Sione Laulea III, Nation's No. 1 JUCO Prospect, Names Top Five Schools
Another one of the nation's premier college football recruits is nearing a decision.
On Monday, San Mateo (Calif.) College of San Mateo cornerback Sione Laulea III announced his top five schools.
The group consisted of Miami, Oregon, Oklahoma, Penn State and USC.
Laulea is listed at 6'4", 185 pounds and is ranked the No. 1 junior college prospect in the country by 247Sports. He has 18 reported scholarship offers and told Ducks Digest earlier this summer that he could make his decision "towards August", following his final official visit to Oregon.
The lengthy defensive back enjoyed his trip to Eugene back in June, when he had plenty of time to talk to Dan Lanning and get a feel for Oregon's vision defensively.
"Had several great conversations with him throughout the two, three days that I was there.," Laulea said in an interview. "And I could see that their cornerback room looks nice and that they know what they're doing and they're all similar to my size. I'm definitely a type of player they like to coach.
Oregon has one cornerback committed in Baltimore (Md.) St. Frances Academy All-American Ify Obidegwu, but the Ducks would certainly like to add another defensive back to lock down the pass this cycle. Another one of their top options recently made some noise when 2024 Gardena (Calif.) Serra cornerback Dakoda Fields, a USC commit, visited Oregon for Saturday Night Live.
Torres' Take
When I spoke with Laulea following his official visit to Oregon, I got the impression that the Ducks made a strong impression and really opened his eyes. They made the impression they needed to make to stay alive in his recruitment and surpassed his expectations, but my feel was that USC held the lead in his recruitment.
Oregon still has a solid shot but probably has some work to do if they want to land him.