Hoffman Estates (Ill.) Conant senior running back recruit Malik Frederick (5-foot-11, 185 pounds) decided to give Harvard his verbal commitment. .Frederick, who committed to the Crimson on Monday announced his decision today via his Twitter account, and Frederick discusses his college decision here.

"I committed to Harvard on Monday but waited until today to announce it on Twitter," Frederick said. "Everything about Harvard really appealed to me and it's a school that I've visited in person already and I have a great relationship with the staff."

Frederick filled us in on what separated Harvard from his list of top schools.

"Obviously the overall academics at Harvard is a big factor for me and I'll get a world class education from one of the best schools in the world. I also was able to build up a strong connection with the coaching staff at Harvard and I've also been able to get to know some of the players at Harvard. I was able to visit Harvard in the fall for a game day visit and it's just a great place to be. I looked hard also at Illinois State and Dartmouth. Illinois State is a good school and a good program and it's also close to home. Dartmouth is also a good school and offers great academics. In the end Harvard overall was just too hard for me to pass up. "

So did the entire COVID-19 pandemic play a role in Frederick's recruiting?

"COVID definitely pushed up my time frame for making my decision. I wasn't able to go to any camps and a lot of schools didn't have a chance to really evaluate me in person. Originally I was planning to go to several camps and all of that was cancelled."

Frederick is thrilled to have his college decision completed and will now look ahead towards playing his senior season this spring.

"I think all of us expected the IHSA to move the season to the spring. At least we will still have a chance to have a senior season."

Malik Frederick is verbally committed to Harvard.