BREAKING: JuCo OT Rob Vanderlaan commits to Oregon State

Not a subscriber? Click here to sign up now!

Just a few hours before the kickoff of the 2018 Civil War, the Beavers got good news as Pleasant Hill (Calif.) Diablo Valley C.C. offensive tackle Rob Vanderlaan announced his commitment to Oregon State.

Vanderlaan officially visited OSU this week, which led to his pledge. He also visited OSU for the Washington State game.

"I chose Oregon State because I felt right at home," Vanderlaan, who is just 17 years old, said. "I loved it here the minute I got here."

Vanderlaan was a full qualifier out of high school and will be a true sophomore when he enrolls at Oregon State for the spring term in 2019. As more colleges started to hear about him, his recruitment really heated up.

He held other offers from Eastern Michigan and New Mexico State and had a handful of other schools interested as well.

"It’s funny because my recruiting was really starting to heat up as I was getting tons of attention from a lot of power five programs," he explained. "But for me, it was a no brainer to commit this early.

"I knew I wanted to be here. I also had a great meeting with Coach Michalczik, and he was letting me know that I would be coming here and competing for a starting job right away. And me and the other O-lineman commits will be the future of Oregon State."

When you take a look at Oregon State's 2019 commitment list, Vanderlaan is the only offensive line commit for the Beavers. But Joshua Gray and Josh Bowcut are O-linemen who will be joining the team on scholarship in January as true freshmen.