— Outside Linebacker
— 6-3 223
— Runs the forty in 4.7 seconds
— Rankings: Rivals #9 (4 stars), Insiders #24 (3 stars)
— Senior Stats: 116 tackles, 19 sacks
— Committed to Virginia on February 3, 2003
— Recruiting Coach: Al Golden
— Dias on playing football: “I love the rush of playing football – the rush you get from being competitive.”

Hackensack coach Ralph Dass is used to receiving, developing, and producing the top football prospects in the state of New Jersey. So when a junior league coach notified him of a 6-0, 185 pound defensive end who wanted to play as a freshman at Hackensack in 1999, he took the information in stride.

The player was Jermaine Dias , and he would not be the typical prospect. He would make a big impression on Dass in his very first game and, over the next four years, develop into one of Hackensack’s most consistent big time players. Almost immediately, Dass knew Dias was something special.

“Jermaine worked out with the varsity team the summer before his freshman year,” said Dass. “He had to get his own physical, but he wanted to play, so he did what he had to do. After the first game, when he made several big plays, he became a starter for us, overtaking an upperclassman. I’ve had good kids in the past – kids that went to top schools – that I tried to bring up early but just couldn’t handle it. Jermaine could handle it.”

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