Stanford picks Oregon, Washington to OSU 

CINCINNATI – Dwayne Stanford II opened up his announcement at Taft High School regarding his college decision on Tuesday talking about playing another four years with his teammate, ESPNU 150 LB Adolphus Washington. However, by the end of his short speech he decided to make a tough decision and go in a different direction.

Stanford picked Oregon, while Washington -- as expected -- committed to Ohio State.
“Throughout this whole time, throughout my junior, ever since I first started getting the same scholarships Adolphus was getting, we were screaming package deal,” Stanford said. “We really wanted to go to the same school.

“But last week I took a trip out to Eugene, and I decided out there was the best place for me,” Stanford said to a room full of applause as he reached past the Ohio State and Cincinnati hats for the Oregon cap.

Washington, the No. 2 player in the state of Ohio and 81st in the country, wants to study nursing, and his father echoed the same sentiments that the biggest factor in his son’s recruitment was the education and the academic support staff the Buckeyes offered.

“I guess it’s no surprise to everybody about what I’m gonna do, so with that being said, I’m a Buckeye,” Washington, who had Cincinnati and Michigan State in his top three, said. “… I kind of had my mind made up once I took my official visit [on Oct. 28. They had so much more to offer other than football, and that was the biggest part of my decision.”

While Washington has had a long time to learn about the Buckeyes and make visits, Stanford was limited to seeing Oregon just one time. Like Washington, Stanford has visited Cincinnati and Ohio State a handful of times and even said as recent as Monday night he was leaning toward picking Ohio State.

Stanford, ranked fifth in the state of Ohio, insists he was being truthful and it wasn’t until talking it over with his parents and Taft coach Mike Martin at dinner following Monday’s interview that he started having second thoughts. Tuesday morning, Stanford talked with his mother one more time, who assured him he has her blessing if he wanted to go all the way to Oregon, which he said was still “fresh in my mind” after only getting back to Ohio from Eugene, Ore., late Sunday night.

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