Cardinals land Toledo tight end
The recruitment of Toledo (Ohio) Central Catholic tight end Keith Towbridge had escalated in the last month, with several offers finding their way into his hands. A Tuesday visit to Louisville, however, brought about a quick end to the three-star prospect's recruitment.
"I'm committed to Louisville… I'm a Cardinal," Towbridge reported on Thursday. "I've been thinking about it since I took the visit on Tuesday. I told my mom I wanted to commit right then and there, but she said when I get home we would talk about it."
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Towbridge went home and discussed his thoughts with his father, uncles and coaches, but the desire to be a Cardinal did not diminish.
"My mom told me to call today and I could commit," Towbridge said. "I called Coach Tommy Restivo and he was happy and excited for me. I talked to the tight end coach and Coach [Shawn] Watson, and they were excited for me too."
Tuesday's visit to Louisville's campus was the big turning point in Towbridge's recruitment, and revealed aspects of the school that were appealing to the Toledo native.
"The No. 1 thing me and my mom are looking for is the academics," Towbridge said. "Their academics are good right now and they have seven counselors just for the football team. Coach Strong is a great coach. When he came in the team GPA was a 2.7 and he's done a good job [raising that].
"It was also just the feel and how they talked things out with me about the tight end position and how I would get the ball and compete for early playing time."
Besides Louisville, Towbridge had received offers from the likes of Cincinnati, Illinois, Kentucky, Nebraska and Purdue. He is happy to have his decision out of the way early in the process.
"Making my decision right now, there is just a lot of stress off my shoulders," Towbridge said. "So now I get a chance to stay focused on school and focused on getting a lot bigger and a lot stronger."