Joe Massaquoi is a 6'5” 230 pound defensive end prospect at TC Williams High School in Alexandria, Virginia. Joe was originally scheduled to make an unofficial visit to Duke for the Alabama game, but had to reschedule. The senior spoke with Coach Zac Roper this week, and is now planning on visiting Duke with several high school teammates on October 16 for the Miami game. “I spoke to Coach Roper on Tuesday and told him I was coming for the Miami game and he actually said he's coming to watch me on October 24,” Joe told BDN in a recent interview.  

Joe currently holds one scholarship offer from East Carolina, but has had recent interest from Duke, NC State, Northwestern, Pittsburgh, and a few other ACC schools. In fact, several of these schools have asked him to delay his decision until they can fully evaluate him, and Joe has respected their requests. “I haven't committed yet because I want to let other schools evaluate me and I don't want to leave anybody out,” he explained. Joe will likely make his college decision after his high school season, so that schools are able to evaluate film from the fall.  

As for his high school season, TC Williams is currently 1-3, but Joe says “we're hoping to bounce back this week. We've lost two straight, both to really good top 20 teams.” As a senior standout, Joe has had to face multiple double teams, and is working hard at fighting through them.  

During the summer, Joe visited several campuses for summer camps and 7-on-7 tournaments, where he played tight end. Those visits included Pittsburgh, North Carolina, Virginia, Richmond, East Carolina, and Virginia Tech. He felt that the camps helped him to really improve his pass rushing ability in camps, and says his ability to get penetration is now his biggest strength. 

Joe is looking for a school where he feels comfortable and isn't too far away from home. “I've got to like the coaches; I want them to be easy to get along with,” he said. In addition to his prowess on the gridiron, Joe is also a standout on the basketball court and the lacrosse field. While he intends to focus on football in college, it sounded like he's always up for a game of pick-up. 

“I'm just a really hard worker. If I struggle with something at first, I'll work hard and get better and I hope fans will appreciate that,” he told BDN in closing. 

For more on Joe, visit this recruiting spotlight by the Washington Post with some practice and game highlig