Making the Case: Braden Lenzy to pick between ND, Oregon

With the first-ever early signing underway and turning the college football recruiting world upside down, several of the nation’s top prospects are making their decisions this week.

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Today, experts from the Rivals.com network examine where Portland (Ore.) Tigard Rivals250 wide receiver Braden Lenzy will end up playing his college football. The candidates are Oregon and Notre Dame.

The situation: Lenzy’s case is an odd one, considering he has already been committed to both schools on his final list. Initially he made a commitment to Notre Dame and seemed bound to return to his Midwest roots. But the arrival of Willie Taggart and company in Eugene changed that and the opportunity to play football and run track for the Ducks was too much for Lenzy to pass up and he flipped his commitment from the Irish to Oregon. But when questions started to surface about Taggart’s long-term plans in Eugene, Lenzy again backed off his commitment and took a fresh look at his options. So where will he end up? We asked our team experts to state the case for their respective programs and let National Recruiting Director Mike Farrell issue a verdict.

“The coaching turmoil at Oregon certainly concerned Lenzy, made obvious by the fact that he decommitted shortly after Taggart announced he was leaving the Ducks after less than a year on the job. But in the two short weeks since that time, Oregon has shored up their coaching situation dramatically. Offensive coordinator Mario Cristobal was hired as head coach three days after Taggart left, and at his press conference that evening stated Marcus Arroyo would be staying on as offensive coordinator. On Sunday, defensive coordinator Jim Leavitt inked a new multi-year deal to stay in Eugene. With the coaching situation shoring up, Lenzy will be able to focus on his original reasons for choosing the Ducks; close to home, their need for wide receivers in the 2018 class, and his opportunity to run track for a storied program.” - A.J. Jacobson, DucksSportsAuthority.com

“It wouldn’t surprise me at all to see Lenzy re-commit to Notre Dame on Friday, and there a few reasons why. For one, Lenzy is close with a lot of the current commits given the fact that he was once in the class. Those guys have been on him in a big way since he opened things up, and that will play a part. But the biggest factor in play here is that we’ve been told the uncertainty about his future in track, the issue that led Lenzy to flip to Oregon in the first place, has been cleared up and was really more of a misunderstanding anyway. Notre Dame is fully on board with Lenzy having a track career, and that, combined with his relationships with coaching staff and current commits, could have him wind up back in South Bend.” – David McKinney, BlueandGold.com

“Lenzy appears to be headed to Notre Dame as he has a good feel for the place, likes the staff and the way they would utilize his skills and the season they had.” – Mike Farrell, National Recruiting Director, Rivals.com