Pusch Ridge senior defensive end/tight end/offensive tackle Will Way (6-foot-4 and 255 pounds) announced Sunday he has verbally committed to South Dakota, an FCS program that plays in the same conference as North Dakota State — Arizona’s opponent Saturday at Arizona Stadium.
In fact, South Dakota hosts North Dakota State in a Missouri Valley Conference game this Saturday.
Way, who has attended camps at Nebraska and was a guest of San Diego State when Arizona opened the season there, mentioned that choosing South Dakota “was a really clear decision after narrowing down what was important to me.”
I’m excited to announce my commitment to play D1 football for the University of South Dakota! Go Yotes! I’m grateful to the other schools who offered me and to the coaches who have recruited me. I want to thank my family, teammates & coaches who have helped me along this journey. pic.twitter.com/waizMAIo0V
— Will Way (@will_way44) September 18, 2022
“(Offensive line) coach (Andrew) Prevost is one of the most upfront and honest coaches that I have ever interacted with,” Way added. “He’s also the only coach that created a full five-year plan for me.”
As a defensive end, Way’s athletic ability — he played club basketball up to last year — has shown with his 58 tackles last year, 10 for loss. This season, offenses are avoided his area more and he has 17 tackles with four tackles for loss. He has three sacks and three quarterback hurries.
Way, who also had a scholarship offer from Washington State, took an unofficial visit to South Dakota in March.
“It was the most fun I’ve ever had on a recruiting visit,” he mentioned. “There was just a different feel to Vermillion (S.D.). I wanted to commit as soon as I left the door to the stadium. It really felt like home to me. The relationships that I have created within that program caused me to buy in to what they were offering. I couldn’t be happier playing for Coach Prevost.”
Way added that he watched an interview with Nebraska interim coach Mickey Joseph last week in which Joseph said, “Go where you are celebrated.”
“Hearing that really flipped a switch in my head and I knew my decision was clear after that (to attend South Dakota),” Way said.
Pusch Ridge (5-0, 1-0 3A South) travels to Thatcher (5-0, 1-0) on Friday in a significant region matchup.
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ALLSPORTSTUCSON.com publisher, writer and editor Javier Morales is a former Arizona Press Club award winner. He is a former Arizona Daily Star beat reporter for the Arizona basketball team, including when the Wildcats won the 1996-97 NCAA title. He has also written articles for CollegeAD.com, Bleacher Report, Lindy’s Sports, TucsonCitizen.com, The Arizona Republic, Sporting News and Baseball America, among many other publications. He has also authored the book “The Highest Form of Living”, which is available at Amazon. He became an educator five years ago and is presently a special education teacher at Gallego Fine Arts Intermediate in the Sunnyside Unified School District.
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