Portis to delay decision

A month or so ago, Woodland Hills (Calif.) Taft quarterback Josh Portistold us he expected to make his college choice by late August or early September. That decision has now been put on hold and the talented signal caller will take a few of his official visits before pulling the trigger.

Portis, 6-4, 190 pounds is one of the elite signal callers in the West region with offers from all over the country. At one time, an early commitment to Washington looked imminent and although the Huskies are still on top, Portis has decided not to rush his decision.

“This is a big decision for me,” Portis said. “I started to realize that more and more and the thought of this decision will affect the next five years of my life started to hit home. I want to watch a few games this year and take some official visits before I decide anything. How the teams look on the field will play a factor for me because I want to play for a winning program.

“I haven’t set up any trip dates yet but I know I’ll visit Washington and LSU for sure. I’m also looking at Oregon and recently, Washington State has been recruiting me very hard and sending me letters every day. They’re probably recruiting me harder than anyone else right now, even though they already have a quarterback (Arkelon Hall) committed.

“I like Utah too, they a fun offense and are recruiting me very hard as well. I’ll probably try to narrow my list down early in the decision and will look to take some of my visits when I can work them in to my schedule. We play some Thursday night games so I should be able to work that out.”

A major plus for whoever signs Portis is he plans to graduate early and will be able to enroll in time for Spring practice. That also means his scholarship will not count with the class of 2005 but will count against last year’s total. Taft will open their season September 12 against a very talented Crenshaw team in what should be a very entertaining game.