Peat receives offers from OU, USC

Ex-Corona del Sol football standout Cassius Peat, ranked the No. 7 overall junior college prospect in the nation by Scout.com, says he has received six recent scholarship offers.

They are from Oklahoma, USC, Louisiana Tech, Texas A&M, Houston and LSU.

Earlier this summer, he was offered by Indiana, after he was unable to return to Michigan State.

Peat, 6-foot-4, says he has dropped about 10 pounds to 245, and is mainly talking to schools that want him as a defensive end.

He is at Scottsdale Community College this semester and is in good academic status.

He said he was blown away by the national ranking and being No. 1 at strong-side defensive end.

“It’s kind of surreal for me,” Peat said. “That’s higher than my brother Andrus (now an offensive lineman with the New Orleans Saints) was rated coming out of high school. There are so many guys. I’m blessed.”

He says he will sign his letter of intent on Dec. 20, following this semester.

Peat will have two years to play Division I college football.

Peat commits to playing 2017 season at Scottsdale CC

Defensive lineman Cassius Peat, who was recruited by UCLA and signed with Michigan State, will join Scottsdale Community College’s football team, the school announced Thursday.

Since leaving Tempe Corona del Sol in 2015 with four state championship basketball rings, Peat has yet to play a college football game. 

He was a redshirt his first year at Michigan State, then left the program just before the 2016 season for personal reasons.

Peat returned to Arizona and was enrolled at Pima Community College, where he didn’t play football but took classes.

He had committed to UCLA in the winter, before Michigan State reached back out to him.

Peat re-committed to the Spartans after a visit to East Lansing, and was headed back to Michigan State this summer. But coaches told him not to come.

After visiting Indiana, Peat has decided to play this season at SCC.

Peat, who is 6-foot-4, 270 pounds, said this journey could be viewed in a negative way but he is looking at is as a positive step.

“I was three credits short of getting into a Division I university to play this fall,” he said. “With what happened at Michigan State, I couldn’t get into a math class I needed for the last section. I was barely short on my AA (Associate Arts degree). It was too late to get into that class.

“I’m just happy to get ahead with my education, play some football. I have a lot more options now.”

Peat said he will have two years of eligibility remaining to play at a Division I university after this season at SCC. He spent the spring and summer training with his brother Andrus Peat, the former Stanford standout who is an offensive lineman for the New Orleans Saints, and a personal trainer that he has had since middle school.

“I’m the strongest I’ve ever been,” Cassius said. “I’m the most explosive I’ve ever been. I’m the fastest I’ve been.”

SCC coach Doug Madoski said he feels Peat is sincere about getting his football career on track and expects him to be an impact player.

“There’s no question he’s talented,” Madoski said. “He’s got to knock the rust off and go play.

“He has been running out of opportunities. Here’s an opportunity. I think he’s in position to take advantage of it. … At some point, you have to lose some things to gain some things. He’s done a good job on following through on things.”

Peat feels he is now on the right track with his career.

“I’m just chipping away at my degree,” he said. “I look at it as a positive. Scottsdale has a good team. They have good coaches. They play good football. I’m excited. … I’ll be going somewhere (to a Division I college) in 150 days. A lot of people will probably look at it as a negative. The whole process made me a better person, more mature, more patient.”

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