TE Furtney pledges to Army

St. Charles (Ill.) North senior tight end recruit Jake Furtney (6-foot-5, 240 pounds) made a weekend official visit to West Point and on Tuesday morning gave Army his verbal commitment. Furtney breaks down his college decision in this latest recruiting update.

"I made my official visit to West Point Thursday thru Sunday," Furtney said. "I also made an unofficial visit to West Point back in early April. I had a much stronger draw to Army after my first unofficial visit. After this weekend's official visit I knew Army was where I wanted to be so I committed."

Furtney pointed towards several key factors which led to his decision to commit to the Army Black Knights. .

"Army was my top school going into the official visit and I was able to just get a lot of answers to the question I had along with my family. Army offers so much opportunity and some great career option after graduation. West Point provides a world class education and also a path to have great success after graduation. From the football perspective Army has a great staff and they are in the process of switching up several philosophies including on the offensive side of the football. It's exciting to be coming in with the changes and as a tight end I'll be able to be utilized more in the offense."

So which other schools did Furtney consider before committing to Army?

"I was drawing a lot of recruiting attention from bigger schools like Iowa, .Duke and Purdue and I also had offers from several MAC schools and I looked hard at Western Michigan and Eastern Michigan. A lot of the Power 5 schools wanted me to wait to make a decision and they wanted to see my early season video to evaluate me again. In the end Army just had too much to offer that I just couldn't pass it up the opportunity. Once I made my official visit this weekend I knew I was ready to commit."

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

"The toughest part of the process for me was just trying to get out to different schools and just trying to get out and see which schools really had serious interest in me. It was hard at times to figure out where I stood with some coaches and some schools. If I had to give any advice to others it would be to take football out of the equation and see if you would still be happy going to schools there. Also don;'t worry about others process and what offers they are getting. Focus on your own process and focus on which schools really have interest in you. In the end you'll end up at a level and a school where you are suppose to be at in college."

Jake Furtney is verbally committed to Armuy.