It's Oregon!
'A.J. Nation' Heads To
The Pac-10 Conference

   

         

By Richard Gonzalez, DyeStatCal
           Confirming perhaps the worst-kept secret in the land, El Camino High of Oceanside senior A.J. Acosta offered up his verbal commitment on Friday afternoon to attend the University of Oregon in the Fall of 2006.
           Acosta, who captured the FootLocker cross-country national championship in December, confirmed his choice in front of a jovial gathering of supporters during a mid-afternoon press conference/teleconference. Acosta, from the San Diego area of Southern California, is the latest headliner signee for Ducks coach Vin Lananna, with a windfall of other marquee commitments very possible within the next 96 hours.
           DyeStatCal has learned of four other top-notch affirmations to the school still forthcoming, with that projected quartet to be following Acosta and fellow 2005 FootLocker Nationals qualifiers Kenny Klotz (Central Catholic HS, OR), Isaac Stoutenburgh (Crater HS, OR) and Justin Harbor (Flagler Palm Coast HS, FL) to Eugene.
          "What really sold me on Oregon was what's going on there... It's pretty unprecedented," said Acosta, who chose the Ducks over UC Berkeley, Duke and last-round finalists Colorado and Wisconsin. "Vin's doing a great job... I think he's the coach that can take me to the next level."
          Oregon placed sixth at the NCAA Cross-Country West Regionals in 2005, a year in which a whirlwind of excitement swept over the storied program as soon as Lananna came out of a self-imposed coaching hiatus to take over the reins in July of that year. Previously, Lananna orchestrated the well-chronicled distance dynasty at Stanford University, where the Cardinal captured five national and 15 West Region team championships in his tenure. After stepping down at Stanford, Lananna then picked up administrative experience while serving as an associate athletic director at Oberlin College for two years.
           Acosta has on more than one occasion beamed his admiration of Lananna's success, a fact that no doubt helped catapult the Ducks into the eventual top spot in the recruiting sweepstakes. As a junior, Acosta often mentioned Wisconsin, Colorado and Stanford among his three primary possible collegiate destinations.
           Although Acosta chose to keep his final decision up in the air while thinking it over in recent weeks, the signs clearly were there that he was leaning strongly toward becoming a Duck. At the recent Boston Indoor Games, he was seen sporting a pair of custom Nike ID racing spikes in the school's colors. Two weeks prior to that, he was asked to help design the color scheme for the Nike ID watch presented to winners at an upcoming inviational. The colors he chose? Yep, tied in with U of O's green and gold.
           Acosta said he aims to be the latest FootLocker national champion to make the quick and successful transition to the collegiate ranks (following the likes of Dathan Ritzenhein, Kenny Cormier, Chris Solinsky and others), dismissing any likelihood of redshirting.
            "I'd like to step in right away," said the 17-year-old with personal bests of 1:53.27, 4:08.63 and 9:02.02 (800/mile/3200). "With the team we have next year, I think we can win Pac-10s. I know that's a pretty bold statement with Stanford and Arizona right there."
            On a national landscape, the perennial powers seem to be loading up as well, led by defending NCAA team champion Wisconsin, which returns a nice chunk of its nucleus and welcomes in big talent as well.
            Acosta indicated no immediate need to declare an education major, but did tip his hand in indicating an affinity for the sports marketing field. The Warsaw Sports Center at the University of Oregon has earned a global distinction in the field.
            Further debunking the myth which many have that FootLocker nationals qualifiers or even national champions automatically receive full-ride scholarships to any college of their choice, Acosta will receive a nicely beneficial package at the outset, with a planned increase in support in subsequent years. Acosta previously confirmed that one of his remaining finalist choices did offer a full scholarship, but still found the Oregon opportunity too much to pass up. Although set to announce his choice on Tuesday of this week, the action was twice delayed as Acosta (like many high-profile athletic recruits each year) found himself needing to reassure his parents it was indeed the destination he wanted.
            More than once while messaging us online in recent months, Acosta found himself daydreaming aloud about the dynamic possibilities in Eugene in the years to come.
            He doesn't have to daydream anymore.