Steilacoom QB McDonald commits to Western Kentucky
With all the uncertainty surrounding high school football recruiting right now, Steilacoom quarterback Chance McDonald, who is going into his senior year with the Sentinels in the fall, wanted to lock down his college decision sooner, rather than later.
So when Western Kentucky continued its pursuit of McDonald this spring, McDonald felt it was the right time to commit. He verbally committed last week to the Hilltoppers program, which competes in Conference USA.
“I wanted to make my decision sooner than later, be secure and know I have somewhere to go, and that’s where I want to be.”
McDonald, who threw for 3,812 yards in the 2019 season, with 49 touchdowns and 18 interceptions in Steilacoom’s high-flying Air Raid offense, will be joining another Washington state quarterback. Eastlake 2020 QB Grady Robison is a Western Kentucky signee.
WKU quarterbacks coach Bryan Ellis was responsible for recruiting the Pacific Northwest while on the coaching staff at USC, which explains his familiarity with the area and Western Kentucky’s plan targeting signal-callers from The Evergreen State.
“He loved the players in Washington (while at USC), so he just kept recruiting this area,” McDonald said of Ellis. “We have a strong connection. I’ve been talking with Ellis for four to five months.”
And McDonald, who hasn’t visited Western Kentucky’s campus in person yet, reached out to Robison before verbally committing.
“I just wanted to talk to him about Western Kentucky and the reasons he went there,” McDonald said. “He had nothing but good things to say. He told me he’d love to have me down there and have me commit. … I’m very excited to get down there, compete against him, be in that same QB room.”
McDonald said playing in an offense that throws the ball often was a key for him in making his decision.
“They’ve had some great QB’s there,” McDonald said. “They throw the crap out of the ball, from what I’ve heard. They have that tradition and culture — it’s a football town. It’d be nice being there, playing in front of that crowd, and throw the ball as much as I’d like.”
In their evaluation, McDonald said the WKU coaching staff liked his toughness and arm strength.
“(Ellis) said he liked how I stood tall in the pocket, took shots to get the ball out,” McDonald said. “Liked the type of pace I played with in the game, my accuracy. Mainly the toughness. I took a lot of shots this year and I kept playing. Also, I can be athletic when I need to, to get out of bad situations.”
Bowling Green, Ky., is a far cry from Steilacoom, but McDonald said his parents plan on moving to Bowling Green and will be able to attend his games and follow his progress closely in college. Mostly, he’s happy to have his commitment solidified before his senior season begins.
“It’s unexplainable,” McDonald said. “It just feels great to know where I’m going after the season. I just wanted the ease of knowing this is the place where I’m going and I’m satisfied about it. I can just focus going into the season on getting ready, get back to the state championship this year.”
