Verbal commit to TCU is validation for Ridge defender

Editor's note: This version has been corrected from the version that runs in the print editions.

On Feb. 6, Nick Foster wanted to sign the piece of paper that so many other young men were signing. Thousands of aspiring college football hopefuls penned their national letters of intent.

The Keller Fossil Ridge defensive back had been a couple of days removed from giving his verbal commitment to TCU. But you see, he’s a 2014 recruit, not 2013. So he has to wait another year before he puts pen to paper.

“All I kept thinking was that it’s going to be fun to be a part of something that will be at the next level,” Foster said. “This is the time for me to be real patient and to work so I can keep reaching my potential.”

TCU offered to Foster as a junior. He went to a couple of the program’s 2012 summer camps and attended some games last falls. Foster gained the recruiting edge early enough to where there really wasn’t going to be another option for him. In fact, he called TCU his dream school.

Officially, Foster is the first player in our coverage area to give a verbal commitment. He should have a couple of other teammates join him in defensive end Anthony Villalobos and quarterback Jacob Gnacinski.

While much of the Division I college football recruiting publicity is centered around Carroll, Fossil Ridge is the one program that has been more than successful producing its fair share of quality talents. You could argue this program has been the second-most reliable in this area ahead of Colleyville Heritage and Keller.

You have to go back to the mid-2000s when wide receiver Howard Morrow went to Texas A&M and most recently defensive tackle Aaron Curry signing with Nebraska in 2012.

When a talented athlete receives attention from Division I programs, it’s pretty much a surreal moment. This is what he or she has been working for as long as they’ve been in the sport or sports they’ve chosen.

Offers are a validation that the work will be rewarded. This is what Foster said. He’s only 5-9 and weighs 172 lbs. But there was something that the TCU coaches saw on film and in person that convinced them he could play at the BCS level for them.

“It really came down to me finding a place where I thought I was going to be comfortable,” Foster said. “There was some stress that I was going through to figure this out. But I knew they weren’t putting any pressure on me to commit right away.”

Now, we’re about 10½ months away for Foster to sign his letter of intent. It’s actually 14 months before he can get on campus. Most programs want their new recruiting class enrolled and going through summer workouts by early June. For Watkins, that would be June 2014.

That’s a long time from now and also a short time, in a different way.

The short of it is temporary yet agonizing. There will be schools that probably didn’t take no for an answer and will keep checking on him to see if he will reconsider his commitment. There’s also the fear of what would happen if he suffered a season-ending injury at any point. That likely won’t change anything.

The long of it is that he has to control his eagerness to get over to University Ave. and wear the purple and black. And 10½ months just seems to be taking forever.

“I’m not scared, no matter what,” Foster said. “When I play, everything is on the line. That’s how I was able to get a chance to play at the next level.”

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