Wesley Shaw didn’t waste any time making his college football commitment a reality.
Shaw, a offensive lineman from Jesuit (Fla.) High School, signed his certificate of commitment at 7:15 a.m. Wednesday morning.
The certificate was actually mailed to Shaw before he gave his decision to coach Jeff Monken in a one-on-one meeting to wrap up his official visit and first trip to New York Sunday.
“During that meeting, coach Monken asked me, ‘Do you want to play here?,'” Shaw said. “I said, ‘100 percent.’ He said, ‘Is that a commitment?’ I said, ‘Yes, sir. You got me.’
“I’m locked in.”
Shaw’s decision came down to Army and Air Force. Shaw visited Air Force for the Boise State game on Oct. 22 but he wanted to check out West Point before he chose one of the academies.
Army sophomore linebacker Brett Gerena was Shaw’s host during the weekend visit. Shaw and Gerena were high school teammates. Gerena provided a complete picture of Army football and West Point.
“Brett did an incredible job,” Shaw said. “I had no questions. He answered questions that I didn’t even have. He told me about all of the ups and downs and how it’s a struggle but there’s a very bright outcome. He did a great job and I felt like that had a lot to do with my decision.”
Shaw was highly recruited his sophomore season with West Virginia offering and other Power Five schools including Wake Forest and Duke showing interest. He tore his ACL right before the start of his junior year and missed the football season. The following spring, Army cornerback coach and Florida recruiter Daryl Dixon visited Shaw. A phone with Monken and an Army offer followed. So did the texts and phone calls from Monken, Dixon and Army offensive line coach Mike Viti on a regular basis.
“Knowing people believed in me after my injury was a big deal,” said Shaw, who also had offers from South Florida, Florida International, East Carolina and Middle Tennessee State.
During his recruiting, Shaw made trips to Power Five schools, including Virginia Tech. Shaw viewed similar facilities on his West Point visit.
“It’s all equivalent,” Shaw said.
Shaw described his overall Army visit as “inspiring.”
“The views are breathtaking,” Shaw said. “You don’t hear many people say ‘West Point is beautiful,’ like they talk about the Ivy League (schools). But, West Point is truly amazing, looking around the buildings and the architecture, it was just awesome. The history got to me. You are looking at Civil War cannons and Revolutionary War forts and the great people that have been there before you.”
On the field, Shaw said he trained to play all five positions on the offensive line. He played mostly right tackle or left guard as a senior, “Basically, every other week, I was playing a different position based on where the best defensive lineman was and wherever my team felt like they needed me.”
Shaw said he’s likely to play on the interior at Army and has been working on his snaps to play in new offensive coordinator Drew Thatcher’s shotgun-based offense.
“I’d like to play a little bit of center but I also like to play guard,” Shaw said. “With the new offense that coach Thatcher is bringing in, guard will be a real exciting position to play.”
Army’s 2023 recruiting class near completion today with the second signing day. Shaw believes this recruiting class, who is nearing 100 commits, has the making of something special.
“I’ve looked through all of the commitments coming in and this class is going to be crazy,” Shaw said. “Army is about to blow up.”
