Wade pulls the trigger

He nearly did it a few weeks ago following the Nike Camp in Eugene but moments ago, Portland (Ore.) Central Catholic defensive lineman Myles Wade ended the recruiting process by committing to his childhood favorite, the Oregon Ducks.

Wade, 6-2, 320 pounds is the top prospect in the Northwest this year and one of the nation's elite defensive tackle prospects. At the NIKE Camp at Stanford back in May, Wade was rated by our lead NIKE DL coach Marty Spalding as the top player in the group, a group that was absolutely loaded led by standouts like Brian Price, DaJohn Harris, Simi Fili and Kenny Rowe to just name a few.

Wade was even more impressive at the camp in Eugene earlier this month where he showed a great combination of size, strength and athleticism. He clocked a 5.14 in the 40, did 40 reps on the bench and jumped 28 inches in the vertical.

"Oregon just felt right to me," Wade said moments ago. "I've been thinking about committing here for awhile and I just decided now was the time. I wanted to come up here and do it in person and it was important to have my family here. My dad, mom and sister drove up with me and they have all been so supportive so it was great having them with me.

"I just got done talking to the coaches and letting them know I wanted to be a Duck. They were all really excited and I'm pretty relieved it's over as well. I got a chance to see the campus again and met some more people, it was great. I only wish my 8th grade coach, Coach Flip could be here too because he has meant a lot to me over the years.

"The thing with Oregon is growing up, that's the school I always rooted for and wanted to play for. I went to every Civil War game growing up and always rooted for Oregon. Oregon State was my first offer and I really liked them a lot too. It wasn't an easy decision for me because all the schools that offered me, I liked a lot. Then I started hearing from USC and Notre Dame and a year ago, those were two schools I really wanted to check out.

"USC wanted me to come down to their camp earlier this week and told me I would get an offer if I came out and did my thing but we just started summer workouts this week and transferring to a new school, I wanted to come in and make a good impression and not miss the first two days of workouts. I want to be a leader here and I felt like that was more important than going to USC's camp. I owe a lot to the coaches here at Central and I'm excited to be back here. I still wish Benson nothing but the best and I'm thanksful for thier support as well."

As for the specifics that set Oregon apart from the other schools, Wade listed several things.

"I love the coaching staff, they have done a nice job of getting guys in to the league at my position, their is an opportunity to come in and play early when I get there because they don't have a lot of tackles and they also have the major I want, which is Sports Business. Plus the location is perfect, it's close to home so my family can see me play whenever they want. Basically, you can just go down the list and everything I was looking for in a school, Oregon had so it ended up being a slam dunk decision."