OT Oluwatosin Babalade (6-5 296) of Hyattsville, MD named his final five over the weekend of USC, Rutgers, Maryland, North Carolina and Ohio State. He also set July 31st for his commitment announcement. Babalade took official visits to all five schools. He also visited USC for the spring game in April. He said his last contact with the Gamecock coaches was just before July 4th when they reached out to wish him a happy holiday.
“I made the decision, but there are some things that I’ve got to really thing about, so it’s like 50-50,” Babalade said. “I’m going to do a pros and cons and see how it is. I kind of told the school, but not really yet.”
Babalade added there were a couple of things about the school he’s chosen that stood out more to him than with the other programs.
“The family part, the fans are crazy,” Babalade said. “I just want to play where I have better competition, and I feel like that might be the place.”
Babalade said one thing he’s sure about is he’s happy to have the recruiting process behind him.
“I’m finally stress free,” Babalade said. “It’s a blessing to get all these offers and meet a bunch of new people. The bad part is there’s so much stress. You’re thinking like augh, you don’t know what to exactly do.”
And with that kind of mindset, don’t expect an elaborate commitment announcement on the 31st.
“I might just do a post and call it a day,” Babalade said.
Working in USC’s favor with Babalade is Gamecock running back Marshawn Lloyd. He also attended DeMatha, and though he was a few years ahead of “Tree” the two are friends.
