Danny O’Neil, a highly-regarded high school quarterback from Indianpolis’ Cathedral High School, said he has narrowed his list of college choices to three schools.
Those schools are Northwestern, Miami (Fla.) and the campus he visited over the weekend, San Diego State.
“I’m pretty close,” O’Neil told the Union-Tribune during a phone conversation on Monday afternoon. ”I’m down to just a few more schools. Just talking with everyone and seeing where they stand with me and where I stand with them.”
O’Neil, rated as the nation’s No. 34 high school quarterback prospect by 247Sports.com, said he does not have an exact timetable for his decision, only that it will come before the NCAA’s early signing period begins Dec. 20. O’Neil said he may take one more recruiting visit this weekend, although that is still “up in the air.”
He said he enjoyed his first visit to San Diego.
O’Neil joined the first group of recruits to be hosted by the Aztecs since head coach Sean Lewis was hired Nov. 29. The recruits were able to see the sights around town, tour the campus and Snapdragon Stadium and even attend an Aztecs men’s basketball game Saturday night at Viejas Arena.
“Obviously, I had a prior relationship with Coach Lewis, but getting to know the rest of the (assistant coaches) out there was a good time,” O’Neil said. “Then just seeing what San Diego had to offer. Beautiful city. Beautiful campus. Good school. So definitely checking a lot of boxes.”
Cathedral coach Bill Peebles said last week that SDSU would not have been on O’Neil’s radar had not Lewis been hired as the Aztecs’ head coach.
O’Neil committed to Colorado in March after building a relationship with Lewis, who was the Buffaloes’ offense coordinator. Two days before Lewis was hired by SDSU, O’Neil decommitted from Colorado.
Asked why he potentially would follow Lewis to SDSU, O’Neil said: “It’s the type of person that he is. Obviously, he’s a great coach. He has a great mind for the game and I think I fit well in his system. But just the way that he carries himself and everything that he is about is a big reason of why I’m thinking about following him.”
The 6-foot-1, 185-pound O’Neil set virtually all the quarterback records at Indianapolis’ Cathedral during three years as the starting QB for the Fighting Irish.
He concluded his career with 7,786 passing yards and 99 touchdowns along with 1,320 rushing yards and an additional 31 TDs.
O’Neil said he will be graduating early and plans to enroll next month at whichever college he chooses to attend.
“I think the earlier the better that I could get in a college weight room, around the guys, around the team, with the coaches every day,” O’Neil said, “I think that’s going to really help my development.
“The more I can learn the playbook and just get used to it, the more it will help me when my time comes.”
O’Neil was asked if he could see himself starting as a true freshman.
“I’d be lying if I said that wasn’t the goal,” he said. “I feel like that should be everyone’s goal, especially if they’re getting recruited like this. It should be something that guys think or want.
“But I’m also willing to take a redshirt year. That’s something my parents and I have talked about recently, taking a year to really get in the weight room, put on some weight and master the playbook … Get a whole year under your belt of practice and stuff like that before playing a game.
“At the same time, the best player needs to play and will play. I know that was message that the coaches gave me. If that’s how it works out, then I’m ready to do my part to make the team win.”
