Oregon surprised many by completing its late rally in the recruitment of five-star offensive tackle Josh Conerly, as the big man from Seattle, Wash., tugged a Ducks hat over his head in announcing his suspenseful, long-awaited college decision.
Conerly, the No. 3-ranked OT and No. 31 overall national prospect, was the last big prize in the 2022 recruiting class left to make a decision.
He took his final official visit to USC two weekends ago and there was a lot of buzz for the Trojans late in his process, but Conerly snuck in a final unofficial visit to Oregon last weekend and the Ducks prevail in the end.
In announcing his decision, Conerly said he didn't know what it was going to be until this Wednesday.
So what is Oregon getting in the Rainier Beach HS star?
Let's take a closer look ...
What it means for the DucksÂ
Oregon moves up to No. 33 in the Rivals recruiting rankings for the 2022 cycle, finishing with 16 commitments in Dan Lanning's first class.
Conerly is the only five-star of the bunch and for it to come on the offensive line -- where former Ducks head coach Mario Cristobal and offensive line coach Alex Mirabal excelled in bringing in top talent -- is quite a statement for Lanning and new offensive line coach Adrian Klemm.
It's a huge recruiting win for Klemm, who brings NFL experience to the position and is able to sell that to prospects. Also credit support staffer Viane Talamaivao, who came over this offseason from USC. He had been a key in Conerly's USC recruitment and his addition to the Ducks staff certainly helped.
