Yruretagoyena explains commitment

The original plan was for Andre Yruretagoyena to wait a while, take some official visits and make sure that he was making the right decision.

But after visiting Oregon and considering all his options there was no reason for the Scottsdale (Ariz.) Chaparral offensive tackle to delay things any longer.

"I wanted to wait and take my visits," Yruretagoyena said. "But after being at the school I knew there was no point in waiting. I didn't want the other schools to waste money on me when I knew I wanted to be in Eugene."

So Yruretagoyena ended his recruitment over the weekend and committed to Oregon, giving the Ducks one of their biggest commitments so far in the 2011 recruiting cycle. Oregon has five public pledges.

Yruretagoyena is 6 feet 5 and 258 pounds, a four-star recruit rated as the No. 11 offensive tackle nationally, No. 81 in the 2011 class and third in the Arizona state rankings by Rivals.com.

His decision was no surprise really since he has family in the Portland area and that has always played a big factor throughout the process. As he came to the conclusion that Oregon was the right place for him, Yruretagoyena said having family close was an important consideration.

"It was a big factor," Yruretagoyena said. "I'm the first D1 athlete on my dad's side of the family. I might be one of the first to go to college, so it's a real dream come true.

"But my dad lives in Portland with my step-mom and 14-month old brother who I barely get to see. So now that I am going to play in Eugene, they can drive down every weekend and see me play. It'll be a good thing for my brother to be brought up in Oregon football."

The coaching staff played an important factor in his decision - especially offensive line coach Steve Greatwood - but Yruretagoyena said what made the biggest influence on him was just the feeling he had when he was on campus. That was one major reason why he decided to commit when he did.

"I met the players, some students, and the coaches obviously but my overall decision had to do with how I felt while I was there," Yruretagoyena said.

"I had this feeling in my stomach and I knew I wanted to spend the next five years of my life in Eugene. I love everything about the town and am so proud to be a Duck. It has been a dream of mine I thought I couldn't achieve because of a rough sophomore year, but my junior proved otherwise.

"Coach Greatwood and I talked. He isn't a die-hard recruiter though. But when we did talk it was always a good conversation. When he, my dad, and I sat down and talked in his office we asked a lot of questions and he had great answers for all the questions. He isn't a BSer and that's what I really like about him as a coach."