Owusu talks Stanford commitment

Oaks Christian (Westlake Village) wide receiver Francis Owusu made official what many suspected was inevitable when he made a verbal commitment to Stanford last weekend.

Owusu delivered his verbal pledge to David Shaw last Sunday, while on The Farm for Chris Owusu's graduation. Contrary to popular belief, however, Owusu said the decision to follow in Chris' footsteps at Stanford wasn't necessarily an easy one.

"It was either Stanford or the Ivy League," Owusu said "I think that's where my top choices were. My brother went to Harvard so I was also thinking about there. It was a pretty tough decision between the two. It happened to be Stanford. I'm really happy about my choice though."

Stanford's academic/athletic combination separated itself from the Ivy Leagues as well as schools like UCLA, Florida, Notre Dame, Nebraska, and Wisconsin, which also offered.

"Just graduating from Stanford is amazing," Owusu said. "So that's definitely No. 1. That's what sets it apart from UCLA, the Floridas, and all those SEC schools. And then what sets it apart from Ivy League, I think the probability of being able to go to the NFL. That's what I want to do, so that's what sets it apart from all the other schools that I went to. It has both school and football.

"Stanford University is a very prestigious school and I've always dreamed of going there. Academics have always come first in my family and also the fact that my older brother went there made it much more comfortable. I've been around the coaches. I've been around the university. I've actually met with some professors. I feel really comfortable over there and I feel like it's the perfect place for me."

Owusu said that he made the decision to commit to Stanford a few days before arriving in the Bay Area for his brother's graduation.

"I decided it actually it was about two days before I went up for my brother's graduation," Owusu said. "I just prayed about it and the Lord gave me an answer and I felt that it was the perfect time to make a commitment to Stanford."

Since making his commitment, Owusu has received numerous messages from people in the Stanford community.

"I got a lot of great responses," Owusu said. "Everyone that has known has said nothing but great things about Stanford. They told me it's a decision of a lifetime to go there. And no regrets have come from there from the people who I've talked to. I think I made a really great decision on committing to Stanford."

2013 Stanford quarterback commit Ryan Burns, who has maintained regular contact with Owusu since the two met at a Stanford Junior Day earlier this year, also called with a congratulatory message.

"He gave me a call when he found out the news and we talked about it for a while so that was really great," Owusu said.

The Stanford coaches have yet to specify which role in Stanford's offense Owusu will fill.

"I'm a little bit bigger than my brother so it might be a little bit different from where my brother was or it might be the same so I'm not sure," Owusu said. "They haven't really talked about that. "

Either way, it's exceedingly likely that Owusu will in fact suit up for the Cardinal. While many prospects deviate from their original verbal commitments, Owusu's familiarity with all aspects of Stanford might preclude him from taking a similar path.

"I don't think I'm going to change my mind," Owusu said. "If I did take some visits it's just because I want to look around and see. But I'm definitely not going to change my mind about Stanford."

Indeed, Owusu is already deep into the Stanford admissions process. He's almost finished filling out his application and hopes to submit it soon.

"I have started it and I'm actually almost done with it," Owusu said. "I just want to get it over with so I can just focus on my senior year."