Frost accepts Army Bowl invitation

ARMY AA BOWL: Army All-American selection tour

MATTHEWS, N.C.- For Kris Frost, Wednesday's official selection to the U.S. Army All-American Bowl was the culmination of a lifetime of hard work and dedication.

The 6-foot-3, 210-pound linebacker, currently the No. 3 prospect in the state of North Carolina and the No. 33 overall prospect in the Rivals100 for the Class of 2011, was gracious in accepting the invitation submitted by the U.S. Army officials who made their way to Butler High School, home of the defending NCHSAA 4-AA state champions.

"I would just like to thank the U.S. Army for making this possible and thank all those guys for being here," said Frost upon accepting the official invitation. "I would like to thank my parents and coaches for always being there for me and pushing me to do great things on and off the field."

"Being an All-American really sits someplace close to my heart," Frost continued. "It's something that I always wanted to do and it's something that I always wanted to accomplish in my life, and I feel like this is just the start of many things to come."

"It's really something that's bigger than me," he added.

"It's bigger than the sport of football, but it's taking something that all of us on the field have in common and all of us know and all of us love, and turn it into something that we can really be excited for. I can't wait to get on the field and I can't wait to put on that jersey for the first time and it's going to be really exciting."

"What a great opportunity for Chris to not only represent Butler High School, his teammates and his coaches, who do a tremendous job of supporting him, but to represent all these people and then also to represent something way bigger---that being the U.S. Army in the U.S. Army All-American Game. It's a great opportunity," said Frost's head coach, Mike Newsome.

"It's a big deal for all these guys, these 90 guys that get selected to get to play in this game, because there's a lot of high school football players out there, and when you reduce them down to 90, that's some tough picking," Newsome added. "I know they miss out on some, but they've got a good one here."

Frost is the second Butler High standout in the last three years to accept an invitation to the Army Bowl, as current Notre Dame defensive back Robert Blanton also played in the game back in 2008.

"We've had the privilege of having one other young man play in this game a couple of years ago," said Coach Newsome. "Chris is going to have a blast in San Antonio."

"He (Blanton) knew that I was involved in it, but I didn't really confirm it with him yet (before Wednesday's ceremony)," said Frost. "He's up at Notre Dame so he hasn't had a lot of time, but we're going to have a little conversation. I'm really excited about it."

Frost, one of the elite uncommitted senior prospects remaining in the Southeast this cycle, says that five schools have particularly piqued his interest at this point in time.

"At this point Michigan, Auburn, LSU, (UNC) Chapel Hill and Cal are really starting to stick out a little bit. These colleges are really coming at me, showing me all they can, and I'm loving it. I'm just taking it all in," he said.

Frost hasn't yet taken any official visits, but he currently plans to be in Ann Arbor for the Wolverines' game with Wisconsin the weekend of November 20, and he also expressed interest in heading to Baton Rouge for the LSU-Alabama game the weekend of November 6.

"I haven't been able to take any (visits) so far, but I'm going to really soon," he said. I plan on going to Chapel Hill soon."

"I have Michigan for an official visit for the Wisconsin game. Auburn, I'm taking my official visit for Auburn after the season, and California is going to come after the season also. LSU, I'm going to the LSU versus Alabama for the official visit," he added.

In determining which school is the right choice for him, Frost says he'll be examining the game day atmospheres at each school along with trying to figure out where he feels most comfortable.

"I'm really just searching for that comfort level right now, and I'm starting to really feel it from all these colleges," Frost said. "The real thing that I'm looking for now is just the in-game atmosphere and how it is during game time, and I can't wait to go to a few of these games."

A January enrollee, Frost indicated that he does plan on making his college choice in San Antonio. The Army All-American Bowl is scheduled for Saturday, January 8 at 1:00 pm Eastern (12:00 noon Central), and will be televised nationally on NBC.

"I definitely plan on doing that (announcing my chosen school at the Army Bowl)," Frost said. "I've always been really excited about it. As soon as I heard that I was selected, that's actually what came to my mind, so I was pretty excited about that."

"I'm graduating early this year, so I'm trying to see if I can do it and how would it be done. I'm really excited about sitting at the table and having the hats out and selecting one. That's really exciting for me," he added.

For now, however, Frost is focused solely on trying to bring another state championship to Butler.

"We're really going full-steam ahead at this season," Frost said. "We're not playing any games with any of the schools. We know our goal. We know how it feels to win another state championship, and we know that we want another ring, and that's really important."