For Houston-area three star wide receiver Patrick Ballard, the decision on Wednesday to commit to UNLV came down to one basic thing: Desire.
The Rebels’ staff convinced Ballard that he’s their guy and they have big plans for him.
“The biggest reason I chose them is because I want to be someplace that I’m celebrated not tolerated,” he said. “I talk to the head coach and the receivers coach on a daily basis - they really like me and I really like them.”
Ballard is a nice big outside receiver that gives the offensive coaches a lot to work with physically. He’s a strong runner that can get a good burst mid-route.
Ballard missed the last chance to show the staff as much in person, as he couldn’t make it out to Las Vegas during his spring break like he planned. He’s looking now to get on campus next month - giving him his first chance to lay eyes on his future school.
“I’m just expecting to see a practice, a little bit of a summer workout,” he said. “I’ll be looking forward to meeting the rest of the coaching staff, I would say that I probably just know about half right now.
“They really like me, like my film and they really believe in me,” he said. “They think I can do it out there and I know I can … My parents know the relationships that I have with the coaches and they think this is a good pick too.”
Ballard said that even though he’s now committed, he is still keeping an open recruitment to teams interested in making him an offer. He is a possible participant in an event at nearby Houston this weekend and is likely going to camp at Memphis this summer as well.
He has more concrete plans to attend an upcoming camp at Louisiana Tech, who he said has also been pretty vocal in his recruitment this spring.
“I’ll be going to Louisiana Tech on June 17,” he said. “I’ve been talking with them and they like me; Coach (Joe) Sloan, Coach Todd (Fitch), and everyone - I’ve been talking with the whole coaching staff out there.”
Ballard estimates UNLV runs pass plays three quarters of the time, meaning plenty of opportunity to make plays. Ballard isn’t sure how much interest he’ll see from others going forward, but knows that no matter what, he’s going to be good.
“Right now just focused on next season,” he said. “I’m committed - if other schools want to talk to me, they can come talk to me, but I’m cool. UNLV has been showing me the most love and that’s it.”
