Driver announces commitment to play for SDSU

La Costa Canyon High linebacker Jacob Driver announced Sunday an oral commitment to play for San Diego State as a member of the Aztecs' 2009 recruiting class.

Driver, a 6-foot-2, 210-pounder, was an All-CIF linebacker and named to CalHiSports.com's All-State junior team. He is SDSU's sixth early commitment with five of the six from San Diego County high schools.

The Aztecs first offered Driver six months ago. He was drawing interest from Pac-10 schools, including recently turning down an offer to visit Stanford.

Driver's press release stated that in the last six months he and his father, Michael, asked many questions about the program. The spoke to SDSU athletes, including former quarterback Kevin O'Connell of La Costa Canyon, athletic director Jeff Schemmel and SDSU president Stephen Weber.

His release not only explained he was comfortable with his decision, he encouraged other top San Diego recruits to take a closer look at their hometown university.

"I have gotten to know many of the other top players in San Diego, and they questioned why I would go SDSU when I could have gone to a Colorado, Boise, Arizona or somewhere like that," Driver said. "My question to them is given the opporunity to play at SDSU, why would they ever voluntarily leave a place like San Diego. I know that in the past SDSU has not been the school of choice for San Diego's top ahtlete, but at some point those athletes need to take a chance and come together to build a program that future San Diegans would be proud to be a part of."

Driver joins previous early commitments of Oceanside wide receiver Osmond Nicholas, El Camino quarterback Colton Morrison, Mira Mesa wide receiver Brandon Chambers and Kearny wide receiver Marvin Jones of San Diego. The other early commitment is from Ronnie Hillman, a running back/receiver of La Habra High in Orange County.

Contact Tom Shanahan at toms@sdhoc.com.