Smalls rewards OSU's persistence with commitment
Los Angeles (Calif.) Dorsey tight end Isaiah Smalls picked Oregon State on Wednesday night over other finalists Oregon, Fresno State, Arizona, Arizona State, Cal, and Purdue.
Smalls detailed why he chose the Beavers over a number of other Pac-12 schools.
"I picked Oregon State pretty much because the coaches have been there for me since day one," Smalls said. "They never lied to me. They kept it 100 with me.
"My recruiting coordinator, Cory Hall, told me from the jump that he wanted to offer me but didn't want to offer me over the phone. He wanted to see me in person. When he saw me in the spring, he offered me.
"They've been the most consistent school recruiting me. I've talked to them pretty much every day. Coach (Dave) Baldwin is a good dude as well; he even came down to see me as well. Pretty much, they've been recruiting me the hardest and showing me the most love."
The 6-foot-3, 225-pounder is excited about playing with guys at OSU that he knows well.
"I'm going to see some familiar faces up there. Jeffrey Manning, that's my guy," Smalls explained. "He's an LA dude. We're close and that bond is there. He was pretty happy to see that I was locked in to come up there with him at Oregon State."
One future player at OSU that he has been getting familiar with is quarterback pledge Spencer Petras.
"I'm familiar with Spencer. I've been talking to him a lot," Smalls said. "He's been on me to pull the trigger. When I [committed], he was one of the first dudes to hit me up and we want to get more people on board."
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Smalls committed to Oregon State without ever stepping foot in Corvallis, but he is already comfortable enough with the Beavs' staff to know that OSU is the best place for him.
"Yeah I feel comfortable with the reason being that they've been recruiting me the hardest," said Smalls. "There are schools that I've visited that aren't recruiting me as hard, and Oregon State never took their foot off the pedal. They've been letting me know that I'm their guy. Me not being able to take a visit up there during the spring or summer hurt me a little bit, but everything will be good when I take my official visit."
Smalls plans to officially visit for either the Washington or Colorado games on OSU's schedule. He could take other official visits before he comes to Corvallis.
"Before I visit Oregon State, I'll probably take one or two visits just to get a look," he said. "I can only go through this process once. After I visit Oregon State, that will probably be when I shut everything down if everything goes as planned."
Smalls caught eight touchdowns as a junior.