Banner day for Lakes OL

People told Zach Banner it would happen, but the 6-foot-9, 295-pound offensive lineman from Lakes High School in Lakewood, Wash. was still a little wary. He was told that once teams got a chance to see some film of his junior season, his recruitment would explode. And it was already humming at a nice clip, with eight verbal offers to his name. But he will never forget September 8th, 2010.

It was on that Wednesday when Banner received 10 letters from schools for football: Alabama, Penn State, Nebraska, Oregon State, LSU, Arkansas, Florida State, Georgia Tech, Arizona and Tennessee. On top of that, he talked to Nebraska and Alabama that same day. "Today was a watershed moment. If someone would have told me that after September 1st, all these schools would be offering me, I wouldn't have believed it," Banner told Scout.com Wednesday. "It just makes me want to work harder. This is all about something that I've got to prove. I want to prove that I deserve every one of them.

"My goodness," Banner added when recounting the offers, especially the one from Alabama. "I'm just saying. I was at a loss for words when they called. It was amazing. Just to talk to the current national champions, that was big time." Banner said he spoke with the recruiting coordinator (Curt Cignetti) and running backs coach (Burton Burns).

Banner was just as excited when Nebraska came calling. He spoke with Offensive Line Coach Barney Cotton. "He was excited," Banner said of his conversation with Cotton. "They are all excited. He called to let me know I have an offer from the University of Nebraska.

"Penn State, that was big. Tennessee, that was big. LSU, Florida State…those are big time."

That makes 18 scholarship offers for the big man from the Northwest. Banner went on to say that as big a day as this was for him, he's still very much in the infancy of his recruitment and he's looking at all options - for football and basketball.

Expect a lot more schools to come calling the more film they see on Banner, who is quickly earning a reputation as one of the top linemen nationally for the class of 2012.

Zach Banner Scout.com Profile