Kid from Eugene, Oregon...interest from the Oregon Ducks...it makes sense.
Last week, rumors ran rampant that offensive lineman Cody Shear was talking to Oregon coaches, and if an offer came, the Arizona commit would likely flip to the Ducks. That's par for the course — three other former UA commits have already flipped to Oregon.
The Oregon offer never came. A late offer from Boise State did, though, as did interest from some other schools, including California and Washington State.
In the end, though, Shear remains an Arizona commit. Wednesday, he'll sign his national letter of intent.
"I’m committed to Arizona," Shear told the Star on Monday. "Going into the recruiting process I felt that any team that was willing to give me an opportunity to play for them i’d take it into consideration. That being said, this late in the process, I was always keeping Arizona at the back of my head."
As for all of that Oregon hubbub...it was just that.
Overblown.
An offer might've changed thing, but the Ducks never bucked up and made the offer.
"I grew up right by Autzen (Stadium) and went there often," Shear said. "Oregon’s been recruiting me for a few years, but there’s a pretty big difference in recruiting with teams coming in and talking to you, telling you they’re interested in you, and offering. With Oregon — not everyone’s a fit everywhere, so I appreciated their coaches coming in but it wasn’t anything. A lot of people were looking into it like it was something crazy, but it wasn’t."
Shear is an important piece in Arizona's 2017 class, as the Wildcats are set to lose their two starting offensive tackles (Gerhard de Beer and Layth Friekh) after next season. Shear, listed at 6-4 and 285 pounds, is a three-star recruit, according to Scout.com, and the 14th-best offensive tackle in the West.
Arizona coach Rich Rodriguez and offensive line coach Jim Michalczik visited Shear in Eugene last week, which he said helped remind him why he committed to Arizona in the first place.
Shear said the coaches never wavered in their interest, even as he listened to other schools.
"It definitely showed that the coaches were class acts," Shear said. "They’re the type of guys you want to play for. They know that the end of this recruiting process is kind of up in the air. They go through the same thing every year, they’re just at the other end of it. They need to get their guys, kids need to figure out where they’re going to school. It just shows you that they put themselves in your shoes and it’s crazy when you have coaches that stick with you through it all."
