McGinnis makes the call

New Orleans (La.) Warren Easton four-star linebacker Arthur McGinnis has taken his time and he has surveyed his options. He has taken his visits, he has narrowed his list and on Monday night he sat with two options left.

On one side was Arizona. On the other was Oklahoma. Both presented strong cases. Both had their pluses and minuses. And then there was one - the Oklahoma Sooners.

"I picked them because the Sooners have been there for a long, long time, and have been recruiting me for a long time," McGinnis said. "You know how most colleges stop recruiting you because they find other players? That wasn't the case with the Sooners. They've been on me from day one and I like the way they're going to use me in their system. And I believe, not taking anything away from the other schools, but going to the Sooners I believe it will better fit me and better adjust me to go into the NFL."

McGinnis made his decision after talking over his options with his family, and then he took some time alone with his thoughts. Then it clicked. He would be a middle linebacker for the Sooners.

The decision comes on heals of his official visit to Oklahoma. He was hosted on the trip by Dominique Alexander, and he left impressed with several aspects of the Sooner program.

"What stood out when I first went out there is they had everything set up," McGinnis said. "Most of the day was academics. Coach Kish set it up like that because I want to major in sports communication. So he set up tours and things like that to where I could go behind the scenes with the newscast and things like that. Another thing that stood out was the players. They were so welcoming. Another thing is I went in the weight room while they were lifting weights and I saw the competition and the competitiveness when they were working out. I saw myself being in that because I'm such a competitive person and I saw myself being in that crowd."

After enjoying the sights and sounds it was tough to turn down everything the Sooners had to offer. However, it was also tough to say no to a few other options in the end.

"I want to give shoutouts to coach Curtis from Texas Tech and a shoutout to coach Magee from Arizona, McGinnis said. "I felt I built relationships with them and they're very stand up people, and down the line I would love to see them again.

"I feel they're stand up but as you said in the recruiting process there are ups and downs and it was really, really hard to choose between those schools because everything was so similar in my perspective of what I wanted in a school. That's what took me so long. I believe me taking my visits back-to-back-to-back like that kind of left me more confused but at the end of the day it was an open and closed case.

"We talked and I believe I got to feel out coaches that were just recruiting me for my football capabilities and I feel as those three coaches (coach Magee, coach Curtis, and coach Kish) were not just recruiting me for my capabilities on the field but also as a person. That's why I want to give them a special shout out."

McGinnis is one of two linebackers in Oklahoma's 2015 recruiting class alongside Ricky DeBerry. He is ranked No. 18 among the nation's 2015 outside linebacker and No. 13 in the Rivals.com Louisiana Top 50 for 2015. He recorded 108 tackles, 20 sacks, 24 tackles for loss, 58 quarterback hurries, seven pass break-ups, a forced fumble, a fumble recovery, and a punt block.