Pac-10 team offers Villanueva
Washington State offensive line coach Steve Morton has been recruiting Fernando Villanueva for a few seasons, even when Morton coached at San Jose State, and Tuesday the San Jose (Calif.) Independence offensive tackle finally got the good news he's been waiting for.
The Cougars were prepared to offer.
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It is the first offer for Villanueva, a 6-foot-6, 280-pound prospect who said he's also been talking with Cal and Washington.
"I've been talking to (Washington State) for quite a while, probably more than a month," Villanueva said. "I like that they've been recruiting me and one of the coaches has been eyeing me for a couple years since he was at San Jose State. He moved to Washington State and still recruited me.
"This year he started talking to me. He showed up at my school and we talked. He showed up when I was a sophomore but we didn't say anything much because of the rules. This year we've been talking quite a lot."
After a few e-mails were exchanged, Villanueva called Morton on Tuesday and the good news was delivered. It was definitely a relief for the San Jose prospect who will have the opportunity to pick up more offers so he's not rushing a decision.
"He hit me with the big news," Villanueva said. "We've been talking and I sent my highlights and I sent him an e-mail and he told me to call him and he said he had some great news for me.
"He told me about the offer and he talked it over with the coaching staff and he said they wanted to give me an opportunity to play there. It felt good."
A recent trip to Cal for its junior day also went well and Villanueva hopes he can soon pick up more options. The Golden Bears are one of the other Pac-10 teams involved in his recruitment.
"Cal has been showing a lot of interest," he said. "I went to their junior day and I had a chance to talk to their defensive line coach and their head coach and it felt good. I really pulled it off. It helped a lot."