Bolingbrook LB Tyler McLaurin narrows recruiting list to Top 5

Bolingbrook's standout linebacker Tyler McLaurin believes in putting together a plan of attack.

So in that spirit, the heavily recruited Raider paired his list of potential collegiate homes to five on Friday with Iowa State, Michigan, Michigan State, Nebraska and Texas Tech making the cut.

McLaurin had been peppered with a number of offers from Division I schools in recent months and in the interest of allowing him to focus on which schools might make the best fit, he decided to zero in his search a bit.

McLaurin, who is also an excellent student, is hoping to find a future home that couples a quality education, a program with a history of success as well as a family atmosphere.

"With Michigan, it's a school that is very well regarded academically, and it is a successful football program that usually finds itself in a major bowl every year," McLaurin said. "And I think a lot of those same things apply to Michigan State.

"Nebraska has been very active in recruiting me, and I felt as if they were very kind, well-rounded people that were very helpful no matter what the issues were, and with Iowa State I'm close with the coaching staff and have a very good relationship with them."

Unlike many recruits going through this process, McLaurin was able to get in visits to four of the top five schools still remaining on his list as he made early visits to all of the schools remaining except for Texas Tech.

McLaurin's inclusion of Texas Tech in his final five is because of both the pre-established standards he expected his school of choice to meet, but also due to the potential that he may have family moving to Texas post-high school graduation, and the locale would be ideal for his family to have opportunities to see him perform should they make the move.

"A lot of my family has been considering moving south upon my graduation and Texas Tech fits the bill as both a solid football program and is also very good academically," McLaurin said.

McLaurn hasn't decided on an exact timeline when he'll make his ultimate choice, but felt he need to pare his list down considerably to allow him to focus more clearly on what his priorities truly are rather than continuing to juggle the many offers he has received.