Arizona OL talks about pledge

Three-star offensive center Doug Zismann (6-2, 273, 5.3) from Phoenix (Ariz.) Shadow Mountain is rated as one of the best players in the Grand Canyon State. He was selected to Rivals.com Arizona Preseason Top 30 for the class of 2009 landing as the state's No. 21 prospect at any position.

So you can't blame UNLV fans for being happy about the committal of Zismann, who gave head coach Mike Sanford the good word that he wanted to be a Rebel last month.

Zismann had four schools that offered him. Why did he choose UNLV?

"UNLV is close to home in relation to the other three schools I had offers from in Air Force, Navy and Army," Zismann said. "That was a big thing for me because going to Colorado Springs, Annapolis, or West Point is a pretty long ways away. Just the security knowing that your family is close to you if you need them or if they need you is pretty comforting."

"I have one major goal I'd like to accomplish at UNLV," Zismann said. "My goal is to get on the field as early as possible. I will try my best not to redshirt."

"I'm being recruited as an interior lineman to play guard or center," Zismann said. "As long as I'm on the field it doesn't matter which position I'm playing. I'm going to play the best I can."

"My senior season didn't quite live up to my expectations," Zismann said. "We went 3-7, but we played 6 teams who make the playoffs."

"Some of the positives during my senior year was I was much more consistent on the snap this year," Zismann said. "I practiced a lot in the offseason."

"I think I had maybe 10 bad snaps the entire season. I know that 10 bad snaps for some people is an unacceptable number, but I see it as a vast improvement from the year before."

What did Zismann like about the recruiting process?

"I've liked learning about all of the different universities and seeing what they have to offer," Zismann said. "It's kind of cool to see where their priorities lie. Some schools like to show you their NFL potential and they'll show you pictures of all the NFL players who have gone to their school."

"Other schools will highlight their academics," Zismann said. "It's just cool to see what different schools use as their selling points."