Fox Crader Talks Oregon Visit, Recruitment
Oregon's 2024 recruiting class got started earlier this week when North Bend (Ore.) tight end A.J. Pugliano announced his commitment to the Ducks.
Now the staff is looking to grow the Flock. Vancouver (Wash.) Evergreen High School offensive tackle Fox Crader was in town for the UCLA game and spoke with Ducks Digest about the trip and his recruitment.
His most recent trip to Eugene was his third Oregon game this season aside from the BYU and Stanford games, which begs the question: why is he getting out to Oregon so much?
Sure Vancouver is less than a three-hour drive, but there's more to it than that.
"To be honest with you, Oregon's recruiting is doing a great job. They're probably recruiting me the hardest out of anybody," Crader said. "Their staff is great. I'm kind of showing my family what they got going on and what they have to offer for me. They love you, you gotta keep coming back to it."
The Autzen crowd was electric during the UCLA game, as was the energy around the program from sunrise to sunset with ESPN's 'College GameDay' in town.
"They sold out the fourth-largest crowd in Oregon Duck history. So the energy was electric," he said of what stood out about the trip. "There were so many people and my dad was there, he lives in Texas so I don't get to see him too often, to have him there with me. All the Oregon staff just showing me love the whole time."
Having taken so many trips to Eugene he has a group of peers he's been able to see on the team, and one of those is a newer face who's seen a lot of snaps this season.
"Josh Conerly always shows me love," Crader said. "Him and a few other players always make sure to say what's up to me and show me love."
Adrian Klemm is on a tear this month after landing four offensive linemen and Crader has enjoyed building that relationship.
"He's great. Me and him talk all the time. If he sees something on my film that I need to work on he'll let me know. Every time I get to Oregon he always makes an effort to have a conversation with me and see how things are going with my mom, my dad, my family."
There's also an alignment on the football field when it comes to Klemm's vision for coaching the position.
"Obviously he's a really great coach in terms of football," he said. "I really like his coaching style. I've been to a few camps so he's coached me a few times and I really enjoy it."
When it comes to what he likes most about the Ducks it's hard to hone in on one aspect, but the competition certainly has his attention.
"If I was playing at Oregon I would be playing with a bunch of high-rated guys and great football players," Crader said. "The staff and everybody they're new and I like what they got going on over there. Just really everything from top to bottom.'
The 6-foot-6, 275-pound lineman has also been able to take trips to Oregon State and Washington this season and has one more trip in mind.
"I'm definitely gonna be at the Oregon vs. UW game," Crader noted. "I would've liked to go see USC play, but that's kind of another thing and I don't think we can get down there this season. I'm trying to just go with the flow of things."
Crader is only a junior and has plenty of time to enjoy the process, but so far it's mainly been Pac-12 schools that have been on him the most.
"UW (Washington) was the first school that really picked up hard in the recruiting but Oregon's obviously running out the park a little bit," he said. "USC just got on the trail a few weeks ago and they're recruiting me hard. Oregon State's recruiting me hard."
With 10 reported scholarship offers also including Miami and Cal, he says his top group currently sits at four schools.
"I'd say my top schools at the moment right now are Oregon, USC and UW. I definitely wanna try to get back out to Oregon State. I'd say those four."
When he does come off the board and make his commitment he doesn't plan on wavering.
"My plan originally was to commit around June after I take my official visits and make a final decision. One thing I'm big on is I don't wanna be a guy that commits and ends up not staying where I committed to. As of right now my recruitment's still open. I'm not making a decision at this exact moment, but things could change in a week or two."
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