ROCK HILL, S.C. — As the longtime director of one of New England’s premier grassroots programs, Mass Rivals’ Vin Pastore is always looking for the next big thing. The next special prospect. The next high-major recruit.
He may have found a few.
There’s something special brewing in southern New Hampshire, where a group of young Class of 2028 prospects have formed a rarely seen collection of talent. As the Adidas Palmetto Road Championships wrapped up last week, Pastore was noticeably beaming with excitement about what the future holds for them.
“There hasn’t been a group of New Hampshire kids, in all the years I’ve been doing this, that are this good,” said Pastore.
Pastore affectionately calls them the “Fab Five,” an ode to Michigan’s famous quintet of the 1990s. They are Derek Swartz, Finn McCauley, Wiji Dak, Luke O’Connell and Josh Phanor. They each just finished standout freshman seasons in New Hampshire; Swartz and McCauley at Portsmouth, Dak and O’Connell at Bedford and Phanor at Pinkerton. They have all become friends, and they all just completed strong first AAU seasons with Rivals, where the first four played an age up on Pastore’s 16U team.
