Four-star OL names top three

Four-star offensive tackle Erik Kohler (6-5, 285, 4.9) from Westlake Village (Calif.) Oaks Christian has earned preseason first-team All-American honors from the Sporting News and all-west coast by another publication. He has six BCS offers and his getting a looks by many other schools. Kohler has named a top three colleges.

As a junior, Kohler earned all-CIF, all-county and all-league while playing for a CIF Section Championship team.

Kohler has offers from Arizona, Arizona State, Cal, UCLA, Washington and Notre Dame. He is getting recruiting interest from the likes of Oregon, USC, Oklahoma and Florida State. He recently named a top three of Washington, UCLA and Cal.

What does Kohler think about his top three?

"When I went up to Washington a couple of weeks ago," Kohler said. "What impressed me was the coaching staff constantly walks around with this heir about them that they are going to win and their motto for the year is, expect to win.

"What I got from them (Washington's coaching staff) is something I have never got from a coaching staff before and that is just a sheer drive to win. They're not going to let anything stop them from winning.

"With UCLA it is pretty much the same exact thing," Kohler said. "From Coach Rick Neuheisel, to Coach (offensive coordinator) Norm Chow and to Coach Bob Palcic, the O-line coach," Kohler said. "I just get a feeling that they want to win. They want to get UCLA back on top."

"What impresses me about Cal is they have been very consistent and winning," Kohler said. "They don't lose. When Cal loses it is for some odd reason and their coaching staff is very pro set minded. They have a coach (Jeff Tedford who is going to stay there and won't leave. He just signed a new contract and he is just a very impressive coach."

Now that there is a definite three schools that are separating themselves from the pack, is there a time limit for a decision?

"I am hoping to make my decision by August," Kohler said. "If I cannot make up my mind by August, which is not a 100 percent guarantee. Committing by August is just a goal that I would like to achieve, but if I cannot, I will take advantage of my five officials so I can really get in depth about the schools that I want to visit."

Kohler may still take some unofficial visits this summer and could shake things up a little.

"I am hoping to go up to Notre Dame," Kohler said. "Notre Dame is still a key player on my list. The reason why they are not on the top three is because I haven't had the chance to actually go to the school and look at the coaching staff and everything.

"There's always a possibility so I would like to keep my mind open to that," Kohler said. "I would still like to get to Notre Dame and the two Arizona schools. It is the same situation with the Arizona schools as it is with Notre Dame."

Kohler has good strength. His current bench is 315 and that's a heck of a lift for a young man with his wingspan. He squats 415, power cleans 280 and has recorded a 28.5 vertical jump.