Andersons drive didnt die with commitment

DALLAS -- Solidly committed prospects don't have exciting stories. There's little mystique surrounding them and the fanfare has long since died down. They don't usually hit the camp circuit with much gusto, either.

Avery Anderson is the exception. Anderson, a 2015 defensive back who pledged his services to Arizona State in the spring, showed up at the Rivals250 Underclassmen Challenge Presented by Under-Armour anyway. He wasn't there to earn scholarship offers. He already has the one that matters. He wasn't there to create buzz or get his name out there, either.

Instead, he was there to compete. He was there to measure himself. He was there to get better. Then, that's kinda what he does. The son of a military man, Anderson has never been one to get complacent.

If other schools misconstrue his competitive nature for a wandering eye, that's fine by him. He already has the whole thanks-but-no-thanks thing down to a science.

"I still get contact from some different schools," Anderson said on Sunday. "They call my coach and send me mail. My whole thing, like we've said throughout the process, is that we aren't going to block off people. If somebody wants to come in talk to me, that's fine. We're not going to waste people's time, so we tell them we're firmly committed to ASU. If they still want to talk, we aren't just going to jut shut them down.

"I'm just listening for right now. I'm not sure what the future holds but, for right now, ASU is all I'm visiting and interacting with."

Colorado, Colorado State, Oregon and Vanderbilt have continued to recruit Anderson since he made his commitment to the Sun Devils. At least so far, their efforts have been to no avail. These days, Anderson's most frequent phone calls go to cell phones with Tempe (Ariz.) area codes.

"ASU can't call me, so I call about once a week," he said. "I talk to Coach [Chip] Long and Coach [Mike] Norvell. We just talk and say what's up and all that. I have a really great relationship with both of them, so we just spend time talking about whatever."

Seemingly off the market, Anderson concerns himself with other things. Most recently, he's made the shift from recruited to recruiter. He's admittedly adjusting to the new role, but, at the same time, he's already managed to indemnify a top target.

The No. 1 player on Anderson's board hails from the Pacific Northwest.

"Budda Baker," Anderson said. "We exchanged numbers at the ASU camp and I'm trying to recruit him to ASU. He hasn't told me much yet, but he just had a really good showing at the opening. I tell him that we have a good thing going at ASU. I try to tell him that I just love the staff and the players. Everything is looking up."