Offensive tackle Calvin Anderson was relatively lightly-recruited when he came out of Austin (Texas) Westlake in the class of 2014 before signing with Rice. Now, though, as the 6-foot-5, 300-pounder looks for a new home as a graduate transfer, that has certainly changed.
Ever since Anderson received his release from the Owls, he has been offered by Auburn, Duke, Louisville, Michigan, Oklahoma, Pitt, Purdue, TCU, Texas, Vanderbilt and West Virginia. One more school could be close to adding its name to the mix as well.
"Actually, I heard from the Notre Dame coaches today and they're coming down tomorrow," Anderson said on Wednesday afternoon. "I heard from coach (Del) Alexander from there."
Though all the attention is new to Anderson, he says there is a group of schools standing out at the moment.
"I was really happy with the Michigan talk," he said. "UT, I haven't set this in stone yet, but it's likely I'll visit there this weekend, so I'm happy with them. The Auburn coaches, they've been put in a lot of effort. I've been talking to coach (Chip) Lindsey, so they're up there too. The Pitt guys, they're awesome. Coach (Bill) Bedenbaugh from Oklahoma has been awesome. And Notre Dame I was really happy about. If they offer,
that would be huge because that's 'O-Line U' there.'"
Anderson will graduate in May from one of the most prestigious academic schools in the country but his goal now is to make it to the next level in football.
"My biggest thing - I've had a great career at Rice and will have an excellent degree in mathematical economics - but now I'm moving toward my dream of going to the NFL. I'm in a unique spot where I have an opportunity to chase that dream. So I'm 100-percent committed to it. This next year, I want to go to a place that's going to get better and give me really good competition. I want to develop as a player to be ready for the 2019 NFL draft.
"All the schools I'm talking to are in big conferences with good opportunities for exposure. The Big 12, the SEC is huge - Auburn, the Big Ten, all these conferences are big."
As for other schools he is interested in, Anderson say he is very happy with his current offers.
"The last school I was really hoping to hear from was Notre Dame," he said. "It was cool to hear from them because they were probably the last school that I was like, 'If I hear from them, that could shake things up a bit.'"
With Anderson not set to graduate until May, he is not on the same timeline as recruits from the 2018 class. However, he doesn't want the decision to drag on for too long.
"What I've been telling the coaches, I want to know by my birthday, Mar. 25," he said. "That's the latest I think I want to know by. If it could happen before then, that's perfect too. I just need to set up some official visits."
Anderson redshirted his first year at Rice so he has one year of eligibility remaining and will not have to sit out a year since he is a graduate transfer.
