A livestream of St. Joseph High School (Metuchen, N.J.) junior John Olmstead announcing his college commitment will be broadcast exclusively on MyCentralJersey.com at 3 p.m. ET Friday.
GO HERE TO WATCH OLMSTEAD’S DECISION
Olmstead, who is ranked among the Top 10 offensive tackles nationally in the class of 2019, according to Rivals.com, will choose between Michigan, Minnesota, Notre Dame, Ole Miss and Rutgers (listed alphabetically) during a talk-show style interview with a Gannett sportswriter.
The two-way tackle, who stands 6-foot-6 and weighs 305 pounds, holds 36 scholarship offers, the second most nationwide among uncommitted offensive linemen in the class of 2019, according to 247Sports. He is the top-ranked junior in New Jersey.
An excellent student with an outstanding pedigree, Olmstead owns a 4.1 grade-point average. Olmstead’s parents, Pat and John, played college basketball and football, while his four sisters all played college lacrosse, two at the Division I level.
Almost all of Olmstead’s offers are from Power 5 schools including 10 that were ranked among the Top 25 in last season’s Associated Press final college football bowl.
While none of those coaches, under NCAA rules, is permitted to have face-to-face contact with Olmstead or his parents off a college campus during the evaluation period, St. Joseph head coach Rich Hilliard said he is certain coaches visiting his school will subtly make to Olmstead their presence known.
“It’s these five schools that are not sure right now who it (Olmstead’s choice) is going to be,” said Hilliard, noting Minnesota is scheduled to visit St. Joseph on Wednesday. “I’m sure by the end of the week we’ll have more (coaches on campus). My phone has been ringing with people wondering if I have any insight, and I really don’t. I can tell them they are in his top five. That’s all I know. Of course, John goes through this with his family. They talk every night about this.”
Olmstead is the top-ranked junior in New Jersey, according to Rivals.com, and holds the most scholarship offers of any junior from the fertile Garden State, which is a recruiting hotbed.
He is the most coveted player from Middlesex County (N.J.) since East Brunswick quarterback Bryan Fortay signed with Miami in 1989, and is the most highly touted offensive lineman from Middlesex County since J.P. Stevens’ Jeremy Zuttah (2003) and Piscataway’s Anthony Davis (2006) signed with Rutgers. Both went on to play in the NFL, which is where Hilliard expects Olmstead will eventually land.
“Every coach that comes into this building that wants him to play for his university says that John will probably be in the NFL, and they’ll be lucky to keep him (for four years),” Hilliard said. “They all have high hopes for him.”
