From Boggins:
Westlake Village (Calif.) Oaks Christian linebacker Ethan Calvert was on track to graduate early but said he now plans to stay for his spring semester and play his last year of high school ball.
On Monday, the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) announced all fall sports would be moving back to December/January. For those players planning to graduate early, it leaves them with a tough decision.
Early grads typically finish up high school in December and enroll in January. The question for those players now is, do I graduate early and forfeit my senior year of high school or scrap the early graduate plan, play out by senior year and enroll in June.
Calvert was set to graduate early but said he now plans to stay at Oaks so he can play his senior year of football.
“It just came down to me wanting to play my senior year with my teammates,” Calvert said. “I didn’t want to miss out on this and everyone talks about how special it is to play your senior season. It’s one of the best times of your life and I’m comfortable with my decision.”
Calvert, who’s down to UCLA, USC, Utah and Washington, said he heard from all four schools the day the decision came down to find out what he planned to do.
“They were all fine with me staying back and playing,” Calvert said. “I’m sure they wanted me to be there for spring ball but they understood and no one tried to pressure me or anything. I think I can still compete for playing time as a freshman when I get there in the summer so it wasn’t an issue.”
Washington has been a constant on Calverts short list and remains in contention.
"When I look at Washington, I see a school that plays great defense every year, develop their players really well and gets them drafted," Calvert said. "It seems like every year they have one of the best defenses out West and I like their style of play.
"My brother Josh is there and he really likes it a lot. I have another bro (Bo) at UCLA but neither of those guys are pushing me hard to go to their school. It’s still good to know they’re happy where they’re at and have good things to say about the program but they're giving me the space to make my own decision."
Scheme fit is another plus for the Huskies here.
"I like how physical Washington always is," Calvert said. "They get after it defensively and I think I would fit in well with what they’re doing scheme wise. They do a good job putting their players in a position to make plays and I think it's a good fit.
"The whole staff is recruiting me hard too. I talk with coach K (Kwiatkowski), coach Gregory and coach Lake all the time. They’re all great guys that I’m very comfortable with so it's a good all around fit."
The original plan for Calvert was to make a late summer commitment, sometime in August but he said he’s not putting any deadlines on a decision for himself.
“If I had to commit tomorrow, I wouldn’t be able to decide,” Calvert said. “I would love to make my decision soon and get it over with but I really don’t know what I want to do right now. If I feel good about a school and I’m comfortable with it, I’ll go ahead and make a decision.
“I’m in no rush though and if I still don’t know in August, I’ll push it back. I don’t want to push it back too far but at the same time, this is a big decision and I’m not going to commit just to commit when I don’t feel like I’m 100% ready.”