Farniok refocusing on recruiting

Sioux Falls (S.D.) Washington offensive tackle Matt Farniok's scholastic schedule has taken precedence over his recruiting process, but a recess of his responsibilities will give the four-star more time to ponder his future this spring.

"Lately I was focused on basketball because we were getting ready for the end of the season," Farniok said. "Now that it is over, and I'm not going to be doing track, I'm pretty much training and figuring out ways to visit colleges."

The college visit that is closest to being planned is to Stanford in late May when he is going to be in the Bay Area.

"A camp I am going to is in Oakland, so we were wondering if we could go down after the camp and see their campus," Farniok said. "It is pretty well known as an o-line powerhouse. They are a pretty cool offer to have, and I just think (about) being able to get out and see the school, get a feel for it and see if it fits me."

Stanford is one of nearly a dozen scholarship offers Farniok holds. Most recently he has added Michigan State, Florida State and Arizona State to that list. He has had sporadic contact with all the schools that have offered him since the end of his junior football season.

"I've stayed in contact with coaches and done little bits of research throughout basketball (season)," Farniok said. "Now that it's over I'll have more time to really start looking into schools."

Most of Farniok's communication with college coaches happens over Twitter. While he keeps in contact with most schools nearly equally, Iowa is the one he is in the most regular contact with.

"I usually call them every now and again," Farniok said. "They produce some pretty good o-linemen and they've had some really talented d-linemen, which would be really helpful to go against. They've had a pretty long tradition of good o-linemen going through there."

The highest ranked player ever to come out of South Dakota, Farniok does not list any leaders and does not expect a decision in the near future.

"I haven't really thought about when I want to make my decision because I don't really want to pressure myself into making a quick decision," he said. "It will probably be a later decision. I just want to get a feel for as many schools as I can."

The 6-foot-5, 308-pound Farniok won the offensive line MVP at the Rivals Camp Series presented by Under Armour in Chicago last year and is ranked as the No. 20 offensive tackle in the 2016 class.