Justin Sofman, who earned a scholarship from Rutgers as a junior in high school, is walking from the game.
Sofman, a 6-foot-3, 205-pound junior wing at Monmouth, informed head coach Dave Calloway of the decision on Tuesday after making the choice a day earlier. He says he plans to transfer to Division 3 Ramapo College and not play basketball.
“I’ve been in limbo between wanting to play and not wanting to play,” Sofman, 21, said by phone. “I always thought I’d get the passion back for it and I never did. I’ve been too consistent with my feelings about it so it’s not an impulsive decision.”
He added: “I wanted to be a regular student and do the things that everybody does. I didn’t want to make that commitment. It’s a 12-month-a-year job and I didn’t want to do that for two more years.”
Sofman was a two-sport star in baseball and basketball growing up in West Milford, N.J. He drew attention when then-Rutgers coach Fred Hill offered him a scholarship and he accepted entering his senior year of high school.
But Sofman never found his place at Rutgers and transferred after his freshman season. He sat out a year before suiting up last year at Monmouth and averaging 8.2 points and 2.2 rebounds.
“It might just be a product of too much sports early on in life,” Sofman said. “When I got to college I was all spent out. You play five AAU games on a Saturday. It’s like a job to begin with. I was working so hard to get a scholarship from Rutgers. I did and got here and found there’s more to life than just basketball.
“Ever since I transferred from Rutgers, I’ve been having these feelings like I don’t know what I wanted. I can’t have the rest of my teammates relying on me to play and win. You’re trying to win games as a unit and if somebody’s not all there, their heart’s not in it completely, that’s a problem.”
Sofman is the second key player to leave Monmouth in the last month. Travis Taylor, a 6-7 sophomore forward, has requested a transfer and wants the freedom to play for any team on Monmouth’s schedule next season.
“He said his mom wants him to go someplace so he can go to the NBA,” Sofman said.
Sofman himself isn’t headed to the NBA, but he may be headed to a happier mental frame of mind.
BOLDING TALKS FDU DECISION
As first reported May 28 by ZAGSBLOG.com, former Duquesne guard Melquan Bolding is headed to FDU.
The 6-3 Bolding on Tuesday explained why he made the decision.
“I really just like Coach Gary Vetrone because the first thing I was looking for was trust from a coach when I was looking for a school to transfer to and right off the bat I trust him,” Bolding wrote by text.
“I really didn’t care about the name of the school. A lot of people were telling me to go Big East, go here, go there, but going Big East isn’t always good. The things I will bring to FDU is being a leader and being the person who’s first in the gym and last to leave and I hope I can bring a championship.”
Bolding, who initially committed to Louisville, averaged 11.8 points and 3.9 rebounds last season at Duquesne.
(Photo courtesy Monmouth Athletics)
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