Friekh filling final five

Layth Friekh is aware that many of his peers on the Arizona recruiting circuit are trimming their lists. He's aware that some of them are making verbal commitments. He's aware that things are moving forward. He keeps up with these things.

"It's crazy," he says of the flurry of activity. And now he's getting in on the action.

Friekh, a tackle at Peoria (Ariz.) Centennial high school, plans to have his options narrowed to five well before the start of his senior season. He holds nine scholarship offers at this point and thinks a few more may show up. That said, three of his final five are already in place. The window for new schools to get involved is closing.

"Oregon, Nebraska and Washington are already in there," Friekh said. "I'm taking official visits to those. I just have to decide on two more."

Friekh has even set a date set for his official visit to Oregon. He will be in the stands for the Ducks' Sept. 14 game against Tennessee. He's still working on solidifying weekends for official visits to Washington and Nebraska, but Friekh says he is certain each will take place.

Right now, he's more concered with the immediate future. The 255-pound lineman will get a chance to see Washington's campus for the first time on Friday, as he's locked into making the trip north for the Huskies' camp on an unofficial visit. And even before getting a tour of the school, Friekh says there's plenty to like.

There's a reason Washington is a finalist, after all.

"With some schools, it's just the recruiting area coach and then the offensive line coach talking to me," he said. "But it's every coach from Washington. Every position coach takes the time to talk to me. I like that a lot actually.

There's no telling where Friekh's next offer will come from or what sort of effect it will have on his recruitment. He won't rule out the possibility of a late-arriving school wedging its way into his final five, and there are plenty of guesses on which program may make a push to do so.

"I'm hearing from Texas A&M, USC, a little bit from Oklahoma." He said. "Kansas State came by my school. Some other schools came by, too - Iowa State - but I haven't heard from them in a while."

Friekh plans to announce his full top five in late July or early August and make a verbal commitment after he wraps up his official visits.