East Lyme - Bryan Cespedes was in math class Friday morning when he was summoned to the office of New London High School football coach Duane Maranda.

There was a phone call he needed to take and it was from UConn recruiting coordinator and defensive line coach Kevin Wolthausen, offering him a scholarship to play next season for the Huskies. Cespedes, a 6-foot-7, 260-pound senior offensive tackle, didn't need to think about it. He answered "yes" on the spot, giving UConn a verbal commitment.

Coupled with the Whalers' 34-17 victory over East Lyme on Friday night, it was a pretty good day for Cespedes, who transferred to New London from Grasso Tech as a junior and had never played football before.

"It's my dream school," said Cespedes, who grew up rooting for the Huskies in football and basketball. "When I got that call this morning and they offered me a scholarship, I was speechless. I didn't know whether to act excited or what to do.

"After that I kept getting called out by different teachers to congratulate me. And I had a teammate (Troy Gray) jump in my arms at lunch and I had to carry him. I called my mom and she had to give the phone to my dad because she didn't know what to say ... they don't have to pay."

Cespedes has a "tremendous ceiling," said Maranda, especially considering it's only his second season playing football. Cespedes, who is from New London, played baseball and basketball at Grasso Tech. He joins teammate J. Hunter Roman, a 6-foot-5 defensive lineman headed to Yale, in committing to Division I programs.

The Whalers are 5-1 overall, 1-0 in the Eastern Connecticut Conference Large Division.

Maranda said Cespedes is scheduled to speak with UConn first-year head coach Bob Diaco in a conference call today. The Huskies are in a bye week.

"He told me that when he came here, 'I want to go to UConn,'" Maranda said. "When they called me this morning, I pulled a couple strings and got Bryan out of math. Of course, I have the worst poker face in the world; I couldn't stop smiling. I teared up. ... They did a great job in the way they recruited him. He's a tremendous force and his athleticism makes him even more remarkable."

v.fulkerson@theday.com

Twitter: @vickieattheday