Etiwanda’s Treyjohn Butler his has priorities straight

VIDEO: Treyjohn Butler talks about his decision.

Etiwanda High School defensive back Treyjohn Butler clearly gets it.

Most high school athletes can’t wait to be wined and dined by prospective colleges and most have visions of playing professionally dancing in their heads.

Butler, who plans to major in mechanical engineering,  knows that latter opportunity comes for only a chosen few. One of the reasons he decided on Stanford is the academic success for which the school is noted. After making public his decision to sign with that Pac 12 school, he talked about his discussions with the professors in the engineering department as much as those with the coaches.

Not that the other schools he was considering aren’t solid academic institutions, but you can’t go wrong with a degree from Stanford.

He also said he was turned off by one school’s constant barrage of negative comments about his eventual choice. He appreciated the way Stanford stayed the course and talked only about what it had to offer not where it thought some other school came up short.

So yes, this young man gets it.

Etiwanda coach Kevin Davis asked Butler to address the gathering of 400 or so made up largely of fellow football players and classmates. Butler’s advice was to not waste a minute and take advantage of every minute, every practice, every game.

He also says he has been overwhelmed by the number of younger student-athletes who have reached out to him on social media asking his advice on the pressure and obstacles that come with being a high profile athlete.

He says he is open to sharing his experience because he wondered a lot of the same things when he was in their place.

These “kids announcing their decisions” stories can get monotonous. You ask the same questions, write pretty much the same story, inserting the name of whatever school.

But I found this one a breath of fresh air.

 

 

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Etiwanda defensive back Treyjohn Butler a hot commodity

Etiwanda senior defensive back Treyjohn Butler is one of the area’s top recruits this season. He has eight offers, six of those from Pac-12 schools, and just returned from a trip to Cal.

He says he benefited greatly from watching some highly touted teammates go through the process last year.

“It definitely helped to see how they handled it all last year. Everyone is different,” he said. “We had a lot of college scouts out there watching us because of the guys we had last year so I kind of got used to that part of it.”

Butler also has offers from Stanford, Washington, Arizona State, Washington State, Illinois and Northwestern.

He has also taken unofficials to Stanford, USC and UCLA.

He hasn’t quite decided which schools to which he will make official visits but expects two of those to be to Northwestern and Washington.

He plans to major in chemical engineering so academics will factor into his final decision.

“I am going to do what’s best for my future,” he said. “Yes it’s about football but it’s also about more than that and what will be best for me down the road.”

He is also looking forward to his senior year and the Eagles making a run after settling for a fourth-place finish in the Baseline League a year ago. New coach Kevin Davis has brought a new energy.

“It’s a whole different aura I guess you can call it,” he said. “We’re all excited and we’re already very close. It’s like a family.”

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