QB Blake Shapen commits to play football and baseball at ASU
As he entered the recruiting process Blake Shapen was looking for a school where he could be a two-sport athlete and ultimately, he found Tempe to be that place. On Saturday morning, the quarterback/shortstop from Shreveport Evangel Christian is the Sun Devils’ ninth known 2020 commit.
“Last night I committed," Shapen said. "I knew this is where I wanted to be and this is where I needed to be. Everything lined up there perfectly playing football and baseball. It was a gut feeling. There wasn't just one specific moment on my visit there that made me commit, it was just the whole experience that showed me that this is where I need to be.”
Shapen is scheduled to play either shortstop or third base for the baseball team. Yet, as someone who has had his fastball clocked at 92 mph, taking the mound for the Sun Devils isn't out of the question.
“I really enjoyed my visit,” Shapen previously said on his early June 11th Tempe trip. “I liked how well the two staffs will work together with me on the two-sport thing. They’re both going to work really well with it. That really surprised me because I haven’t really discussed it with a lot of schools as good as they discussed it with Arizona State. I liked how they planned it all out and how they’re were really approaching me about. I was surprised how it worked out pretty well.
“It will be switching in and out. When it’s more of baseball season, I’ll be in baseball, and when it’s football season I’ll be with football. It also depends on what kind of role I’m playing in it too. If I’m the starting quarterback, I’m going to be more with football than I will be with baseball. But say I’m not that involved in football, I’ll be more with baseball. It will adjust to what I’m trying to do.”
Shapen who was also a member of the 42-player USA Baseball's 17U developmental squad in 2018, said that he's not really entertaining any thoughts about skipping college and entering Major League Baseball through the 2020 draft.
“My plans are to play college football and baseball," Shapen claimed. "I’m not really focused on the draft. It would have to be a big money offer (from an MLB team) to make me go into the draft and I don’t think I’ll be getting that money.
On the gridiron, the ASU coaches have mentioned to Shapen that they liked his dual-threat capabilities as a signal caller and the overall flexibility factor of the offense.
“The good thing about (offensive coordinator) coach Likens,” Shapen explained, “was that he was telling me was that he’s going to adapt to his quarterback and what he does well. So, he’ll run his offense around his quarterback and that’s one big thing that really stood out to me and that I really liked.
“I can throw the ball a long way, and I think one thing that gets downplayed in my game is that I can run the ball. I don’t run it a lot, but if I have to get out of the pocket I will because I have good footwork.”
Shapen, who will graduate in May of next year was also considering Ole Miss which was, in essence, the second program in the two-school race for his services. Arizona and Louisiana-Lafayette were some of his other offers.
Join us on our premium message board, the Devils’ Huddle, to discuss this article and other ASU football and recruiting topics. Not a member yet? Sign up today here and join your fellow Sun Devil fans!
