Is Griffin close to a decision

Oakland (Calif.) McClymonds running back Willie Griffin was expected to take an official visit to Oregon State this past weekend. The Warriors had a playoff game Friday night and Griffin wasn't able to make it and it now sounds like the talented back could be close to committing to a fellow Pac 10 school.

Griffin, 5-8, 195 pounds is one of the top backs in the state this year. After suffering a hip pointer earlier in the year, Griffin bounced back and helped the Warriors win their second straight Oakland city championship last Friday with a 22-8 win over Skyline.

"Next Friday we'll be playing San Francisco (Calif.) Lincoln in the first ever TransBay championship game pitting the top team from Oakland against the top team from San Francisco," Warrior coach Alonzo Carter said. "It's been a good season for us, very rewarding. We lost a lot of players and a lot of people counted us out but here we are, winning the city title again and playing in the championship.

"Having Willie back was huge for us. We lost two games earlier in the year and tied one and Willie missed all those games. I'm not sure we would have beaten Crenshaw but I know we wouldn't have lost or tied the others if we had him for those games.

"He was supposed to visit Oregon State last weekend but I wanted him and the rest of the guys to take their visits after our season was over to avoid any distractions. We play Friday and then right after the game, he's flying out to Washington for his first official visit.

"Tim Lappano was just here at the school finalizing the visit. Washington was Willie's first offer and they have been on him hard from the beginning. He loves Coach Willingham and Coach Miles, the running back coach and I think there is a very good chance Willie will commit on his visit.

"He's supposed to visit Colorado and Utah but I think Colorado might be done with running backs because I heard they took a JC kid and we haven't heard from them recently. I think when Coach Willingham sits him down on Sunday and talks to him about becoming a Husky, I really believe Willie will commit to him. How can you not want to play for a guy like Coach Willingham. He's just such a class guy with a lot of integrity and I definitely think Washington is the best place for Willie and I think he feels that way too."