In their quest to land linemen on both sides of the ball from the East Coast and Midwest, the Sun Devils are now pursuing Creston (Ohio) Norwayne High School defensive tackle Owen Stoudmire, who committed to Boston College nearly two months ago.
“I’ve been talking to Arizona State for the last three weeks,” Stoudmire said, “and (ASU defensive analyst) Anthony Garnett offered me on Friday. He’s been really cool to talk to. I don’t know much about the program, but I know that a Power 5 program in a big conference such as the Pac-12. The desert environment has good weather, even though it gets hot. The facilities look really nice. I also talked to (defensive line) coach Rodriquez, and I’m interested in learning more about them, especially being the opposite direction from them on the map. That’s something I’ll do more in the future.
“Compared to other schools, Arizona State was quicker to offer me from the time they started talking to me. So I was surprised being located where they are.”
Stoudmire said that all the schools recruiting him, including view him at various positions on the interior of the defensive line.
“Arizona State sees me either at a 2i (defensive tackle on the inside shoulder of the guard and not touching the center) or at nose tackle. I’m a very physical player, explosive and quick off the ball. I love being in the trenches, hitting people. I want to work more on my speed and my pad level before I get to college.”
Like many 2021 prospects, the Ohio defensive lineman did commit to the school of his choice with an in-person visit, and did on May 25th just three days after receiving an offer from Boston College. Air Force, Akron, UCF, Buffalo are some of his other dozen-plus offers with currently just the Eagles and Sun Devils being the only Power 5 schools pursuing him in earnest.
“As of right now, I’m 100 percent committed to Boston College,” Stoudmire remarked. “They are my school right now. But I am open to other schools too. Air Force too, has been recruiting me since I committed. I got some text messages from Oregon yesterday too. Once things open up, I will definitely visit Boston College and Arizona State. I really didn’t have any chance to visit schools this year before the Coronavirus, and the only school I visited last year was Akron because I was there for a camp.
“The number reason I committed to Boston College was their coaching staff. I really like them, their coaching abilities, and the relationship we built. I like the academics and the alumni network they would have for job placement after college. Any school I would go to, those would be the main reasons I would choose them.”
The lineman who also plays basketball and is on the track team said that if his football season was canceled that he would likely graduate in the spring of 2021, but otherwise, he has been considering an early graduation in December of this year.
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