In today’s era of college football, a lot of high school athletes and transfer portal players often make their commitment decision based on which team is offering the most NIL money, rather than which team they want to play with the most, or have the best relationship with.
That wasn’t exactly the case for 5-star safety Peyton Bowen, who announced his commitment to the Oregon Ducks on Wednesday, flipping from the Notre Dame Fighting Irish.
Bowen has been committed to Notre Dame since January 1, 2022. He stayed committed throughout the year, but other schools continued to pursue him, Oregon being one of them. The Ducks made a strong case to flip him, as did the Oklahoma Sooners, and the Fighting Irish worked hard to keep him in South Bend.
In the end, it came down to a gut decision from Bowen. When going to make his official announcement on Wednesday morning, Bowen stood up and said that he would be committing to…. The Notre Dame Fighting Irish.
He put a Notre Dame hat on his head. Then he took the hat off.
“That doesn’t feel right.”
Bowen then put on an Oregon Ducks hat and threw up the Oregon ‘O,’ saying that he would commit to the Ducks.
Peyton Bowen chooses Oregon.
The five-star Denton Guyer safety flips from Notre Dame to the Ducks. pic.twitter.com/597uOxGqFn
— Shawn McFarland (@McFarland_Shawn) December 21, 2022
We’ve seen this move a lot in the past from high school recruits trying to make a show of their commitment. This doesn’t feel like it was a move done for flash for drama, though. According to Bowen himself, it truly was a last-second decision that landed him at Oregon.
Just spoke with Five-Star Safety Peyton Bowen about his decision.
“I didn’t know where I was going until the last second right before I picked up the hat,” Bowen said. “I was debating it the whole time.”
A true battle between Oregon and Notre Dame until the end.
— Hayes Fawcett (@Hayesfawcett3) December 21, 2022
In the end, Bowen chose the Ducks, and you could feel the exuberance throughout Eugene at the news. Of course, things got even better a few minutes later when it was announced that 5-star edge rusher Matayo Uiagalelei would be joining him as well.
It was a great morning in Eugene, and the Ducks are getting some incredibly talented players to come play for Oregon.
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