Three schools pursuing Etiwanda tackle
Etiwanda High School's 6-foot-4, 310-pound tackle Christian Barker has narrowed his potential college choices to three: Oregon State, Nevada and Utah State.
He visited Utah State last weekend, will take a trip to Nevada this weekend and Oregon State the first weekend in February.
His first scholarship offer came two weeks ago from Utah State. Nevada offered the next day. Oregon State has not made an offer.
"It felt good to get that first offer; I was starting to think it was never going to happen," Barker said. "I saw people around me who I thought I was better than getting offers."
Barker, who played offensive and defensive tackle, had 48 tackles and one sack his senior season. He would prefer to play offense in college. Utah State specified they'd like him to play offense, but neither Nevada nor Oregon State has made that determination.
Despite Oregon State's 9-4 record this season and third-place finish in a BCS conference like the Pac-10, Barker isn't elevating the Beavers above Western Athletic Conference schools Nevada (6-7, 4th in WAC) and Utah State (2-10, 7th in WAC). Based on his experience at Utah State last weekend, he wants to complete all his trips before passing too much judgement.
"Before I took my trip (to Utah State) I didn't even think there was a chance I was going to go there," Barker said. "But after that, I liked the visit so much it's right there at the top of the list. They're all three even at this point."
Here are some clips of Barker on offense. Watch big No. 79 at left tackle.
Here are some clips of Barker playing defensive tackle