Schaffer nearing a decision
One of the nation's top defensive lineman is nearing a decision.
Illinois standout Thomas Schaffer has favored Oregon, Stanford and Wisconsin for several months and he's now closing in on his college commitment.
"I'm actually really close to making a decision," Schaffer said. "There's nothing that stands in my way anymore of making a decision. Everything is completed. I just need to get my head straight and talk to my family once more and just make sure that I'm making the right decision. It won't be far anymore."
Schaffer doesn't have a specific date in mind, but he expects his commitment to be made sometime in the next few weeks.
"For all of them I like the atmosphere - I like the team atmosphere, the atmosphere in the stadium was really great at all of the places," Schaffer said. "That's for all three. The future prospects in football are great for all of the schools."
The Lake Forest Academy standout broke down his finalists individually.
Wisconsin - "Wisconsin is different in a way. It's very familial. They're a very welcoming family, it seems like in the team, which is also in the other schools but not as strong, I feel like."
Stanford - "Stanford is a great academic school, obviously. And they have the people that are very hard working that want to excel academically and athletically. They are not people who come out of high school being five-star recruits that are just talented who don't want to work, like this is God given and don't work. This is not the (attitude of the people there), which (resonates) with me."
Oregon - "As I started football it's kind of a sentimental value I have with them. I starting watching football, playing NCAA Football on PS3, I used Oregon. Over the break I actually played with my brother and as I started the game it was showing favorite teams - Oregon. I really like the coaches, as well. There's a lot to it, but those are the main points."
Also of significance in Schaffer's recruitment is that he recently received word that he has been admitted to Stanford. He learned the news from Cardinal head coach David Shaw during a conversation on Saturday.
"Really great," Schaffer said. "I mean, their acceptance rate is five percent, which is a ridiculous number... It was a really good feeling."
The day prior, Schaffer watched his potential future team's blowout win over Iowa in the Rose Bowl.
"That was a very dominant performance," Schaffer said. "It's kind of what I expected. Stanford has a really great and explosive offense. I expected them to rack up a lot of points. Defensively I thought Stanford - I talked to the coaches beforehand a couple of times and they were talking about how they prepared and defensively it seemed like they were very prepared. So it was basically if they were able to stop them on defense and that's what they did in the first half, they would get points off it. It was a very good game for them. It was very dominant and strong and showed basically the college football world that Stanford is smart and great in football."