Three-star DE excited about his official visit to Army

The weekend of 10/09 was a big football and recruiting weekend for Army. There were several prospects (including committed offensive lineman, A.J. McGovern) on hand that Saturday for unofficial visits, as they hosted Vanderbilt. But also scheduled to be sprinkled in the middle of that group were two players who rank on the top of the Black Knights' 2010 recruiting list.

Scheduled to arrive were 3-star players; defensive end Maxx Forde and Keith McBride. Unfortunately, Forde missed his plane and was unable to attend, but vowed at that time that he was determined to make his way from the state of Washington to the West Point campus because his level of interest in the Black Knights.

That was then and this is now for the determined 6-foot-3, 240 pound prospect, as he took time out to share with GoBlackKnights.com about his weekend official visit to Army.

"Man, my visit was a little overwhelming," shares Forde, who is out of Woodinville (WA) Woodinville High School. "It was really impressive … there was so much to soak it. It was hard to do in that little time, but it was impressive.

My mother and I arrived Friday evening and she was really impressed with it as well. She kept pointing out all the history there … she was in awe too, just to be in a place like that."

Forde indicated that he has an opportunity to meet with defensive line coach John Mumford and they went over some of the film from this year and went over Army's defense alignments and schemes.

The talented defensive end prospect was hosted by freshmen defensive end Jarrett Mackey. "It went to really well … went back to his barracks and hung out and meet some of the players," Forde declared. "We went around the campus and took in a little bit of the USC-Arizona game but then I fell asleep because I was a little bit jet lagged. He's a really good guy and I had great time with him. He gave me a lot of good information about what it's like to attend West Point and play football here. He did stress that it's not as hard as it may appear, but you have to work hard at it."

Forde also had a chance to speak to and connect running back Trenton Turrentine who was on hand for his official visit. "We talked a little bit and we hung out on Saturday with our hosts," says Forde.

So where does Forde stand with Army? "I'm still digesting it all, but it's definitely will be a factor in my decision … no doubt about that," shared Forde, who has already taken an official visit to Washington State and is scheduled to visit Idaho this weekend.

Army has already developed a pipeline of very solid talent at defensive end. Of course you have to start with junior Josh McNary, who currently is 2nd in the nation in TFL and 3rd in the country in the sack category. Then you have up and coming Jarret Mackey and Julius Warmsley who will be making his way up from the prep school.

Forde is the 20th ranked prospect out of the state of Washington and his style of play is an ideal fit into Coach Ellerson's defensive scheme. You can bet that Forde is one the elite prospects on the Army 2010 recruiting list.

GoBlackKnights.com will continue to stay in touch with Forde throughout his recruiting process.