Brown ready to pick

The time is approaching for cornerback Steve Brown as his recruiting process is winding down and the end of the road will be a press conference at his high school Monday to let the world know where he's heading for his college days.

Rumors swirled around which teams were still in on the 6-foot, 197-pound Brown who is rated as the No. 4 cornerback in the nation but now it appears that Notre Dame and Michigan remain for the Rivals100 member. In fact, he's already made up his mind.

"I know where I'm going," Brown said about his decision. "My coach and I just thought that this would be the best way, to let everybody find out at one time, rather than calling a bunch of coaches."

"My parents also know where I'm headed – they're just real excited for me."

The Irish and the Wolverines have been putting on quite a battle for Brown since the beginning of his recruitment, so it's no surprise that it's coming down to those two programs. Before making his decision, it was a back-and-forth affair.

"It really went both ways," Brown said. "There would be times when I would like one school more than the other. Then I just had to find out which school was the most comfortable for me with the types of environment that each one offers and the short list got shorter."

Constant phone calls, letters, text messages, and attention from coaches and reporters begins to wear on prospects such as Brown. However, he knows that once Monday has come and gone, the pressure will be off.

"It will be a lot less to worry about for me," he said. "My team knows though that I haven't let it affect what we're working towards. When I'm on the field its about us, not my recruitment."

"It will be nice though when I'm kind of left alone about everything."

It's been a long road for Brown, one of the highest touted defensive prospects in the country. His road to a big time decision was something he never imagined would happen.

"Not at all because I always thought I would walk on somewhere," he said. "There aren't a lot of people from my school that go D-1 and I thought I'd be struggling this year to get offers. My stats during my sophomore year helped and my junior year I just started getting better, faster, and more versatile on the field."

"It's been very surprising."