Jaleel Wadood is that dude. As one of the top defensive back recruits on the West Coast, Wadood is stacking scholarship offers like pancakes, and it's no short stack either. The St. John Bosco 2014 DB has racked up offers from ten top Division I programs since last year.
Wadood's most recent offer came today from the Pac-12. Washington State reached out to the Bosco coaching staff and made contact with Wadood to become his tenth official scholarship offer.
The Cougars are currently in a rebuilding phase, but that doesn't mean Wadood is sleeping on their offer either.
"I got friends there. They tell me now they have a great coaching staff. They're looking for guys to come in and turn that program around. Obviously that means a lot of they're asking me to come in and be a part of that," Jaleel told CLA Sports today.
Although he's already firmly committed to Arizona State, Wadood knows how the recruiting process works and is taking it one day at a time.
"A lot of coaches respect my commitment, but they want to know how committed I am. They like to show me how things run over there and if i'm interested. It's a business and they're doing their job. They basically let me know what their school has to offer and what they think their program can do for me," he says.
With multiple offers on the table and a solid commitment, Wadood doesn't plan to turn his back on other schools that may come down the line.
"Every school offers me, I want to give them the respect of really taking a look at their school. There are some big name programs that I'd say 'Wow.' USC, Florida, Georgia, Tennessee, Ohio State, a few schools like that," he told CLA.
Jaleel Wadood is no different than many young players who have dreams of playing on the big stage.
"As far as SC goes, I'm from California and that was my favorite team growing up. To have that offer would make you feel really good about being out here."
In addition to USC, Wadood has a few other schools that picque his interest, and he says that he would have no choice but to entertain offers from some of those top schools.
"Watching Florida play in big bowl games and the type of players they've had makes you want to see yourself in a Florida jersey. Maybe I can be one of those impact players that Florida has," says Wadood.
7on7 football is starting to heat up and Wadood is running with the Snoop Dogg All-Stars this year. Along with Bosco teammate Naijiel Hale, the two helped lead the Snoop All-Stars to a tournament victory at the First Annual 4th Quarter Sports 7on7 Tournament on Sunday and went undefeated in the process.
"The next tournament we're going to play in is the big one in Vegas. Basically my dad and Snoop put the team together," he said.
"Everybody out there wants to beat us because we're Snoop's team. We're new and people don't have a ton of respect for us, but winning that tournament will make people feel like they gotta beat us."
Look for the recruiting process to heat up for Wadood as the 2013 HS football season gets closer. In the meantime, add Washington State to his list of scholarship offers.
