Crespi Lineman Representing West At Oregon's 'The Opening'
(CBSSports.com/Bryan Fischer) -- Though Crespi HS offensive guard Jordan Simmons lives nearly three hours by plane from Beaverton, the gorgeous weather during the first day of competition at The Opening wasn't too shabby for him and reminded him a bit of Los Angeles.
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"It's pretty good, I love it out here," Simmons said. "It feels like home a little. It's better (weather) than home right now. There's no weather changes in L.A."
As one of the top offensive lineman on a West Coast region full of them, Simmons is excited to perform against defensive lineman outside of the area and prove he's the best of the best nationally.
"Going against the guys from Georgia and Florida and comparing myself against the south," he said of what he is most looking forward to. "West vs. South, that's all. I've already been against all the West dudes out here so I want to see where I stand against everybody.
"For me, it's not a rivalry, I just like to compete. If I do good, then I do good. It lets me know where I'm at and I can always get better.
Recruiting-wise, the 6-foot-5, 320-pounder is close to narrowing his college options. Holding offers from just about every program in the country, Simmons will cut his list after delaying a decision for roughly two weeks on which programs stay in contention. At the moment, he does know some schools that will make the list for sure.
"USC, Oregon, Washington," he said. "I'll be (at Oregon) on Sunday. I don't really know what to expect. They always have something new so I don't know what to expect. It's a pretty nice campus."
Simmons is taking the better late than never approach.
"Next week, for sure," he said. "It's been postponed for two weeks already."
As someone considering Oregon and programs like Ohio State, the fact that the NCAA might hit the schools with penalties is something in the back of his mind when he is looking at where he wants to play college football.
"A little bit," Simmons said. "A lot of schools are having NCAA problems that I stopped looking at because of it. Ohio State is still up there though."
