Da’Shawn Hand likely to Michigan Wolverines or Alabama Crimson Tide
By Jason Marcum
Decision day is here for Woodbridge senior defensive end Da’Shawn Hand, who will make his college commitment in front of a live audience. In cooperation with Yahoo and Rivals.com, the live coverage will stream on washingtonpost.com/sports starting at 12:30 p.m. Hand’s decision will be between the Alabama Crimson Tide, Florida Gators and Michigan Wolverines. The commitment can also be viewed on the NBC Sports Network.
The 6-foot-4, 254-pound defensive end is rated among the top overall prospects in the country and is a unanimous five-star prospect according to the major recruiting services. According to 247Sports.com’s composite rankings, Hand is the nation’s No. 1 strong-side defensive end and the fourth-ranked overall recruit.
Hand was presented his honorary game jersey for the 2014 Under Armour All-America High School Game on Wednesday. Woodbridge head coach Karibi Dede says he is excited that his star player gets to play against the nation’s best.
"“It’s been a pleasure to coach you. We are very thankful to the people at Under Armour as well as American Family Insurance for providing this great opportunity for a young man like himself. I’m really excited. The Under Armour All-America Game is the premier game in the country. To see him have the opportunity to go down where guys like A.J. Green, Julio Jones, Jadeveon Clowney...to go down and have that type of game against those type of players is phenomenal.”"
Hand has taken official visits to all three of his finalists. When he finally announces, it will come in front of the entire Woodbridge student body at a pep rally in the school’s gymnasium.
Hand visited Florida last weekend to watch them lose to the Vanderbilt Commodores, and while that certainly left a bad taste in his mouth, the fact that they got his final visit before he announces has to be view as a positive. Entering the 2013 season, many believed Michigan was the front runner for Hand’s services, and most believe it will come down to Bama or Michigan, and we’ll know for sure at 12:30 today.