The car is still hot out in the driveway of the family compound after running the I-5 Juggernaut from Seattle to Portland this afternoon.  And apparently covering 6 Championship Games, 12 Teams, 50,000 screaming fans and 4,000 pics and tweets was not enough.

Because as I drove in and unpacked more football news came into the NWPR Recruiting Command Post.   No sooner had the last Washington Seniors finished than one of the best upcoming Juniors landed a major offer.  Always glad to take a call and never out of energy we jumped into action.

The news happily came in from Wenatchee High School’s 2 -way Star  Isaiah Brandt-Sims and his family that a major development had just occurred.  We had heard news that he may have had an offer coming in so we reached out.

“Coach Tom Mason was the one that called me,” said Brandt Sims speaking of the SMU Mustangs Coach.  “We talked about what positions I could play there.  He said Running Back, Slot Back, or Defensive Back.”

The offer from SMU is official.  The program has developed an appreciation for NW talent since they landed Kenneth Acker out of Grant High School in Portland, Oregon 3 seasons back.  This year they are grabbing up gunslinger Kolney Cassel out of Eisenhower in Yakima.  And Isaiah fits the bill for a 3rd top recruit they can use.

“Coach was very nice and talked to be about the school from an academic standpoint and it seems very promising.  They are one of the top business schools and are rated very high from an academics standpoint,” he added.

This is big for Brandt-Sims as a host of schools are circling the 5’11’ – 178 pound speedster from Wenatchee, Washington and it really should help establish the fact that he is going to move into the D-1 mainstream and not likely be available to smaller D-1 or D1 AA schools.

With one year to go the kid already has 3 years of serious Varsity experience and has proven his speed and skill set with many top football and track performances.   He is one of the top 2 or 3 sprinters in the Pacific Northwest and should be poised to threaten some records this season.

How is he feeling about the offer?

“I am very excited and this is helping me stay focused on what I need to do in the offseason.  I consider SMU one of my top choices.  I would love to go there and play aside Kolney Cassel; he is a great team mate and friend,” added Brandt-Sims.

He says if he had his choice he would play offense in College but that he really does not mind playing either.   He is equally good on both sides when we have seen him play.

Stanford, University of Washington, and Oregon State stay in regular contact by letter and phone.  Weekly at times according to his Mother.   He also is getting hand written letters from Utah, UCLA, Cal,  Arizona State,  Nebraska,  Colorado,  WSU,  Mississippi State,  Oregon, Notre Dame,  and Baylor.  

And then there is a host of others wanting to pursue him for Track.

He is planning to attend the US Army All American Combine in January and that will be a big stage for him.  In fact that is one of the few combine / Mini camps that an athlete can really benefit from in terms of exposure as the Stage for that event is the biggest one could imagine.

No doubt this SMU offer is early.  There will likely be many others but we sure love the way Coach June Jones and Coach Moore are moving in on our top NW kids.   Imagine a quality Texas program trying to Cherry-Pick NW Kids.  

Times really have changed no doubt!

Congrats to Isaiah and his Family.  This is a really big development for you all.  Best of luck to you in the coming months!