RB Sweetland pledges to the Tommies
Springfield (Ill.) Sacred Heart Griffin senior running back recruit Alex Sweetland (5-foot-9, 175 pounds) decided to end his recruiting process and gave St. Thomas in Minnesota his verbal commitment. Sweetland discusses his college decision here. .
"I visited St. Thomas on Monday and I just loved it," Sweetland said. St. Thomas really offers everything I was looking for in a school and it's just a great fit for me in a lot of ways so I committed."
Sweetland pointed towards some key factors in his decision to pledge to the Tommies.
"St. Thomas has a beautiful campus and amazing facilities. It's a decent sized school and it's in such a beautiful setting. The campus is great and the football program is gearing up to move from D3 to the Pioneer League next fall so I'll get to play football at the D1 level. St. Thomas also offers a great education and I'm really happy that I made the visit on Monday. Getting to see the school and the area in person along with getting to know the coaches better made a big difference in my decision."
Sweetland had narrowed down his final schools to two before making his decision.
"Besides St. Thomas I also looked hard at the University of Indianapolis. I also liked it at Indy but once I was able to make the on campus visit to St. Thomas everything they have to offer just blew me away."
So how big of a factor did the COVID pandemic play in Sweetland's recruiting process?
"I might have been able to add a few more offers if we didn't have COVID. I wasn't able to get out to any camps this spring or summer. and I also felt I was going to have a big fall senior season, but COVID cancelled the fall season. In the end I feel that St. Thomas is still the best fit for me. I was most disappointed in not having a season this fall. We have a great team and a team I feel could win a state title this year. Now we need to wait until the spring to play our football season."
So what type of player is St. Thomas getting in Alex Sweetland?
"I can do a little bit of everything to be honest and I'll play anywhere I'm asked to play. St. Thomas uses it's running back a lot in the offense and I feel the offense is a great fit for me. I'll come in and work hard every single day."
Alex Sweetland is verbally committed to St. Thomas.