Heaps has a decision

After reducing his list from more than 26 scholarship offers to a final five of BYU, California, LSU, Tennessee and Washington, Jake Heaps has made up his mind. The nation's No. 8 quarterback and four-star prospect will announce his decision at an undetermined time on Thursday, according to a press release from the Heaps family.

Heaps, of Sammamish (Wash.) Skyline, has been very quiet lately when it comes to discussing his college choices, but many have been led to believe that BYU and Washington are the leading candidates after Cal received a commitment recently from fellow top-ranked quarterback Austin Hinder.

If the decision is BYU (Brandon Doman), it could provide the Cougars a monster boost heading into this weekend's huge junior day on campus, which is expected to attract major prospects from all over the nation. Washington has been a major player in Heaps' recruitment for quite some time, especially now that new coach Steve Sarkisian has been personally involved in his recruitment.

Tennessee (David Reaves) and LSU are also two attractive SEC programs. Nobody has been more active nationally recruiting early on this season than the Vols, and LSU's tradition speaks for itself. The Tigers have also put offensive coordinator Gary Crowton in charge of recruiting Heaps.

The release said Heaps has already made his decision, but more information about when and where he announces his decision is not available at this time.

Whoever lands Heaps will secure a commitment from possibly the top quarterback in this year's class.

After a poor showing at the U.S. Army All-America Combine, Heaps rebounded with a great performance at the recent Palo Alto NIKE Training Camp. He won the MVP award at the camp and felt vindicated for his effort.

"I was really disappointed with myself at the San Antonio Combine, and I wanted to come back and really show who I am and what I can do," he said. "Hopefully I did that. I wanted to come back and prove that [the combine performance] was just a fluke.

"I felt really good about the performance. There were one or two balls that I'd like to have back, but I felt really good. I had a strong performance, and now I'm just going to continue to work on getting bigger, stronger and faster."

Rivals.com recruiting analyst Barry Every says Heaps could eventually become the nation's No. 1 passer when updated rankings are loaded in the near future.

"I saw a guy that didn't throw a single knuckleball," Every said. "He had spin on every pass, had good velocity, nice touch and was able throw pretty much any route he wanted. Whether it was the slant, curl or out, he was on the money every time."