Five stand out for Hansen

After a standout junior season that saw him earn second team all-state underclass honors, Sacramento (Calif.) Sheldon linebacker Tom Hansen solidified himself as one of the state's top prospects with a dominating showing at the NorCal Nike Camp. The athlete is now up to four scholarship offers with a solid top five list.

Hansen, 6-1, 229 pounds broke future Oklahoma Sooner Ryan Reynolds' SPARQ Rating record at the Nike camp this past spring with a 112.41 Rating. Hansen clocked a 4.62 in the 40, 4.48 in the shuttle, jumped 38 inches in the vertical and did 46 reps on the bench. He showed he was more than just a workout warrior by working out with the defensive linemen in the position drills and was dominant in the one on ones.

Although he worked out with defensive linemen, Hansen said he's currently being recruited as a linebacker, which is where he plays in high school. As a junior, the athlete totaled 52 tackles and 11 sacks despite missing two games due to injuries.

On the recruiting front, Hansen received his most recent offer from Oregon State to add to previous offers from Northwestern, Nevada and San Jose State.

"In addition to those schools, I'm also hearing a lot from Oregon, Cal and Notre Dame and I think those schools just want to see me play this year before they offer," Hansen said. "I have an official visit set to Northwestern for (Oct. 28) and I'm going to take an unofficial visit to Nevada August 5.

"Right now, my top five would be Notre Dame, Cal, Oregon, Washington and Northwestern. I want to take all five of my official visits before I make my decision and it would be fun to take them during the season so I can go on a game weekend. All of our games are on Friday though so it could be kind of tough but I think it would be cool to check out the schools and see a game to see what the atmosphere on game day is like."

Hansen added that he would like to stay close to home to play his college ball if everything was equal but he doesn't mind leaving if that's what is best for him.

"Education is also a big thing for me, that's why I like Northwestern a lot," Hansen added. "I want to major in Science and Northwestern has one of the strongest programs in the county for that area of study."