Five schools remain for Thomas Duarte 

Tight end Thomas Duarte (Santa Ana, Calif./Mater Dei) is down to a final five schools, but the 6-foot-3, 223-pound standout would like to wait one more week before diving fully into the recruiting process.

Though Duarte has taken it slowly from the begining, five schools have separated themselves at the top of his list: Notre Dame, Oregon, UCLA, USC and Washington. Duarte holds offers from all but USC, and said those schools will likely receive his five official visits. He said the topic of official visits has started to come up with coaches, and the tight end will begin setting them next week.

First, he wants to get through Saturday's CIF Championship Game against Long Beach (Calif.) Poly. Oddly enough, Duarte said it was a late-season loss to Bellflower (Calif.) St. John Bosco that propelled them to this point.

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