ESPN West recruiting Blog

Posted by Greg Biggins

Over the past couple of years, Saguaro (Scottsdale, Ariz.) has developed a pretty nice pipeline to Arizona State. Defensive lineman Jordan McDonald took an official visit to Tempe this past weekend and had a very nice trip.

McDonald is a talented defensive end prospect and has really come on this season. He has nine sacks in five games and his prototype frame and improving athleticism project very well at the next level.

He took an official visit to Fresno State in early September and checked out the Sun Devils this past weekend.

"It was a great visit, I got a chance to see some old teammates and I fit in very well there," McDonald said. "Max Smith, who played at Saguaro, was my host but I hung out with a lot of the players on the team.

"The thing I like about ASU is how well they prepare you, both athletically and academically. They provide everything you need to be the best there and it's up to you to take advantage of it. ASU has a young team, especially on defense, but they're going to be very good and it would be fun to be a part of that."

McDonald said he's looking at taking a couple of more visits before making his decision.

"I want to check out New Mexico and I just got offered by Colorado," McDonald said. "The way it works at our school is we tell our coach who we want to visit and then he sets up the trip to work around film and our work outs. I haven't set anything up with either school but I think I'll probably end up visiting both."

Washington tempted in Oregon

Prior to taking his official visit to Oregon, defensive end Tony Washington (Rancho Cucamonga, Calif./Los Osos) said no matter how good the visit went, he still planned to take the rest of his official visits. The lineman did indeed hold off making a commitment, but he said it wasn't easy.

"The trip was amazing," Washington said. "It was a great trip and I loved everything about it. The thing that really stood out was how much the university cares about the football players. From the coaches all the way down to the fans, it's just one great family atmosphere there.

"I really wanted to see how well I would get along with the coaches and players and everyone treated me great. I was treated like I was part of the team already and that's what I was looking for. They have some great guys on the team.

"Anthony Anderson hosted me Friday night and Saturday night, Terrell Turner was my host. Both were great guys and they showed me around the campus and the city, everything was really cool there."

As for holding off on making a commitment?

"Man, I was definitely tempted to commit," Washington said. "The coaches never tried to pressure me at all, but the other recruits there sure did. It was cool though, it makes you feel wanted but yeah, they were talking to me the whole time.

"I was thinking about it for sure but I just feel like I need to wait things out a little more and look over all my options. I want to make sure the school I pick is the right one for me. I know it's a risk because if I wait too long, someone else could take my spot but I'm going to stick to my original plan. I'm going to take my visits still to Arizona and Oregon State and then compare all my schools so I can make a really well-informed decision."