The three-and-a-half hour drive home from Storrs, Connecticut ,was the same amount of time it took to get there from Salisbury Township. But for the Donaldson family, it probably seemed a whole lot quicker of a ride back.

That’s because senior Mason Donaldson made a decision just hours earlier that would change his life forever.

Donaldson was one of two Salisbury football players that recently signed college letters of intent at the Division I or II level. An all-state selection as a defensive athlete this past fall, Donaldson joined the University of Connecticut on January 31, capping a memorable three-day visit out east that ended with him being a Husky.

“It was a dream. It was a goal,” Donaldson said. “It’s something that seemed far-fetched for awhile. Honestly, it didn’t start to become a reality until probably the end of the football season. I wasn’t getting any Division I looks; I wasn’t getting any football looks.”

But after being one of the main pieces on offense and defense that helped lead Salisbury to one of its best seasons in program history, the interest started to grow.

“At the end of the football season, they started to roll in,” Donaldson said. “Some came in for a week and they left. Some stuck with me like New Hampshire. My kicking coach [Adam Tanalski] set up the whole UConn thing, and from that point on I did my best to keep in touch with them and here we are today as a Husky.”

Once the PIAA honors rolled in and the state started recognizing the talent Donaldson had, so did the surrounding parts of the country. Besides UConn, New Hampshire and Towson showed interested in Donaldson and were on his short list of interested schools.

But Towson was a little late to getting in contact with Donaldson, as they it happened just two days before his trip to UConn. And once UConn offered Donaldson a scholarship as a kicker/athlete, he couldn’t pass up that opportunity.

“It’s hard to compete with that level. It’s almost impossible,” Donaldson said. “I was picking a college based on what I felt like after four years, where would I be at my highest level. And UConn, it was almost a no-brainer.”

He finished the Colonial League as one of the top all-around players, garnishing All-League First Team selections at wide receiver, defensive back and kicker. He added a Second Team selection as a punter, was a Mini-Mawell Award recipient, and earned a First Team Pennsylvania Football News All-State honor at the kicker position, where he made all 39 extra points he attempted and recorded 38 touchbacks.

As a wideout, he pulled in 50 receptions for 810 yards and 13 touchdowns, all single-season records at Salisbury. His career totals are 95 catches, 1,420 yards and 28 touchdowns.

One of the biggest advantages UConn possessed over the other interested schools were the facilities he’ll be able to use as he tries to reach his best abilities in the kicking game.

“They have indoor facilities for me to train at in the winter, which is one of the biggest things for a kicker in the northeast because you can’t kick during the winter time out here,” Donaldson said. “Having an indoor facility was one of the number one things. And then academically, they have several different routes for me to go with my major.”

Donaldson plans to major in communications and minor in political science.