressure off me now.”

The 6’1”, 190 lb. safety had a gut feeling that UCF was the right school for him and so he decided to not waste any more time.

“I’ve been talking with UCF for two months now and I said ‘Why wait?’. I felt good with the school and so did my parents. We were all good with it, so it made sense to commit now.”

Cadet lives around 2 ½ hours away from UCF in South Florida, so he was happy to stay close to home.

“I took a trip up there this spring and it was good. I thought I fit in well there and they treated me like family. My family is also happy that I’m not too far way.”

With UCF still working to add depth at its safety position, Cadet knew that he filled a need for the Knights.

“I know they needed some players at safety, so it seemed like a good fit.”

Coach Tim Salem was in charge on Cadet’s recruitment and the Florida product decided said Salem made him feel welcomed.

“He’s a cool guy. He’s straight forward, let’s you know where you’ll fit in. He told me what was expected of me and how I could contribute.”

UCF was the first school to offer Cadet, but Illinois came into the mix as well, although Illini didn’t leave the same impression on him as UCF did.

“They called me a while back and sent letter, but I didn’t get many calls from them. UCF made me feel wanted.”

Last season, Cadet led a Seminole Ridge defense that gave up just 124 points on the season. His team finished 7-3, but went only 2-2 in their division and missed out on the playoffs.

“The team that got in over us was just 4-6. We learned though that we have to finish game and win when we’re in the position to.”

All of the team’s losses came by less than a touchdown.

Cadet prides himself in his ball vision and his ability to see the field. When pressed to talk about what improvements he could make before going to the next level, Cadet couldn’t think of too much to work on.

“I guess I’d like to get a little bigger, maybe a little faster.”

The Knights have sealed their fourth commitment of the class and number four is a stud who has plenty of experience on defensive minded teams. Cadet added that he would still listen to other schools if they called, but that he was more than happy being a Knight.