Alabama offer changes Woods recruitment

Trevor Wood left himself some wiggle room when he announced his top three schools a few weeks back.

Back then, he said Arizona, UCLA and Oregon were his finalists. The out he left himself was that if Alabama offered, he would change things up a bit. Nobody thought much of it. The situation was a hypothetical for the time being.

On Wednesday afternoon, the hypothetical became reality. The Crimson Tide tossed him a scholarship offer, and the Scottsdale (Ariz.) Chaparral tight end was given something to consider. Immediately, his final three became a final four.

"Yeah. It changes it," Wood said of his list of finalists. "Alabama is definitely in there. I said from the beginning that of they offered, they would be definitely be in the mix."

So here Alabama is, right where Wood said it would be should the offer arrive. The situation wasn't an unforeseen twist or a total surprise. Not to Wood anyway. The massive tight end who missed the bulk of last season with an injury saw this coming. The relationship was slow to develop.

"Coach [Greg Brown] - he recruits my area -- had me call them and told me they loved my film and wanted to offer," Wood said. "They said that they were going to take it Coach (Nick) Saban. They brought it to him, and he said to call me and give me an offer. So they offered today.

"They say my style of play fits them and that I'm a guy that can play in that pro-style offense."

The excitement is obvious. Wood has been waiting for the Crimson Tide to make things official for a while. Everything he's said in the past and his reaction following Wednesday's offer indicate that Alabama will be in the thick of recruitment until the end. He's not naming the Tide his clear-cut favorite, though.

Don't expect him to accept the offer immediately, either. Wood is trying to keep things in perspective.

"It's a big offer," he said. "It's really great, but I'm not a kid who is just going to pull the trigger because. I still need to see what's the best fit for me. I mean, they are the best team in the country, but I still need to weigh out my options and stuff like that."

The options are already being weighed. Wood recently finished up a visit to UCLA. And while he came away mostly impressed, there was one sticking point about his trip to Westwood. Is it a deal breaker? Wood doesn't know. It is a problem, though.

"It was great," Wood said. "I loved everything. The one thing I would like more about them is … well, I love how they use the tight end, but he only goes down in the three-point stance about eight to 10 times a game. I feel that with my body style and everything, I maybe need to go down in the three-point stance more. They're still in the running, but I'm just kind of figuring that out. I don't know what to think right now."

Wood is currently leaning toward an accelerated timetable for a verbal commitment. He reserves the right to change his mind on the matter but is starting to formulate a date for his decision.

"I haven't totally decided if I am going to commit before the season or anything like that, but I most likely will," he said.