West Coast Calling Stockton

Tyler Stockton picked up his 15th offer on Thursday from the California Golden Bears and is hearing from a plethora of other programs who are interested in the twitchy defensive lineman. Stockton is certainly open to traveling west for his college days, so the Cal offer is attractive to him, however when he can visit is another story.

California offered Tyler Stockton a scholarship on Thursday, giving the Princeton, N.J., native yet another option on the west coast. The 6-foot-1, 280-pound defensive tackle has been battling the flu for weeks now and hasn’t had a chance to get out and visit any schools, however he will be making a trip to South Bend for the Irish spring game in April.

“Cal offered today and I spoke with the defensive line coach (Tosh) Lupoi who said he was very excited about my game film and was happy to offer me,” Stockton said. “I haven’t talked to Head Coach Jeff Tedford yet and I don’t know when I will, but one of my teammates from our 2006 team Ernest Owusu goes there and says he really likes the staff and atmosphere there. He really gives the school high praise. I know they are very good academically and play competitive football in the Pac 10.”

The Hun School product will try to get out to the west coast this spring or summer and see a number of schools and considering the amount of programs contacting his coach, he may have to make quite a few stops.

“My coach has been getting calls from Georgia, Florida, USC, Oklahoma, Michigan, Oregon, USF and a bunch of other schools.”

“Right now my only travel plans are to go to Notre Dame on April 19th for their spring game,” Stockton added. “I really just love the tradition of the university and football program and know I’d be set academically there. I just can’t wait to get on campus. I talked to Coach (Jappy) Oliver, Coach (John) Latina, Coach (Charlie) Weis and Coach (Corwin) Brown on a pretty regular basis and really like all of them.”

Stockton registered 73 tackles, 26 tackles for loss, 11 sacks, four forced fumbles, three fumble recoveries, three batted passes and a blocked kick as a junior. He was named the 2007 Mid-Atlantic Defensive Player of the Year. He was named first-team All Mid-Atlantic Prep at defensive tackle for his sophomore and junior years, first-team All-State Prep at defensive tackle both years by the Star Ledger and first-team All-Area for both years by the Trenton Times and Princeton Packet.

Stockton runs a 4.42 short shuttle.