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Gates still forming options

For a guy with 15 scholarship offer, Bishop Gorman offensive lineman Nick Gates has limited opinions on his suitors.
The three-star prospect stays busy with baseball in the offseason and doesn't get much of a chance to take a look around. There a few visits and fewer camps. Wedging in time to analyze programs and break down depth charts is harder than it sounds. So when he begins to talk about his future, he has a fully-formed take on just one school.
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"I like Nebraska a lot, but that's the only place I've visited so far," Gates said. "It was really cool. It was a good experience. I did the camp for a day, too. It was good just to work with the coaches up there."
And so Gates' timetable has been pushed back. He's nowhere near ready to name a favorite but has started the process of finding a way to narrow his list significantly. Which schools will make the cut? Gates claims to have no idea.
"I haven't made up my mind yet at all," he said. "I'm still thinking and still have to discuss it with the family."
According to Gates, Arizona, Nebraska, Oregon and Oklahoma are the schools that are in most frequent contract, but he says that list won't necessarily coincide with his eventual group of frontrunners. For now, all he can do is plan visits and try to get a better feel for his options.
"I'm hopefully going to take my five officials during the season," Gates said. "They'll go to my top five schools when I figure out what they are. I think I'm going to take unofficials to Arizona and Arizona State soon, though, just because they're close."
There won't be a rushed commitment here. That said, he doesn't intend to drag things out forever. Gates has a plan - be it a loose one - for cutting schools and choosing favorites. His choice may not come on signing day, but it will be close.
"I'll probably choose my top five before the season or right after it starts," Gates said. "I'll probably commit before signing day, but I don't know yet. Everything is still up in the air."
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