Chicago (Ill.) Mount Carmel senior quarterback recruit Blainey Dowling (6-foot-2, 195 pounds) made an official visit to Eastern Illinois University this past weekend, then on Monday added an offer and committed to the EIU Panthers. Dowling checks in and discusses his college decision in this latest recruiting news update.

"The official visit this weekend to Eastern Illinois was great" Dowling said. "Once they offered me a full scholarship on Monday I pretty much committed to them night on the spot. I knew after the official visit I was ready to commit to EIU and I'm just pumped about my decision and about EIU."

Dowling pointed towards some of the key factors which led to his verbal commitment to the EIU Panthers.

"I just had a really good visit to Eastern Illinois over the weekend. I just enjoyed getting to hanf=g around and hang out with the players and the other recruits on the team. I really bonded with the players and the coaches at EIU on my visit. I definitely saw some similarities to Mount Carmel at EIU including how the football program works hard and does things the right way. Charleston is a smaller town and a lot of thing at EIU are within walking distance. Also being offered a full scholarship financially was also important to myself and my family. Everything just added up for me at EIU and I just coudn't see passing up this great opportunity so I committed."

Another big key factor in getting Dowling to commit to the EIU Panthers was the coaching staff taking a chance on him.

"Not very many schools stepped up and believed in me but Eastern Illinois is taking a chance on me and they believe in me. I 100 percent respect that from the EIU coaches and now I'm going to do everything I can to prove them right. A lot of schools will recruit you then they end up going into the transfer portal for a quarterback instead. I just feel great about my decision and excited to learn the playbook and get going."

So what was the hardest part of the recruiting process for Dowling?

"My goal all season long was to win state, so I really didn't think too much about my recruiting but it's also always in the back of your mind. My head coach (Jordan Lynch) said all along that if you are good enough they will find you. It can be frustrating just waiting on schools to make a decision and that was the hardest part of the process for me for sure, just the waiting."

So is Dowling happy to have his recruiting process behind him?

"it's a huge sense of relief to have made a decision. I'm happy, glad and just excited about finally being committed. I've already asked the EIU coaches about how I can get the playbook and start learning the offense already."

Dowling also took note of the EIU Panthers depth chart at quarterback as another factor in his decision.

"EIU has a few quarterbacks returning and they might also bring in another kid as well in this class. The overall depth chart looks promising and I just want to go in and get a chance to earn and compete for playing time right away."

Blainey Dowling is verbally committed to Eastern Illinois University.