WR Isaiah Sategna Recaps Oregon Official Visit

The top-ranked football prospect in Arkansas is also one of the top track athletes in the nation and visited Track Town USA last week.

Author:
Dylan Reubenking
Updated:
Jun 21, 2021 11:43 PM EDT
Original:
Jun 21, 2021

Editor's note: The interview for this story was conducted by Max Torres

2022 4-star wide receiver Isaiah Sategna visited College Station the first weekend of June, uncertain if he’d stay committed to the Aggies.

“I wanted to go on my visit to see if I ended up liking it enough to not decommit,” Sategna told Ducks Digest. “I liked it a lot, but I wanted to reopen my recruitment and see if any new schools would have interest in me.”

Sategna visited a couple of schools, including an official to Oregon from June 13 through June 15, while mulling over his decision. Ultimately, he decided reopen his recruitment in the days following his trip to Oregon.

He announced the decision on Twitter.

“We have decided it’s best for me to pursue the recruiting process again,” he wrote. “With that being said, my recruitment is 100% open.”

Sategna committed to Texas A&M back in March. However, he said that he had been thinking about opening things back up for a while.

“I feel like I committed too early and didn’t take all the steps before making that decision,” Sategna said.

Now that his recruitment is open once again, he is going to be one of the biggest names in 2022 at wide receiver. Even though he visited Oregon prior to his decommitment, expect the coaching staff to turn up the heat in their efforts to bring him to Eugene.

Sategna is the top-ranked player in Arkansas and the No. 35 wide receiver in the 2022 class (according to the 247Sports composite). He attends Fayetteville High School, where he was named the Arkansas Gatorade Player of the Year for boys track and field in 2019-20.

The 5’11”, 170-pound receiver arrived in Eugene with his parents on June 13 for his official visit. He met with Mycah Pittman and Travis Dye and bonded with them about the feel of the city, the coaching staff, and how the players like to schedule.

“We all kind of hit it off,” Sategna said of his interactions with Oregon players. “We were all pretty cool with each other. We were all from different parts of the country, which was pretty cool.”

Isaiah Sategna Oregon Official Visit

The speedy wideout from Arkansas made the cross-country trip to check out the Oregon football program.

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Sategna said he spent the most time with Wide Receivers Coach Bryan McClendon, who talked with him about the players that he sent to the league during stints at South Carolina and Georgia. That extensive list is highlighted by players like Bryan Edwards (Raiders), Deebo Samuel (49ers), Nick Chubb (Browns), Todd Gurley (spent 2020 season with the Falcons), and Sony Michel (Patriots).

At Oregon, McClendon has developed a talented receiver group, comprised of names like Mycah Pittman, Jaylon Redd, Johnny Johnson III and Devon Williams to name a few.

“He was telling us about all the players he’s coached before — just so many big names,” Sategna said of McClendon. “It’s pretty cool that he’s recruiting me and that he’s coached all these great players.”

Sategna also met with Mario Cristobal, whom the young receiver had high praise for.

“You can tell he really cares about his players,” Sategna said. “He’s had a really good track record. He’s coached at Alabama, so he’s learned from the best. He can implement what he’s learned from Saban into what he’s doing at Oregon.”

Sategna wants to continue his track and field career in college, and Oregon has one of the most elite programs in the country. The Ducks have claimed 32 national championships across indoor and outdoor track and field, as well as cross country, including the 2021 men’s indoor national championship.

The Ducks' coaching staff had a convincing pitch to Sategna.

“That I could win a national championship in both and there’s not many places that can say that.”

Sategna visited the newly renovated Hayward Field ahead of the Olympic Trials. He said that seeing the new stadium was his favorite part of the visit.

“It is definitely the best facility I’ve seen,” he said. “I’d basically say it’s the best in the world. It obviously doesn’t compare to any college stadiums.

“It was crazy seeing it in person. It reminded me of a football stadium.”

Oregon hasn't offered the sprinter a track and field scholarship, but he was told that he would be allowed to run track if he ended up committing to Oregon. The Ducks have an extensive history of football players running track and field, including Devon Allen, DeAnthony Thomas, Mel Renfro, Samie Parker, JJ Birden, and Jordan Kent.

“It’s pretty cool that they’ve had people do what I want to do,” Sategna said of Oregon's dual-sport vision. “Some schools say you can do this, but they haven’t had anybody. Oregon has a record of players doing both, so they can back up what they say.”

Oregon consistently has one of the premier track and field programs in the country and now has beautiful new Hayward Field to show off. Now it looks like the football team isn’t too far behind, especially given how Cristobal and his staff have injected the roster with elite talent in recent recruiting cycles.

“They’re consistently a top five team in track, but they’re also a team in football that can make it to the playoff and a national championship,” Sategna said. “They’ve been really close, so it’ll be cool to see if they can make it into the playoff this year.”

Sategna does not have a decision date yet, but he wants to take an official visit to Oklahoma State, as well as a potential visit to Auburn. He is being recruited hardest by Oregon, Oklahoma State, Missouri, Auburn, USC, and Arkansas, his home state school.

If the Ducks were to land Sategna, he'd be the second wide receiver commit in the 2022 class along with Stephon Johnson from Texas. Those two receivers, combined with the 2021 trio of Dont’e Thornton, Troy Franklin, and Isaiah Brevard would be a lethal unit for years to come.

He said he hopes to find time to make a return trip to Eugene, but a busy summer schedule could make it difficult.

Isaiah Sategna Oregon Official Visit

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