Restrepo balancing school, recruiting

Like many student-athletes, St. Thomas Aquinas receiver Xavier Restrepo has to balance his academic work with football.

Add in the attention that comes with being a heavily recruited player, and there isn’t time for much else.

“I spend most of my day at school from 7:30 in the morning to 2:30 in the afternoon,” Restrepo said. “After that, I go to practice, and I’m there till about 7:30 p.m. Once I leave practice, then I go home and do my homework and study for any test I am going to have, and that normally takes around two hours.

“So around 16 hours of football .. Monday-Thursday and around eight hours Monday-Friday on homework.”

Restrepo, a junior receiver who holds offers from Kentucky, Louisville, Miami, Michigan and more, saw those hours pay off recently. He was a South Florida Sun Sentinel top performer after scoring three times and blocking a punt against Boyd Anderson, and he received strong SAT scores, which he tweeted out Friday night.

With all that on his plate, he’s taking his time with his recruitment.

“I’m just enjoying the process,” he said. “Not putting too much attention right now into considering a certain school. My focus is STA football and maintaining grades. It’s hard, I’m not going to lie, but all this work will eventually pay off.”

Aquinas’ Ingraham to commit Tuesday: One of Broward County’s most sought-after seniors will make his college decision on Tuesday. Braylen Ingraham, a four-star defensive end, will choose between his top three schools: Alabama, Miami and Oregon.

Ingraham, who is No. 12 on the Sentinel’s top 50 Broward prospect list, is the No. 22 strong-side defensive end in the 2019 class, according to 247Sports’ composite ranking.