“It feels pretty good,” said Blake Porter. “I just wanted to go ahead and make my decision before the season started, so I could just be focused 100 percent on football and winning games. I knew at the beginning of the recruiting process that I wanted to have my decision made before my senior season.”
The 6-foot-3, 290-pound offensive lineman had known for a while that Hampton was the school for him.
“It’s a school that I could see myself going to,” he said. “My quarterback from last year signed with them in 2012 class, so that played a part in my decision. Also, Hampton has a good combination of academics and football.”
The decision was a tough one.
“I didn’t expect the decision to be this hard,” said Porter. “Throughout the process, I was weighing my options, but in the back of my mind I pretty much knew Hampton was the school I was going to choose.”
“I decided about a month ago (that I was going to make my decision),” he said. “The original date I set was August 15, but my mom’s birthday is August 12, so I decided to make the decision on her birthday.”
The Pirates’ coaching staff played major role in Porter’s decision.
“When Coach (Michael) Villagrana was recruiting (teammate) T.J. (Mixon), I got to know him real well,” Porter said. “I went up to a couple games last year and got to meet Coach (Darryl) Bullock, who coaches the offensive line. He said I have a real good chance of coming in and playing early. The coaching staff has been real genuine and they played a big part in my decision.”
Porter is happy with his choice.
“I’m pretty firm,” he said. “It’s a verbal commitment, but it’s pretty solid. I sent a text to a lot of coaches that offered me, and a lot of them just said good luck with your season. The only school who was still showing interest was Howard. They told me to come down for an official visit. I’m not sure if I’m going to take the visit. I’ve got to talk to my parents and the Hampton coaching staff first. I’m 100 percent committed right now.”
Along with Howard, Porter chose Hampton over scholarship offers from Air Force, Furman, Gardner-Webb, North Carolina A&T, South Carolina State, and UNC-Charlotte. He will likely take his official visit to Hampton sometime in January. The Pirates are recruiting him to play center. West Charlotte opens their season this Friday against Concord.
