Oregon lands another

Oregon has been on a nice little recruiting roll as of late and that continued tonight as the Ducks just picked up a commitment from fast rising Los Angeles (Calif.) Loyola defensive back Chad Peppars.

We just talked to Peppars a little over a week ago and the Ducks had just offered the athlete a scholarship. Peppars lined up a trip to Eugene for early January and said he didn't want to make a commitment anywhere until he took a visit first. That all changed tonight.

"I committed to Oregon for a lot of reasons," Peppars said. "I know I said I wanted to take my first visit first but I knew that was the place for me so I decided there was no need to put off my decision. Oregon has a great football program and I really like coach Belotti, coach Pellum and coach Neal.

"All three guys were very honest and direct with me and pulled no punches and that impressed me. I was also impressed with Oregon's high player graduation rate and their unique sports management program. I was looking at life beyond football and Oregon definitely has what I was looking for from that standpoint.

"Saying all that, I ultimately decided on Oregon because I just love their defense and can't wait to get there. Oregon plays their corners on an island and I can't wait to get there and play some hard core, man to man coverage defense. That style of play really fits my personality and I honestly can't wait to get up there. They have some really cool uniforms too and I'm just excited about my decision."

Peppars, 5-11, 170 pounds rushed for over 1,000 yards this past year and helped lead the Cubs to the Div I CIF title. He was the top defensive back we had at the Nike camp in Eugene where he not only dominated in the position drills but tested off the charts as well running a 4.58 in the 40, 3.90 in the shuttle and jumping 35 inches in the vertical.