Robinette weighing options

Patton Robinette of Maryville (Tenn.) is the consummate student-athlete.

On the field, the 6-foot-5, 200-pound pro-style quarterback helped lead his team to the 2010 Class 6A state title and a 14-1 record. Off of it, he carries a stellar 4.5 GPA.

As one would expect, Robinette is being recruited by the football programs at some of the country's elite academic institutions, including a few Ivy League schools.

To date, Robinette holds seven offers, including five from FBS (Division I-A) programs - Arkansas State, Memphis, Northwestern, Purdue and Vanderbilt. Additionally, Brown and Harvard have extended invitations to join their respective teams.

"I'm definitely considering (Brown and Harvard) in the back of my mind," Robinette said. "But I'm going to school to play football. That's going to be a big part of my decision."

According to Robinette, a few schools stand out, but for now he's keeping that information to himself.

"Right now, I'm trying to keep things open," he said. "I still haven't been to all the schools that have offered and schools that haven't. I just want to make sure I make the right decision for me and my family. I think I'm going up to Purdue at some point, and maybe Stanford. I don't have anything finalized yet. I'm going to try to get this all done before our season starts up. I want to be able to focus on my team."

Thus far, Robinette has visited Clemson, Georgia, Northwestern, Vanderbilt and Wake Forest. This weekend, he will attend a Nike Camp in Durham, N.C. While in the area, he might check out North Carolina, a program he said he has been hearing from a lot lately, and possibly Duke as well.

"North Carolina is recruiting me pretty hard," Robinette said. "So is Purdue. Pretty much all the schools that have offered are recruiting me hard. But really, this last week North Carolina has been. I feel like they are [close to offering]. But I don't know anything from their end. That's just from what I've seen and what they've been telling me."