By Sean McGrath
Scouting Director, New Jersey

With players in the 2016 class signing their letters of intent earlier this month, it is now appropriate to see which college programs fared best in recruiting players from the Garden State. So far, there have been 105 players in the New Jersey Top 200 Rankings to commit to Division-I schools with approximately 60 prospective student-athletes yet to decide what school to attend after their high school days. John Van De Mark, a heavy hitting first baseman from Bergen Catholic, is the only player in the Top 25 to not yet decide on his future destination.

Sitting atop the 2016 state and overall rankings is Barnegat’s Jason Groome. By now, the entire county knows about the 6-foot-5 lefthander, as he is a candidate to be the first overall selection in the 2016 Major League Draft. Seems very unlikely that he will end up there at this point but Groome is Vanderbilt’s lone commit from New Jersey.

North Carolina has done an excellent job in New Jersey this year, pulling four players from the state; three of them sit in the top five. The class is headlined by RHP Gianluca Dalatri (NJ #2) and C Brandon Martorano (NJ #4), the battery that carried Christian Brothers Academy to a “NJSIAA Non-Public A” State Championship. They also grabbed Monroe’s right-handed pitcher Robbie Peto. Peto is ranked 5^th in the state; 58^th overall. Finalizing their run on New Jersey student-athletes is 6-foot-1 left-handed pitcher, Zach Attianese, who is the 4^th ranked left-hander in the state (17^th overall).