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BEAVERTON, Ore. -- When it comes to Elite 11 quarterbacks, it’s not difficult to find which one is not like the others. Of the 12 signal-callers slated to participate, just one remains uncommitted, though that might not be the case for long. Jack Sears, the nation’s No. 136 prospect and No. 5 pocket-passer, saw his recruitment explode this past spring, but has yet to make a decision. “It has been important to me to take my time and really see what is out there, as I did not want to rush a decision as this is the biggest decision I will make in my life thus far,” Sears said via e-mail. “Trying to stay focused and keep my recruitment and conversations with coaches private has been harder than expected.”  Sears is doing what he can to keep his recruitment quiet, but he has an idea about his final schools.
"I’m talking to Duke, UCLA, USC and Utah the heaviest right now. It’s just the little things about each school, they each have their own great qualities. So I’m just trying to narrow it down between those four, I just felt the most comfortable with all of them. I’m just narrowing it down and make a decision here soon.” He has taken a number of unofficial visits thus far -- Alabama, Arizona State, Boston College, Duke, Northwestern, Tennessee, UCLA, Utah, USC and Vanderbilt, among others -- and isn't planning on any more unofficial visits with hopes to make a mid-July decision. While some prospects in the 2017 class have made multiple commitments after backing off initial pledges, Sears said it hasn’t been difficult to remain uncommitted, even as the quarterback dominoes toppled around him. “The schools that I have interest in have been very patient and have encouraged me to take my time,” Sears said. “They know that when I commit, I will shut down my recruitment…I have taken time with the process since my offers were presented a lot later than most of the top tier quarterbacks.” Playing behind Sam Darnold, who signed with USC in the 2015 class, Sears didn’t play extensively at San Clemente (California) until his junior season, when he threw for 2,697 yards and 37 touchdowns against just two interceptions, and added 862 yard and nine scores on the ground. While not playing as a freshman or sophomore might have slowed the start of his recruitment, that junior year combined with this spring made him one of the hottest quarterbacks in the region. When it comes to the final decision, Sears will try to stick to simple criteria. "Ultimately it will be kind of the culture of the locker room and the school. The coaching staff is huge and just a gut feeling. Just a place where I feel I should go for the next four or five years." While Sears isn’t tipping his hand as to where he’ll wind up at this point, his proximity to the two Los Angeles schools, combined with the fact that neither has taken a commitment from a quarterback in this class and have gone hard after Sears, could have them as the programs to beat. “Many schools have filled their [quarterback] needs already and are not taking a second [quarterback] in the class of 2017, so those are no longer options,” Sears said. “The schools that I am talking to at this point do not have a 2017 [quarterback] commit.”
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