Minnesota OL enjoys West Coast swing

St. Paul, Minn. offensive line prospect Ned Tavale (6-foot-3, 305 pounds) spent the last several weeks on the West Coast visiting his family for an extended vacation. Tavale also took part in a USC one-day camp on his extended trip.

"I was really disappointed in my camp performance at USC," Ned Tavale said. "I was really fired up for that camp, and I pulled my hamstring early in the camp. I tried to do whatever I could at the camp, but I also held back because I didn't want to make it worse. My senior season is more important."

Despite his camp injury, Tavale came away extremely impressed with the Trojans program.

"Amazing. Everything at USC was just amazing, from the facilities to the coaches and the campus. I would say that USC offers just about everything your looking for in a school. I'm really glad that I was at least able to get to know the coaches better, and I came away with a really good impression of USC."

Tavale has been giving his recruiting and college options some thought this summer, but don't expect an early verbal commit anytime soon.

"I'm pretty certain at this point that I'm going to wait until the end of my senior year to make any decisions. I like USC a lot, they are by far my favorite at this point. I'm also looking hard at Notre Dame as well as Minnesota and Illinois. It's early, but those four schools would be my early favorites. I'm open to everyone at this point."

With several top prospects on the roster this year at Cretin-Derham, Tavale and his teammates have set some very lofty goals for the 2004 season.

"We know that we have some really good talent back this year, and all eyes will be on us this year. Everyone on our team is really pumped about getting the season started, and the weight room this summer has been very intense. I can't wait to get the season started. We have really high goals this year, and I think we have the team that can accomplish those goals."