Peachtree Ridge inside linebacker Wilson Catoe announced last night his commitment to Harvard. His decision came rather quickly after his August 3rd offer from the Ivy League school, but after an arduous recruiting process, and with the season looming, he was ready to make a decision.
His commitment is a major haul for Harvard, who had to beat out 20 other schools, including Bowling Green, App State, Mercer, Furman, Youngstown State and Air Force in order to secure his commitment. The heavy-hitting linebacker explained why he chose Harvard over all the other offers he held.
“Harvard separated themselves in a way that I felt at home when I visited,” Catoe said. “Whenever I would go on visits, I would compare them to this vision in my head of what I thought college looked like, and Harvard clicked. I love the staff, I love the LB coach, I love the atmosphere. Of course it’s different from down south in Georgia, but it’s something that I’ll get used to. Overall, it’s the school with the best academics and it will get me very far later in life, as well as being a championship-winning football team. It’s a great school!”
For Catoe, his high school career started on the offensive line, where he started as a sophomore in the highest classification (6A, at the time) and toughest county (Gwinnett) in the state of Georgia. He worked hard that next offseason in preparation to become the next starting inside linebacker for Peachtree Ridge, and he capped off his junior year with a productive 72 tackles, three sacks, 16 tackles for loss and a pick six in 12 games.
Over the last few years, Catoe has been working hard toward his goal of becoming a college student-athlete. Now that he is finally committed, he took a step back and reflected on how it feels to be through with it. “To be done with the recruiting process is one of the biggest reliefs I’ve ever felt. It’s like everything I’ve dreamed of and worked for since I started playing this sport has paid off. It’s like, ‘I made it.’ Now all I have to do is finish off this senior season strong, be safe and avoid injuries, and overall enjoy my final high school football season.”
Catoe has learned a lot about the recruiting process during his high school career, so we asked him if he had any advice for future college recruits who might be reading. “My advice to future recruits is to always stay after it. Yes, days will be hard. Yes, it will feel like sometimes no one is watching and that you’re not making any progress, but just stay after it. Work hard, and from (my) experience, good things will come their way.”
Harvard is landing a very cerebral linebacker who reacts quickly to the play call and does a great job shadowing the ball-carrier. He is extremely tough, too, and when he tackles, he does an excellent job of squaring up and drilling the ball-carrier right in the numbers. Catoe has done a great job in the weight room building his body the right way and should steadily fill out his frame to around 235 pounds for the Crimson.
Harvard didn’t just land a great football player, but also an outstanding student in the classroom. Catoe sports a 3.85 GPA, and his test scores suggest that he will fit in perfectly with the other student-athletes in the Ivy League.
Catoe is the first player from the state of Georgia to commit to Harvard and is reportedly the 10th total commit for the class of 2018. This upcoming season, he will be roaming the middle for Peachtree Ridge once again. His upcoming goals for this year are to “have fun, run around, make big plays and overall enjoy my final high school football season at my greatest potential.”
