St. Charles (Ill.) North senior offensive tackle recruit Ian Erickson (6-foot-6, 270 pounds) decided to wrap up his recruiting process earlier this week and gave St. Thomas in Minnesota his verbal commitment. Erickson discusses his commitment to the Tommies in this latest recruiting update.

"Overall it was just a lot of key factors why I decided to commit to St. Thomas," Erickson said. "I'm just very happy and excited about my decision and so are my family and friends."

Erickson filled us in on why he decided to pledge to the St. Thomas Tommies.

"Overall it was just a lot of different key factors in why I decided to commit to St. Thomas. It was a really funky year for recruiting and I was able to visit St. Thomas in person. I just loved the campus and the facilities at St. Thomas and when I visited the campus it just felt right and I can see myself playing and going to school at St. Thomas. St. Thomas is also going to D1 in 2021 and it's just a great opportunity to get into the program when they will begin playing D1 football. St. Thomas also has a great tradition os winning in all athletics along with offering great academics."

So who else did Erickson consider before making his final college decision?

"I also looked hard at Drake, Valparaiso, Butler along with some D2 schools like Minnesota State, Winona State and Southwest Minnesota State. I was able to visit Minnesota State Mankato but the rest of the visit got cancelled because of COVID. I just felt a great connection with St. Thomas right away and it was just something no other schools could come close to matching."

So how big of a factor did the COVID pandemic play in his overall recruiting process?

"I really missed being able to make more visits and get to check out some of the game day visits and atmosphere. I also wasn't able to do any camps this past spring or summer, but I was fortunate that my coaches at school helped me put together a combine workout video along with going to some camps to get some video together."

Erickson is also thrilled to have completed his recruiting process.

"I'm just really happy and relieved. It was the right time for me to commit and I'm just ready and I have a much better idea what the future looks like for me."

Ian Erickson is verbally committed to St. Thomas.