Wood moving at own pace

While some players from his area are committing and releasing top-five lists, Scottsdale (Ariz.) Chaparral tight end Trevor Wood is full of shoulder shrugs and I-don't-knows. There are no favorites here - not that he's willing to share, anyway. There's also not much hard news.

Instead, Wood's words are full of loose timetables and non-committal statements. The three-start prospect is meandering through the recruiting process at his own pace. He's scrutinizing schools and comparing programs. Everything, it seems, is an unknown.

"I might cut down my list in a couple weeks," Wood said on Tuesday. "I'm not sure exactly when I'll do it. I'm just taking it slow and feeling out everything, so I don't know when I want to do it."

One thing is certain, though. Sooner or later, Wood, a player with 14 scholarship offers, will eliminate all but five schools on his list. He will then take his official visits. He may make all of them. He may not. The end of his recruitment will be all about a feeling.

And if that feeling should strike in the first hour of his first trip, so be it.

"I feel like I'll know where I want to go when I visit all the ones I like," Wood said. "I'll know when I go to a school and there is going to be a feeling that says 'I know this is the place.'"

There is, however, a game-changer of sorts in play. Alabama has dialed up its recruitment of Wood in recent weeks. Conversations are more frequent and evaluations are being made. Should an offer spring up sometime soon, the Arizona-based tight end's recruitment will take on a much different feel.

"Alabama is pretty interested," Wood said. "They just need to see more film and everything. That's something I am kind of waiting for. I'm waiting to see how that plays out. If that becomes an offer, that's a place I'd want to take an official to, so I'd check that out.

"It's not, like, an offer I would commit to right away but I'd definitely take a good look."

Dealing in what-ifs isn't really Wood's thing, though. Then, neither is talking in absolutes. Instead, he navigates the space in between. He plans to visit UCLA and San Diego State in July but makes sure to point out that a decision to visit isn't an indication of how he feels about a school.

"I might visit Oregon this summer, too," Wood said. "I don't know actually. I might do it over the summer or wait to take an official visit. I don't really know what I'll do with them. I will most likely be going there to take a visit, though."

Wood is particularly skilled in catching footballs. His hands are as sure as that of any tight end in America. They're his greatest strength. As it turns out, though, he's also blessed with the gift of using a lot of words to say next to nothing. Wood stays true to form when asked about a timetable for a verbal commitment.

"I go back and forth," he said. "Some days, I'm like, 'I want to commit before my season is over.' Then, other days, I'm like, 'I have no idea where I want to end up so I need to wait.' I just have to let the time go by and see how everything plays out."

Wood, who missed the majority of last season with an injury, is a high school teammate of four-star wide receiver Tyler Whiley. The two are self-described "best friends" and have done more than kick around the idea of playing college football for the same school.

"We talk about if we are going to play together in college every day," Wood said. "I mean, neither of us really know. We're both kind of just seeing how it plays out. We definitely talk about going somewhere together. We both thing it would be really cool to room together in college and everything like that."