Sports

Inaugural Future Phenom Showcase a hit with local players

Ray Lizzi stood in the middle of newly renovated Sid Luckman field, eyes darting to each player who walked by, and smiled. The inaugural Future Phenom Showcase, an independently run event for local football talent organized by the Erasmus Hall assistant coach, was a success.

Sixty-five players — many of them city standouts and others from New Jersey and Pennsylvania — attended the one-day skills showcase at Erasmus Hall’s state-of-the-art facility in Brooklyn.

Though Lizzi was somewhat disappointed by the numbers – he was hoping to draw 100 – he was impressed by the talent.

Among the area stars were Erasmus Hall duo Wayne Morgan and Shaquell Jackson and Tottenville’s Brandon Barnes and Kenny Coughlin. New Jersey’s Tre Bell (St. Peter’s Prep) and Kevin Taylor (Seton Hall Prep) and Pennsylvania’s A.J. Long (Pius X) and DeVaughn Cholette (West Scranton Prep) also made the trek.

“This shows there’s talent in the area,” Lizzi said.

Morgan, who holds offers from Michigan, Rutgers, Alabama, Penn State, Notre Dame, UConn and Syracuse, among others, ran the fastest time in the 40-yard-dash at 4.35 seconds and thusly was named the camp’s fastest man. Coughlin was the camp’s top linebacker, Long the best quarterback and Cholette was named the camp MVP.

“This is a great get-together,” said Bell, a top sophomore cornerback. “I would definitely come back again. They’re trying to say there is not a lot of talent in New York City, but there are a lot of athletes here.”

Said Barnes, the Tottenville quarterback: “I was really impressed by the competition. It was better than I expected.”

After years of attending scouting camps across the country, Lizzi felt it was time to do something in his backyard. His van was getting too crowded and he didn’t like the idea of shutting people out. So he began making call after call to his many contacts regarding the value of such an event and the response was overwhelming. Former NFL players Roman Oben, Antonio Anderson and Davale Ellis helped Lizzi, offering pointers, encouragement and running individual drills.

“It was a pretty good turnout,” said Coughlin, the top-notch middle linebacker from Tottenville. “Hopefully they send out the results and colleges get in contact with us through our high schools.”

Though college coaches were not allowed to attend due to NCAA rules, there were scouting services present and all the statistics were recorded. Lizzi planned to email them directly to every college program – Division I, Division I-AA, Division II and Division III – immediately after the showcase.

“I want to build a stage with credibility for our region to be taken seriously, for people to come to us and not for us to always have to go places,” Lizzi said. “I want to create a way to showcase the talent we have in New York City.”

zbraziller@nypost.com