Stalker still weighing his options
West Chester (Ohio) Lakota West three-star linebacker C.J. Stalker has had strong reactions to several visits he has taken in recent months, but he's not ready to pare his list just yet.
"Even if I named a top couple schools, I wouldn't say any of the offers I have are ruled out by any means at all," Stalker said.
Advertisement
Three schools have jumped out as strong interests for Stalker and they each appeal to him in different ways.
"Clearly I like Virginia," Stalker said. "I was able to visit there with my mother and father and we spent a day and a half up there. I really like the culture, the history and the school is incredible.
"Yale offered a couple weeks ago. With my mom being a teacher that is a huge deal. An Ivy League degree speaks volumes, so I will most likely be heading out there within the next couple months.
"Louisville offered the day before Yale had and being down there a couple times, I like it down there. They are always going to have a great team with the players they have and the coaches."
Stalker visited in-state programs Ohio State and Cincinnati in April, and he made his way to an SEC program as well.
"I was just down to Kentucky two weeks ago for spring practice," Stalker said. "I got to spend time with Mikel [Horton], Kyle [Meadows] and Avery Williamson was down there and I got to spend some time with him.
"Ohio State is also a high interest. We got to sit down with Coach [Kerry] Coombs, Coach [Luke] Fickell and Coach [Urban] Meyer. There's definitely interest from Ohio State."
Ohio State is the only one of the schools mentioned that have not offered, but Stalker expects Coombs in his school later this week. Coaches from West Virginia and Virginia were in-school on Tuesday, and Stalker is expecting Notre Dame's Mike Elston in on Wednesday and Stanford's Randy Hart on Friday.
"I know Coach [Marty] Long from Northwestern will be in on Thursday," Stalker said. "Coach [Randy] Bates is the linebackers coach and he was honest that they are probably not going to take any linebackers in the 2015 class, but there is there is high interest from them in my playing a D-end spot."
The 6-foot-3, 228-pound Stalker is rated three stars and ranked as the No. 19 inside linebacker prospect in the 2015 class.