Niceville's Finch verbally commits to Oklahoma
By ADAM PRUIETT
Northwest Florida Daily News
315-4421 | adamp@nwfdailynews.com
Roy Finch exploded onto the Florida high school football scene after transferring from Oklahoma's Edmond North to Niceville prior to last season.
When it comes to where the Daily News' reigning big school Player of the Year will play college ball, Finch is hoping to make the same impact, only in reverse.
Finch has verbally committed to play for the University of Oklahoma and chose the Sooners over a long and distinguished list of other suitors.
"I pulled the trigger early because it was just the right decision," said Finch, who committed late Friday night and is the top-ranked all-purpose back in the state and third overall in the country by rivals.com for the 2010 class.
Virtually every SEC school had either offered Finch a scholarship or shown interest in him. There was speculation that Finch might have selected Oklahoma over waiting to see if Florida would offer, but that wasn't the case for the four-star running back. A dark horse had entered the picture.
"It was actually Oklahoma and Stanford," Finch said. "Stanford was my second choice because of their academics, and I value academics a lot ... I was very close to deciding to verbally commit to Stanford, but the football program at Oklahoma was very hard to let go."
The strong relationships Finch has with family and friends in Oklahoma also impacted his decision. While he didn't grow up there, he has enough fondness for The Sooner State that he said "it's basically going back home."
A verbal commitment isn't binding, so Finch could change his mind and sign his letter of intent with another program in February. But he doesn't see that happening.
"I think this is final," said Finch, who undoubtedly will continue to be recruited by other programs until he officially signs. "This is it, this is what I want to do. I'm happy to be a Sooner, and I'm looking forward to the challenge."
The 5-foot-8, 170-pound dynamo rushed for 1,296 yards and 16 touchdowns last season while adding 299 yards and two touchdowns receiving. He is rated by rivals.com as the 77th best overall prospect in the country for the 2010 class.
Niceville coach John Hicks said Oklahoma - the 2000 national champion and 2008 runner-up - is a good fit for Finch because the Sooners run a spread offense that creates space for their running backs. Backs who are smaller in stature such as former All-Big 12 selection Quentin Griffin (5-7, 190 pounds) have excelled in the system.
"One of the things with (Finch) was because of his size, it was important for him to go to a school that's not afraid to play smaller players," Hicks said.
Finch said he wanted to commit early after talking with his parents and Niceville's coaches. He didn't assign a time-frame to make a decision but felt now was the right time.
"Overall, the process has been fun and exciting," said Finch, who will take his official visit to Oklahoma in the fall. "There's a lot of people you meet, things you see, events you participate in. It's been stressful at times, but it's been fun."
As for his choice, Finch has peace of mind.
"You can go to sleep at night knowing your decision was a good one," he said.
