Brick Memorial Grad Mike Basile Signs With NY Giants

BRICK, NJ — Brick Memorial graduate and football star Mike Basile has signed a free agent contract to play for the New York Giants, the NFL team announced Wednesday.

Basile, a 2014 graduate who just finished an All-American football career as a safety for Monmouth University, could suit up for the Giants as soon as Thursday evening, when the Giants play their preseason opener against the Cleveland Browns. The game is at 7 p.m. on NBC.

"It is an unbelievable feeling, it is still surreal," Basile said in a news release from Monmouth University. "This is the team I grew up watching and loving. To just be able to put on a Giants uniform is a great feeling and an honor."

Basile was offered the opportunity to try out Wednesday for the Giants in a phone call Tuesday night.

"It was crazy I got a call last night from them, I packed up all my stuff went up to the hotel. I worked out for the staff this morning and after the workout, Coach Bettcher (Giants Defensive Coordinator James Bettcher) came up and said congratulations."

Basile was a two-way player at Brick Memorial and a first-team All-Shore selection, and the Shore Conference Class A South Defensive Player of the year his senior year. He recorded 88 tackles, 10 pass breakups with a forced fumble and three fumble recoveries as a senior. The Mustangs went to the NJSIAA playoffs three straight years.

At Monmouth, he set the Hawks' all-time career record with 433 tackles, 285 of them solo tackles, as he earned First Team All-Big South honors all four years. He was the first Monmouth player in the program's history to be named to the Associated Press First Team All-America. He was a consensus All-American second-team selection as a junior. The 2017 Big South Co-Defensive Player of the Year was named to the FCS ADA All-America Team, earning him the distinction of the top defensive back in the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision. Basile also became the first Hawk to earn First Team All-American honors from the Associated Press and the Walter Camp Football Foundation. In addition to his staggering amount of tackles, the safety recorded 22 passes defended, eight interceptions, seven sacks and six blocked kicks.

A business major, he also received Big South All-Academic honors.

Basile is the second Brick Memorial alum to reach the NFL. Garrett Graham, a 2005 graduate who went on to star at Wisconsin, played at tight end for the Houston Texans from 2010 until 2015 and was picked up briefly by the Denver Broncos in 2016 before an injury sidelined him.

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