Zach Giuliano, Corona del Mar tight end and Stanford commit, voted top receiver in California by fans

As a sophomore and junior – his first two seasons playing football – Giuliano recorded 62 catches for 564 yards and 13 touchdowns

Photo courtesy of Corona del Mar Football

It's easy to see why Corona del Mar senior Zach Giuliano is one of the more coveted tight ends in high school football nationwide. And he didn't even play football until two years ago.

Off the top of your head, can you name another who can match his returning production, his clear upside at the next level, his family history at the position, his high school pedigree at the position, and good enough academics to go anywhere? It's hard to imagine many recruits out there coming close to checking all five of those boxes.

The Stanford commit enters the season with 62 career catches for 564 yards and 13 touchdowns, including 37 catches for 370 yards and eight touchdowns as a junior, while competing among the CIF-Southern Section's upper echelon. In Giuliano's first two seasons as a varsity starter, Corona del Mar won 17 games, making the Division 3 semifinals in 2022 and the Division 4 finals in 2023. Last fall, Giuliano was named First Team All-Sunset League in the brutal conference's final year of existence.

Fans have voted Giuliano as the top receiver in California out of a pool of SBLive's top 50 wide receivers and tight ends in the state. Giuliano dominated the voting, receiving 300 votes more than the next leading vote-getter.

With above-average athleticism at 6-foot-6 and significant year-over-year growth throughout high school, Giuliano has a high ceiling that's on par with all his recruitment from high majors.

It turns out Giuliano isn't the first tight end in his household to star for the Sea Kings, nor would he be the first Division I standout. His older brother Scott, a 2021 graduate, was also a 3-star recruit and recipient of many D-1 offers (at least 24), and had a touchdown catch in the Sea Kings' 35-27 State 1-A championship victory over Serra (San Mateo) in 2019. Now he's a preseason All-Ivy League selection entering his fourth year at Harvard.

Zach Giuiliano was already up to 16 Division I offers before comitting to Northwestern in January, when he had just finished his junior season. In mid-April, UCLA joined the fray, and Stanford followed suit later in the month. Giuliano flipped his commitment the next day to what he described to 247Sports as his dream school in large part due to its elite academics.

Few high schools have developed as much tight end talent in recent years as Corona del Mar. Giuliano is preceded by not only his older brother but also Mark Redman, a 4-star recruit and arguably California's top tight end as a senior on the 2019 section/state championship team. After two years in Washington's rotation, Redman was twice an All-Mountain West performer at San Diego State, and is now at Louisville. All in all, college scouts would be well advised to closely watch CdM's tight ends room in the years to come – but they probably already know that.

"Giuliano is a player we think is only scratching the surface of how good we think he can be," wrote 247Sports analyst Greg Biggins.

"He's a former basketball player who just started playing football as a sophomore so his upside is very high. He has a long, projectable, 6-6, 230-pound frame, is a fluid athlete who runs well, can high point the football and shows natural hands.  He can make plays down the field in the passing game and is an improving blocker as well. He played his junior year with a lot more physicality and toughness at the point of attack and was putting guys on their backs in the run game."

And to think Giuliano still has his senior season left as a Sea King. He's already cemented himself as one of the state's premier receivers, and he's one of the top candidates in the Southland to take another massive leap.

Corona del Mar has a laundry list of impact seniors to replace, including quarterback Kaleb Annett (Boise State) and wideout Russell Weir (UCLA), but it has a chance to remain formidable on the offensive end with a big season from Giuliano. With 3-star wide receiver Dorsett Stecker and running back Wyatt Lucas returning to complement Giuliano, the Sea Kings look to have a balanced, potent offense if they have a successful transition at quarterback.

Photo courtesy of Corona del Mar Football