St. John's playmakers Jay Brunelle, Eamonn Dennis prepare for big time

SHREWSBURY — Teammates on the football field, St. John’s High rising seniors Jay Brunelle and Eamonn Dennis teamed up for an official recruiting visit June 22 to the University of Michigan.

Both of the Pioneers’ dynamic offensive playmakers liked what they saw and heard while meeting with coach Jim Harbaugh, defensive coordinator Don Brown of Spencer and other members of the Wolverines, who finished last season ranked 14th in the country.

So much so that Dennis, who was offered by Michigan in mid-January, verbally committed 48 hours later after returning home to Worcester and discussing the decision with his family.

“The whole staff was just great and, obviously, Michigan is great academically,” Dennis recently said. “It felt like it was home when I was there. I felt welcomed by everybody.”

Along the way Dennis alternated between recruit and recruiter as he did his best to sway Brunelle into joining him next fall in Ann Arbor.

While strongly tempted, Brunelle elected to commit to another blue-blood program on June 26. Notre Dame, which ended last season ranked fifth in the country, was the choice for the Paxton resident.

“We talked about it, but I just did what was best for me,” Brunelle said. “We were just destined for different paths. But still big-time football, great schools for both of us, and it’s great to see for two Central Mass. kids.”

Impressing Irish

Brunelle, a 6-foot-1, 200-pound receiver, led Central Mass. in receptions (69), receiving yards (1,158) and receiving touchdowns (18) last season as the Pioneers went 8-4 and reached the Division 3 state semifinals.

Brunelle received offers from more than a dozen Division 1 schools with ND and Michigan at the top of his list and UCLA right behind. Boston College and West Virginia were also among those trying to land him.

The Irish first contacted Brunelle in February and said they were impressed after watching him on film, but weren’t sure if the level of competition in Massachusetts was up to their national standards. So they wanted to see him perform in person at their Irish Invasion camp on June 9.

“They said I check every box for a Notre Dame recruit and a Notre Dame student-athlete,” Brunelle said. “And I think coming from St. John’s they complement each other. They just said we needed to check that one last box and do an evaluation in person.”

Brunelle appreciated ND’s honesty and spent the next four months preparing for a one-day camp that lasted around five hours. He was, by multiple accounts, the star of the show, covering the 40-yard dash in 4.45 seconds and catching everything thrown his way during one-on-one drills.

Before Brunelle left campus he had an offer in hand from coach Brian Kelly, a 1983 Assumption College graduate who previously made sure to highlight his Worcester connection during their conversations.

“I knew what they wanted, and I worked those months to prove (myself) to them,” Brunelle said, “because deep down I knew I wanted Notre Dame, and I thought that could be a really good offense for me.”

Brunelle will enroll in the business school at Notre Dame.

“So, as Jay has done, he’s earned his opportunity at Notre Dame,” St. John’s coach John Andreoli said. “I think he’ll tell you it was just a good fit for him. Again, that’ll be a great program for him and vice versa with what he brings to the table in terms of his athleticism, his work ethic and his football IQ.”

Wowing Wolverines

Dennis, who checks in at 5-11 and 180 pounds with equally blistering 4.4 speed, is a multi-positional athlete who the Pioneers deploy as a running back, slot receiver and kick returner.

He rushed for 444 yards and three touchdowns on 54 carries (8.2 average) and made 28 receptions for 379 yards (13.5) and six touchdowns last season.

“Overall, just a versatile athlete that has exceptional speed and vision with the football when he’s running,” Andreoli said. “He’s a great special teams performer, and he will be at that level. So I think it’s a great opportunity to get a tremendous education and play in a Power 5 national program.”

Dennis also received offers from multiple D1 schools, starting with UMass and UConn as a sophomore. Duke, Georgia Tech, Mississippi State, Syracuse and Michigan were among those that followed suit.

The combination of the Wolverines being the first big-time program to offer him and developing a good relationship with Brown, a fellow CMass native, appealed to Dennis. The official visit to Michigan sealed the deal over Syracuse.

“I had a checklist with four things on it,” said Dennis, who plans to major in either business or sports media. “Competition, good coaching staff, education, and they send a good amount of guys to the league almost every year. They checked off all the boxes for me, so that was the school.”

Dennis is looking forward to playing at Michigan Stadium — aka “The Big House.” It’s the largest stadium in the United States with an official capacity of nearly 108,000 fans.

Same goes for being coached by Harbaugh, who spent 28 seasons as a player and coach in the NFL before returning to his alma mater to run the football program in 2015. Then there’s the prospect of meeting Tom Brady as the Michigan alum has been known to make a visit to campus from time to time.

“Oh man, if I meet him I’ll be so happy,” said Dennis.

Dennis will also become teammates at Michigan with former Shepherd Hill star Sean McKeon, a senior tight end for the Wolverines that was an honorable mention All-Big Ten selection last year.

Work never stops

Although they ended up at different schools, Dennis and Brunelle are unified in their delight to have the recruiting process over with so they can devote their full attention to the upcoming season. They’re currently training on a near-daily basis with plenty of their teammates at Exceed Sports Performance & Fitness in Westboro.

The goal is to help the Pioneers win a state title, something they did as sophomores in 2017.

“That was the plan, to go into the year with my school picked,” Dennis said. “I just want to focus on winning a state championship and being a leader of the team and helping everybody.”

Brunelle seconded the emotion.

“Right now I’m just training with my St. John’s guys — looking to get a ring this year,” he said. “It’s nice to have all the individual stuff out the way with the colleges and just focus on growing as a team.”

—Contact Rich Garven at rgarven@telegram.com. Follow him on Twitter @RichGarvenTG.