Up Close & Personal: Breakout Season for Vilbert Leads to PSU Offer
Smith Vilbert doesn’t remember exactly how old he was when he and his family left their native Haiti for a new life in the United States. He might have been 7 years old, or maybe 8. But one thing he does recall with absolute clarity is the weather upon their arrival. Never in his life had he experienced such cold.
“We came during January when it was really bad,” Vilbert said. “I was seeing snow for the first time. It was really cold.”
Yvette Dorry had wanted to give her children – Smith and older sister Kathie Vilbert – a chance at a better life, so she relocated the family to the New York metro area. The weather was a far cry from what Vilbert was accustomed to, and it wasn’t the only big change.
“I didn’t know English [well],” he said. “But where I went to school, the kids were really helpful, and things got better.”
They did indeed. Vilbert steadily acclimated to his new home, and sports were a big part of his development. He grew into a very good basketball player and an even better football player. Following a short but intense recruiting battle, he announced for Penn State just prior to signing day this past February. Listed at 6-foot-6, 253 pounds, he’s been practicing at defensive end during the Nittany Lions’ preseason camp.
Vilbert had played soccer in Haiti, and he began playing basketball after the family’s move to Monsey, N.Y. He was still playing basketball in high school, and it continued to be his focus even after giving football a try during his freshman year.
He didn’t play football as a sophomore at St. Joseph Regional High in Montvale, N.J., and when he returned to the sport again the following year, it was only for part of the season. As soon as basketball started up, Vilbert headed back to the hardwood.
But prior to his senior year, he decided to get serious about football. Vilbert attended a summer camp and made a big impression.
“I just dominated,” he said. “A couple of coaches started hitting me up – Rutgers, UConn, Kansas State, other schools after that.”
Vilbert’s senior year was a tour de force. Of his 45 total tackles, 17 were for a loss of yards and nine were sacks. He received third-team All-State honors on a St. Joseph team that won the NJSIAA Non-Public Group 4 state championship. By excelling as a senior after playing the sport only sporadically in previous years, he signaled to college coaches that he had only begun to tap into his potential.
“His senior year was basically his first true year of football,” St. Joseph coach Augie Hoffman said. “His athleticism was incredible. That’s what really separates him.
“He’s also a tough kid. A lot of kids who play for the first time can be timid physically, but that was never the case with him. He never shied away from contact and was always trying to learn more and get better. He’s a great kid who has so much potential to grow and get better.”
Vilbert was interested in Penn State, partly because of the quality of the university and the football program and partly because of its proximity to home. “I wanted to stay close to my mom and go to a great school,” he said. “That was the perfect place to go.”
He made an unofficial visit to University Park last September for the Ohio State game, but he didn’t receive a scholarship offer until November. By then, Oregon and Florida were also interested. He paid an official visit to the Ducks, despite their distance from home, and in January he traveled to Gainesville to check out the Gators. But in the final weeks of the recruiting cycle, Vilbert announced for the Nittany Lions and signed in February.
Dorry had originally hoped that her son would attend Rutgers. It’s the closest of the 19 schools that extended scholarship offers, and that was a major consideration. But by the end of his recruitment, Smith was convinced that Penn State was the best of his many options, and his mother was convinced, too.
“My mom came to America to give me and my sister a better opportunity,” Vilbert said. “I guess everything worked out for the best.”