Milan Desai, 17, was originally recruited for lacrosse by both Vassar and Williams Colleges, but this summer her switched to commit for football instead. He received offers from prestigious schools, such as Dartmouth and Carnegie Mellon, but ultimately decided to continue his academic and athletic career at Johns Hopkins University.
Milan Desai, a senior at Hopewell Valley Central High School, has spent his high school career playing three varsity sports while also maintaining strong grades and taking Advanced Placement classes.
His senior year is “going great,” and, “couldn’t be better,” he says. This year, he is tackling AP classes and is likely continuing as captain on the Lacrosse and Basketball teams.
This may seem stressful or overwhelming to the average 17-year-old student but Desai claims, “It hasn’t hindered me at all. I think it’s helped me learn how to balance school and sports. I’ve done pretty well in both academics and athletics in high school.”
He says football has helped him with discipline, too. The discipline he has learned from playing football and having to block out distractions during games and practices also helps him in school.
The football season ended with a record of 10-1. As a quarterback, Desai spends his time off the field next to the coaches. He has worked closely with Coach Caldwell and Hopewell’s offensive coordinator, Coach Walsh, to read plays and analyze defenses. He helps decide the best plays to run to bring the team to success.
Being the starting quarterback for two years has allowed him to develop a strong leadership position with his teammates and coaches. When asked how he has led the team to such a successful season, Desai says that he and the other captains try to keep everyone disciplined and focused during practice but also make sure everyone has fun because “football is meant to be fun.”
Desai has also received the Mammy Mercer County Player of the Year award. He is only the third player in Hopewell history to win this award since its inception in 1989.
In this season alone, Desai has improved his stats tremendously compared to his junior year. He passed for a total of 1,850 yards and threw 21 touchdowns. Not only are his passing skills impressive, but he scored 13 touchdowns himself and had 460 rushing yards. His leadership and dedication to the sport made him the perfect recipient of this award.
The recruitment process isn’t like a regular college application. Desai went into detail about his recruitment process and the steps he took to achieve the success he did. “This past summer, I made it my goal to get recruited, so I went to a bunch of camps and started getting offers from high academic D3 schools,” he shares.
He didn’t do it all alone, though. Coach Caldwell has been a mentor to Desai throughout his career. Desai’s mom wasn’t going to allow him to play football but Coach Caldwell convinced her. He has taught Desai many things that he uses on and off the field. Caldwell helped him put together his profile and get in contact with college coaches.
After talking with many coaches from prestigious colleges, Desai settled on Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland. Desai says he chose Hopkins because they have a combination of renowned academics, great coaches, and their team runs a similar offense to Hopewell Valley. The current quarterback at Johns Hopkins is a senior and will be graduating this year, giving Desai a shot to go up for the vacant spot next year.
Hopewell Valley wishes him the best of luck on the rest of his journey and looks forward to seeing how he prospers moving forward!
