It's Yale for TE Smith
LaGrange Park (Ill.) Lyons Township senior tight end recruit Graham Smith (6-foot-4, 210 pounds) decided to close his recruiting process and on Wednesday gave Yale his verbal commitment. Smith, who was holding multiple scholarship offers this summer breaks down his college decision and commitment to the Yale Bulldogs in this recruiting update.
"Yale is just a tremendous school academically and I connected really well with the coaches and staff at Yale on my visit," Smith said. "I really had very little expectations going into my visit to Yale and they wowed me in several different ways on the visit."
Smith felt that the overall combination of strong academics along with playing the the storied Ivy League was too much to pass up.
"Yale just has a great culture both in the class room as well as in the football program. I was just really impressed at how well the coaches run the football program at Yale. The Yale coaches already had a plan for me when I was first in contact with them and they recruited me really hard. I wanted to go to a school that offered a great education along with a place where I was wanted, and Yale always made me feel wanted and needed."
So which other schools did Smith consider before committing to Yale?
"I looked pretty hard at schools like Ohio University, Princeton along with Air Force.All of those schools had some good things to offer. My Dad and my Grandpa went to Ohio so it was hard to tell them my decision but they all support me. The overall mix at Yale is just a great fit for me and it was just too hard to pass up."
Smith is also thrilled to wrap up his recruiting process this week.
"It was always in my plans to make a decision before the start of the football season. I just didn't want to wait and drag things out much longer. My Mom no question pushed me a bit to move things along and Mom is always right. I'm happy and excited in my commitment to Yale."
So what was the hardest part of the recruiting process for Smith?
"Just having to call up the different coaches and tell them I was going to another school was really hard to do. I was able to make some really strong relationships with some of the coaches, but everyone was very nice and supportive of my decision."
Graham Smith is verbally committed to Yale.
