Anaheim (Calif.) Canyon cornerback Brenan Ghassemieh (5-10.5, 192) is all the way back from an ACL injury he suffered as a sophomore and is hoping to capitalize on a steady junior year.
Ghassemieh was named Canyon’s Comeback Player of the Year in 2006 after sitting out 2005 with the knee injury. He had 65 tackles during the year and finished with 15 deflections, three sacks, two tackles for loss, two knockdowns and a forced fumble.
With the nerves of the injury gone and it healed, Ghassemieh is keeping his hopes high that an offer could come his way, and a handful of schools have been staying in touch with him, including two schools that have called him.
“Air Force called me the first time and San Diego also called me,” said Ghassemieh. “I’m definitely doing the Air Force camp. They hope to see me some more but they’re high on my list. They like me more as a corner, but if I grow to 6-0, I’ll play safety.”
Aside from those two, Ghassemieh is also interested in TCU, Boise State, San Diego State, Colorado and Montana State.
“Air Force is definitely number one, but TCU is a schools I’ve always been interested in. They’re fast and physical and I did hear from them. San Diego has some interest in me and Boise State, I know they’ve given some Orange County kids some interest. San Diego State, my brother goes there so I’ve seen the campus,” Ghassemieh said.
The Falcons, though, have the advantage.
“I’ve always wanted to go into Physical Therapy so I could get my degree while I’m at Air Force,” said Ghassemieh . “It would definitely be a great offer. I’m not even going to think twice about it.”
And he’d also like to get on the field early if he can.
“I’d want to play as a freshman but if they believe I need to work on something, I don’t mind redshirting,” said Ghassemieh.
Ghassemieh has been diligently working the camp and combine circuit this spring and isn’t done yet with them.
He’s been to the Scout Combine, the Nike Combine, the adidas Elite Camp, the Nike Camp at Stanford and also worked as a receiver at the Elite 11 workout at Cal last weekend. This weekend, he’ll be at the Stack Reebok Combine at Loyola in Los Angeles. Then there are the camps he’s planning to do in the summer and finally passing league.
“We have our first one (passing league) in four weeks, a tournament at Crescenta Velly, then more local tournaments and leagues against OC schools,” said Ghassemieh.
In the meantime, Ghassemieh is working at Athletes Performance in Carson to continue to strengthen his knee and improve his game.
“I was just there and it was good, I definitely got some work in,” said Ghassemieh. “They do a lot of stuff to work on your core and mobility.”
An excellent student, Ghassemieh has a 3.6 GPA and scored a 1610 on the SAT. He was a National Society Member.