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One offensive line prospect in the state of Washington that has flown under the radar as far as recruiting is concerned is Eastside Catholic’s Christian Shigley, a 6’4", 260-pounder who has been receiving a lot of attention, not just for his exploits on the football field, but also for his achievements in the classroom.
So far this summer, Shigley has received offers from the likes of Brown, Cornell and Tufts University and he’s got pretty much the rest of the Ivy League showing interest as well.
"I have the offers from Brown, Cornell and Tufts and then I’ve been talking a lot with Harvard, Yale and Penn too," Shigley told Northwest Elite Index recently. "I went back there back in June, last month, and I hit a lot of their camps and I toured the schools, so it was really a productive time for me back there.
"They don’t really give football scholarships. They basically tell you they will hold a spot for you on the football team and then you have to get qualified for their university. The financial aid is all ‘need based’ there, so the money you get sorta depends on your need."
While Shigley has shown himself over the past few years to be a high-caliber football prospect, he’s also shown schools in the classroom, with his 3.91 GPA, and in his community service that he is an even better student and person.
"We do a lot of volunteer work for our school and our program," Shigley noted. "It’s something we all take a lot of pride in and something I really enjoy."
While he might be a well-spoken and cordial person off the field, once he steps on the field, Shigley is anything but taking opponents on head up and making things very hard on them.
"Christian is just a solid, solid kid and a great leader for our team," Eastside Catholic head coach Jeremy Thielbahr said. "He’s pretty athletic and he’s got a great frame, so he’s only going to get bigger and stronger.
"I think he’s going to be a kid who really succeeds at whatever he does and the fact that it looks like he’s going to have opportunities in the Ivy League, that’s just huge for him and his future."
Shigley manned the all-important left tackle spot for the Crusaders in 2011 and he’ll finish out his high school career at the same spot. While playing that position is one of the most important in the game, he doesn’t take his position for granted and has been working hard this offseason to get ready to meet both his team and his personal goals.
"As a team, our goals are to beat O’Dea, to win the Metro League and to win a state championship," Shigley noted. "For me personally, I want to get recruited to play for an Ivy League school, get a spot on the All-Metro League team and to put on about five pounds so I can play my senior season around 265 pounds."
Shigley and his teammates are hard at work this offseason, working out four days a week and he’s also been spending a lot of time with a personal trainer working on his speed and his footwork.
We will continue to keep track of Shigley’s progress in the coming weeks and months as he plays his senior season and we will update news on his recruiting when it happens.
