Under Armour All-American defensive back Joshua Shaw from Palmdale, Calif., who had scholarship offers from schools all over the country, announced his college choice moments ago at his high school.
Quotes from Shaw for this article came from a story written by Greg Biggins on ESPN.com.
Under Armour All-American defensive back Joshua Shaw from Palmdale, Calif., announced he has committed to Florida over scholarship offers from Ohio State, USC, LSU, Notre Dame and many others across the country.
“I loved the coaching staff and specifically Coach (Urban) Meyer," Shaw said. "He was the only head coach who personally recruited me and that made a big difference.
“I love watching Florida play, they have so many athletes and play fast and aggressive. The coaches told me they love my size and speed and with Joe Haden likely coming out this year, I’ll have a chance to step in and play early next fall and that’s a big deal for me.
“They play a lot true freshman at Florida and Haden and Janoris Jenkins were both freshman starters at corner. Both are probably going to be 1st round draft picks too so that was a pretty big selling point."
Shaw visited Ohio State during the summer, and then made an official visit to Ohio State the weekend of Sept. 12 when the Buckeyes played USC.
“I really bonded well with the players at Ohio State,” Shaw said. “It’s a great school and I have so much respect for Coach (Jim) Tressel. They always have great defenses and put a lot of corners in to the League (NFL). It was tough to say no to them but I just felt like Florida was the best fit.”
In addition to Florida and Ohio State, Shaw also made official visits LSU and Notre Dame, and cancelled a December visit to Miami.
Shaw’s final decision came down to Florida, Ohio State, USC and LSU, and in the end the Gators won out over the Buckeyes.
"There wasn’t much separating Ohio State and USC, but I wanted to leave home so in the end, it really came down to Florida and O-State," Shaw said. "But I got that special feeling at Florida and I just knew in my gut that was where I belonged.”
The 6-foot-2 and 180-pound Shaw is the No. 33 prospect on the ESPNU 150 and the No. 3 cornerback.
The Buckeyes have a commitment from one defensive back at this point, Chad Hagan from Canonsburg (Pa.) Canon-McMillan. With Shaw out of the mix, the OSU staff will concentrate their remaining efforts in the defensive backfield on Christian Bryant and Latwan Anderson from Cleveland (Ohio) Glenville, and LaMarcus Joyner from Ft. Lauderdale (Fla.) St. Thomas Aquinas.
Kurelic’s Comment: Losing Shaw was certainly a disappointment for the Bucks, though not unexpected. In recent weeks it was looking more and more like Shaw would select the Gators. However, the Bucks have a great shot at landing Bryant, and if Anderson takes care of everything regarding OSU admissions, they have a pretty good shot at him as well. They have a very legitimate shot at Joyner too.
