The combination of elite educational opportunity and one of the nation’s top football programs was enough to help McCallie School defensive back Nygel Edmonds commit to Stanford University on Tuesday.
Edmonds, who transferred to McCallie from Atlanta before his junior season last summer, has more than 30 official offers but had narrowed his choices to Stanford and Ohio State.
“He wanted a challenging academic school and one with an outstanding football program,” Blue Tornado coach Ralph Potter said. “It’s a great opportunity for him. He still needs to learn the game more, but he will with experience and in time. But as far as talent, he’s got a great individual skill set, a lot of ability.”
The 5-foot-11, 183-pound Edmonds, who is rated the nation’s 141st best overall prospect by Rivals.com, had made an unofficial visit to the Palo Alto, Calif., campus last year. Edmonds confirmed his commitment to Stanford’s Rivals website Tuesday evening, saying he had enjoyed the time spent there last year and wanted to be able to concentrate on preparing for Stanford’s strict academic requirements for enrollment.
“When I visited there last summer, I instantly fell in love with the campus,” Edmonds said. “I know of so many great things about the school academically and athletically. The number one thing I was looking for was a strong academic school, so that separated them from the rest. They’re also usually in the Top 25 as a football program, so overall it was just a great fit for me.
“We met as a family and discussed it and decided that this was the right time to go ahead and commit so that I can concentrate solely on school and preparing for my senior.”
Contact Stephen Hargis at shargis@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6293.