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Recruit | Former teammates lobbying for touted local recruit Sales - Sports

Sales has seemingly formed a rather extensive football family. He said he knows quite a few players at the schools that are recruiting him.

Lobdell and Williams have to compete with fellow CBA graduate and current North Carolina backup quarterback, Mike Paulus. Sales also has a connection at Boston College: Jolonn Dunbar, a graduate of local rival Corcoran High School.

"They let me know the pros of the school," Sales said. "They don't really tell me any cons, but it's always good to have somebody who went through it."

Not everyone seems to think Sales' former teammates trying to lure him to their respective schools is a good thing. Coaches are well aware of his connections at various schools and try to sway him from listening to them.

"(Coaches) try to tell me, 'Don't listen to Mike Paulus,'" Sales said, laughing. "'Go to the place where I feel good.' And they always think its Syracuse or Pittsburgh or wherever (the school) is."

The CBA wideout has conversations with Lobdell and Williams at least once a week. Usually, they don't talk about Syracuse, but more about life and how Sales is doing.

"They just tell me to keep my head up and just take it slow," Sales said. "'Just don't listen to other people, just do what your family tells you.'"

Sometimes football unavoidably does come up, but the talk doesn't involve the Orange. Lobdell or Williams will call Sales before a CBA game to see how their former team is doing.

This year, the Brothers have been struggling, but Sales has continued to produce for the 2-4 team. Sales has nearly 300 yards and two touchdowns this season. But with only two games remaining, Sales probably will not reach 600 yards receiving for the third straight season, despite the school's seven-game regular season schedule each year. Last year, Sales eclipsed the 600-yard mark despite only playing five games due to injury.

Sales' success in the past is exactly why he has so many of his former teammates and friends vying for him to play with them next year. For all his success on the football field, he has actually had just has much on the hardwood. Sales averaged 23 points, five assists, five blocks and six rebounds a game for the CBA basketball team. With basketball on the backburner, Sales could reach his full football potential in college.

"He's a raw kid with a lot of potential," CBA head football coach Joe Casamento said. "He's an athlete, but not as strong. Maybe redshirt him and get him in a weight room because he's played a lot more basketball than football."

Sales said he has no problem redshirting, especially if it will make him better for the future. If Sales and his future college team do decide to redshirt him, once again he could turn to Lobdell for advice. The wide receiver was granted a medical redshirt for his freshman year at SU after injuring his arm.