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Thurston picks up first offer

The Denver area has been home to several top offensive linemen over the years and there is yet another prospect in the class of 2012 that is already beginning to see recruiting attention come his way.
Arvada (Colo.) West offensive tackle Paul Thurston has helped the Wildcats to a 3-1 record. However, the big 6-foot-5, 265-pound junior received some good news the day after the team's first game of the season.
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"I got an official CU offer a few weeks ago," Thurston said. "They offered me on Sep. 1. It was pretty surprising, to be honest. They had told me after their camp this summer that I was a guy they wanted but it wasn't until now that I got an actual offer.
"I thought it was really cool that all that hard work that I put in started paying off, at least in terms of having the chance to play in college. All these years playing football, it's finally come for my turn to go through the process that I've seen others go through."
In addition to the local school, a traditional power from the Midwest has also been recruiting Thurston pretty heavily.
"Notre Dame, they've been in touch with me a lot," he said. "They've sent a lot of letters. They're watching me and they're really interested in me. I've gotten stuff from a bunch of different schools, but I think they could be the next one to offer."
However, it is a couple of Pac-10 programs that somewhat have the attention of Thurston in the very early stages of the recruiting process.
"There really aren't a whole lot of schools that stick out to me right now," he said. "UCLA, I think that would be kind of cool. With (Arvada West senior offensive tackle) Marc Mustoe going down there, it would be cool to play on the same line with him still.
"I grew up watching USC. That was my favorite team. I always liked the players and the coach, Pete Carroll. I just liked the program."
Thurston plays both ways for the Wildcats, but he will play somewhere along the offensive line at the next level.
"I play offensive tackle and they have me playing a little defensive line this year," he said. "Everybody is recruiting me as an offensive lineman. I think they all want me as a tackle because of my size, but I could play guard too. I've worked on puling over the years and I could play that if schools want me to."
Though the big junior has yet to take in any college games in person this year, he plans to change that in the very near future.
"I haven't been to any games yet this year," Thurston said. "I think this upcoming weekend I'm going to watch a game at CU. I went to the CU Friday Night Lights camp this summer as well. That's really the only place I've been."
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