UMass Commits Sadiq Palmer and Tyler Thompson Togehter Again as Teammates

Photo above: Sadiq Palmer does his best J.R. Smith impression with his new teammate and longtime friend Tyler Thompson

HAZLET – The last time Red Bank Regional’s Sadiq Palmer and Ocean Township’s Tyler Thompson played alongside one and other on the same team was in 2011 as eighth graders on an AYF New Jersey All-Star team that went undefeated and won a national championship in Florida.

It was on that team that the two soon to be University of Massachusetts freshmen met and developed a close relationship that is still as strong today as it was five years ago.

“We built a bond on that trip to Florida,” said Thompson, who starred at wide receiver/running back and safety. “From there we became brothers, so even when we played each this past four years it was more like brothers than competition. When we got to Florida we were hanging out a lot and our families became close, so we became closer and built a bond as teammates first than become friends and it built from there.”

Before Thompson and Palmer take their talents up to Amherst, Massachusetts to begin their football careers at the Football Bowl Series (FBS formerly known as Division 1A) school in mid-July, they have some unfinished business to tend to. The two Shore Conference standouts are finally back as teammates on the Monmouth County senior All-Star squad in Thursday’s 39th annual U.S. Army All-Shore Gridiron Classic.

“It’s a great experience being on the same team again with Sadiq,” said Thompson, who will be in the backfield for Monmouth County along with Raritan’s Dereck Ernst and Matawan’s Makaya Caesar. “We’ve been talking about UMass a little bit, but we’ve been more focused on this game and enjoying the experience. The team is really focused because Ocean County has won the last two years and we’d like to change that this year.”

Although Ocean County is riding a two-game winning streak going in the game, Monmouth County still has the overall series lead with a 20-17-1 record.

Both Thompson and Palmer are tremendous two-way players and as fate would have it, the two stars have been playing against each other for the past four years as both Red Bank Regional and Ocean Township are members of the Shore Conference Class B North Division.

Ocean Township won their first three meetings but Red Bank Regional won last year’s regular season game before the two squads met up again in the NJSIAA Central Jersey Group III semifinals won by the Buccaneers in a 21-14 slugfest.

Palmer recorded 12 tackles and an interception in that game and scored three touchdowns including running the ball in twice and catching a 33-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Jack Navitsky for the other. He had three receptions for 60 yards and rushed for 53 yards on 11 carries in another superb all-around game.

The win sent Red Bank Regional into their first state section final since 2003 but in that game the Buccaneers absorbed a 21-0 defeat at the hands of Rumson-Fair Haven for their only loss of the season.

It was an epic year for Palmer as he led the Buccaneers to their first divisional title since 1977, first playoff win since 2003 and first 11-win season (11-1) since 2003 while finishing ranked No.7 in the Shore Conference.

He was an All-Shore first team selection by both the Shore Sporting Network and the Asbury Park Press and was named the Class B North defensive Player of the Year by the coaches after posting 66 tackles (38 solo), five interceptions and four tackles for a loss. Offensively, he was just as devastating. He rushed for 452 yards and nine touchdowns while averaging 5.8 yards per game and had 48 receptions for 660 yards and seven touchdowns.

Thompson led the Spartans to a 9-2 record with their only two losses coming against Red Bank Regional.

He also was a first team All-Shore selection by both the SSN and APP and was named the Class B North offensive Player of the Year by the coaches after rushing for 1,572 yards and 21 touchdowns along with 17 receptions for an additional 286 yards and two scores. For his career, he totaled 4,886 yards and 52 touchdowns while running for over 1000 yards in three of his four seasons at Ocean, missing out on a fourth due to a broken fibula sustained in a Halloween night game his junior season.

On the defensive side of the ball, Thompson flat out dominated from his safety position. He finished the year with 68 tackles, 9.5 tackles for a loss, three sacks, a forced fumble and six passes defended.

Thompson committed to the Minutemen a couple of weeks prior to Palmer on January 15, 2016 after mulling over offers from Syracuse, Boston College, UConn, Old Dominion, Virginia and Temple just to name a few.

“I wanted to go where the coaches were most like the Ocean Township coaches and I felt that way about UMass,” Thompson said. “When I went up to UMass everyone talked so highly of coach Whipple saying he cares for his players as much as his own son - and I found that to be true. So I felt that was the best place for me.”

Palmer originally committed to Syracuse early on in the recruiting process but after a coaching change Syracuse’s new head coach decided to go in a different direction and so did Palmer.

Shortly after, Palmer went on an official visit to UMass and liked what he saw.

“I had about seven other offers but after my official visit to UMass it seemed like home to me so jumped on it,” Palmer said. “It turned out to be the best thing that could’ve happened to me; it was the best move for me. Once I get there I’ll focusing on school; that will be my main goal.”

“I was happy when I found out UMass was interested in Sadiq,” Thompson said. “Coach Whipple asked me questions about him and I was like we definitely need him on the roster too because he has the same mental attitude as I do, we just want to win, we don’t care who gets the ball.”

If it works out, both players said they’d like to room together once they get to school feeling it would make the transition from high school to college a little easier.

And while they know it may be a long shot, both plan on doing whatever it takes to get on the field as freshmen and their eyes widen when discussing the upcoming UMass schedule which includes the season opener at the University of Florida then games against the likes of Boston College, Florida International University, Mississippi State, South Carolina and BYU.

“That’s (the schedule) is the most exciting part,” Palmer said. “Opening at Florida is going to be wild, I can’t wait. That’s another reason I wanted UMass, they play a lot of really good teams.”

You can catch these two up-and-coming colligate stars in their final high school game Thursday, June 30 at 7:00 p.m. as they take on the Ocean County All-Stars at Central Regional High School’s Joseph J. Boyd Memorial Field.

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