Noel Brouse stands 6′ 6″ and weighs in at 260-pounds. The Allentown, PA native and senior at Parkland High School will put pen to paper as he sends in his official letter of intent to the UConn coaching staff this morning.

It’s been a long road for Brouse, an original commit to Syracuse. Once the Orange coaching change was announced, the Huskies’ staff pounced.

“Coach Reardon and Wolthausen came down several times and stayed in touch with me throughout the process,” Brouse said on the phone yesterday evening. “I did my research [on the Huskies], had an open mind and when I went up on campus for the first time a couple weeks ago, I absolutely loved it. I loved the facilities, the players and the coaching staff.”

Contrary to reports, Brouse was recruited to UConn for defense.

“They brought me in to play defensive line,” he confirmed. “I love the whole coaching staff, they have tons of experience. Coach [Bob] Diaco, being from Notre Dame, my coach I’ll be working with, Coach Brown, he played in the NFL for the New England Patriots. I just realized they have a collectively great defensive minded staff with so much experience. That’s going to help me out not just as a player, but also my college life experience.”

A first-team All-State selection his senior year at Parkland, he was part of a special season, finishing 14-2. The year ended with a 21-18 loss in the PA AAAA championship against Central Catholic (Pittsburgh), but that game exemplified the never say die attitude of this year’s team. Down 21-0, Parkland was able to cut the lead down to three, but unfortunately could not get over the top.

Brouse is also a dual sport athlete, talking just after basketball practice finished up last night.

“The UConn coaching staff loves that,” Brouse said. “Playing basketball keeps me in shape, but I also play for the love of the game, since I’ve been playing since I was young. They [coaching staff] encouraged me to play.”

Keeping up with the tradition at UConn since the new staff was in place, this class will enter as a tightly knit group. They talk on a regular basis.

“Cam DeGeorge, I’ve been in touch with for awhile now, since we were both committed to Syracuse,” he said. “We talked a lot. I was getting recruited on offensive line there, he was on defense. Once I committed here, I’ve been taking with everyone on a regular basis. It’s going great.”

Brouse will send in his paperwork as early as possible today.

“I’m going to sign my paper at 7 in the morning, send that off and then have a media presentation at our high school,” he said. “I’m excited for it.”