Armstead to delay decision
The saga of Arik Armstead continues and now a decision has been delayed until National Signing Day which means the four-star defensive end will no longer be an early enrollee.
It also means that his recruitment can go in any number of directions since programs from across the country will continue recruiting him and his, brother, Armond, who will return to USC as a student but not join the football team. Armond Armstead then plans to transfer after the spring semester.
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"There wasn't enough time to make a decision so Arik is going to wait until signing day," Guss Armstead told Pete Sampson of IrishIllustrated.com. "That's what it looks like right now."
One of the working ideas was that the Armstead brothers would find a place to play one season of college football together with Notre Dame, Auburn and Cal being the top three considerations. Oregon has also been on the list.
It was probably unlikely USC would release Armond Armstead to play at Pac-12 rivals Cal or Oregon so that made their situation even more interesting.
Rated as the fourth-best strong-side defensive end in the 2012 class by Rivals.com, Arik Armstead said recently at the U.S. Army All-American Bowl that it would be preferable but not necessary that he play at the same college as his brother.
Armstead's father echoed those sentiments on Wednesday.
"We don't know that," Guss Armstead said. "That's all up in the air. We just want to take a step back."
The Golden Bears were under serious consideration by Arik Armstead, a 6-foot-8, 280-pound prospect who wants to also play basketball in college.
Possibly one reason for the delay in making a decision was because Cal's defensive line coach, Tosh Lupoi, surprisingly left earlier this week for a similar job at Washington.
According to the Sacramento Bee, Lupoi and Cal coach Jeff Tedford had an in-home visit with Armstead Sunday night shortly after his return from Auburn. That same day, Armond and Guss Armstead traveled to Notre Dame.
All three programs among many others have continued to recruit Armstead, rated as the No. 61 prospect in the 2012 class by Rivals.com.
It sounds like coaches will have a couple more weeks to pursue the Armstead brothers especially before four-star Arik is prepared to make his college choice on Feb 1.
"Different stuff happens in the recruiting process, coaches left, different situations," Guss Armstead said. "It just didn't feel right. We'll just wait."
IrishIllustrated.com editor Pete Sampson contributed to this report.