Where Would You Go to School if You Were the Next Kyler Murray?
The first round of the 2019 NFL Draft is Thursday night and there's been more than a little speculation that Oklahoma's Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback
The first round of the 2019 NFL Draft is Thursday night and there’s been more than a little speculation that Oklahoma’s Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Kyler Murray will be the No. 1 overall pick by the Arizona Cardinals.
That would make Murray a top-10 pick in both the NFL (2019) and MLB (2018) drafts after the Oakland A’s selected him ninth overall last year.
We posed the following hypothetical question to Stadium employees:
Imagine you’re the next Kyler Murray and you’re one of high school’s elite two-sport athletes playing football and baseball.
First, you get to choose five Division I schools for an official visit. This is a paid visit to any school in the country. Second, you make a decision to commit to one school to attend with the intent to play both football and baseball, and tell us why.
Here are the results from 25 Stadium employees.
We’ll start with the five official visits. The five most popular choices were Texas, Florida, USC, LSU and Arizona State/Clemson (tie).
Here’s the complete breakdown.
| School | Number of Visits | Percent of Prospects Who Visited |
| Texas | 16 | 64.0% |
| Florida | 13 | 52.0% |
| USC | 10 | 40.0% |
| LSU | 10 | 40.0% |
| Arizona State | 8 | 32.0% |
| Clemson | 8 | 32.0% |
| Florida State | 7 | 28.0% |
| Miami (FL) | 7 | 28.0% |
| Georgia | 6 | 24.0% |
| Hawaii | 4 | 16.0% |
| Stanford | 4 | 16.0% |
| Vanderbilt | 4 | 16.0% |
| North Carolina | 3 | 12.0% |
| UCLA | 3 | 12.0% |
| Michigan | 2 | 8.0% |
| Notre Dame | 2 | 8.0% |
| Oregon | 2 | 8.0% |
| UNLV | 2 | 8.0% |
| Alabama | 1 | 4.0% |
| Arizona | 1 | 4.0% |
| Arkansas | 1 | 4.0% |
| Auburn | 1 | 4.0% |
| Colorado | 1 | 4.0% |
| Fresno State | 1 | 4.0% |
| Houston | 1 | 4.0% |
| Louisville | 1 | 4.0% |
| Ohio State | 1 | 4.0% |
| Oklahoma | 1 | 4.0% |
| Oregon State | 1 | 4.0% |
| Penn State | 1 | 4.0% |
| Texas Tech | 1 | 4.0% |
| Wisconsin | 1 | 4.0% |
It shouldn’t be a surprise that the most popular schools to visit are big brands located in typically warm climates and generally in a coastal state. What might be surprising, however, is that football powers like Alabama, Oklahoma and Ohio State only received one vote apiece for an official visit.
Only 13 schools received a hypothetical commitment from the 25 “prospects.”
They’re listed below.
| School | Number of Commitments | Percent of Commitments |
| LSU | 5 | 20.0% |
| Florida | 3 | 12.0% |
| USC | 3 | 12.0% |
| Florida State | 2 | 8.0% |
| Georgia | 2 | 8.0% |
| Texas | 2 | 8.0% |
| Vanderbilt | 2 | 8.0% |
| Alabama | 1 | 4.0% |
| Arizona State | 1 | 4.0% |
| Clemson | 1 | 4.0% |
| Michigan | 1 | 4.0% |
| Oregon | 1 | 4.0% |
| Stanford | 1 | 4.0% |
LSU was the clear favorite among Stadium employees, while Florida, USC, Florida State, Georgia, Texas and Vanderbilt also received multiple commitments. Seven schools, including last season’s football national finalists Clemson and Alabama, received one commitment.
Here’s some insight as to why these hypothetical recruits committed to the schools they did.
The following responses were edited for clarity.
“LSU by a hair over Texas. The fact that Tiger Stadium is as LIT as it is on gamedays and the town loves to party as much as I do sealed it. SEC is obviously top-notch in both football and baseball, and both programs have a rich history of putting players in the pros. Hold that Tiger!” – Alex Symonds, Production
“Florida. The SEC is the best league for both sports and the best way to measure myself against the competition. Great college town, good professional path with either sport, the school invests heavily in athletics and I like the idea of being part of a traditional powerhouse program without recent dominance (the idea of helping a program ‘return to glory’).” – Chinmay Vaidya, Content
“I want Nike or Jordan gear. While UCLA laid out the spread for me, I’m not wearing Under Armour. I need to go West for warm baseball and USC has the Nike gear I desire. I’ll revive the football program as well.” – Dan Howell, Content
“USC. When I was younger I loved USC football (thanks Vince Young for ruining our championship). Playing baseball in cold weather is terrible so being able to play baseball in warm weather makes this an easy decision.” – Tim Butera, Tech Ops
“Florida State. Anywhere in the ACC or SEC seems like a must. I may not even visit elsewhere. Need a big school if I am a big-time talent so I could be a big fish in a big pond. To be successful and get noticed playing both sports, as big of a school at a premier program will be the key. These five premier schools are as good as it gets with national brands that all have history on their side. I choose FSU because they are a top-10 all-time program in football and aren’t too far behind in baseball while playing premier competition on a national stage.” – Dan Vasta, Production
“Vanderbilt. The baseball program is consistently among the top-ranked in the nation. The football program, although lacking recently, presents a great opportunity to showcase skills against top competition in the SEC.” – Robbie Tonge, Live Events
Let us know on Twitter at @Stadium where you would take your five official visits and what school you would commit to and why, if you were an elite two-sport athlete in football and baseball.
