Following his commitment, Chase Sowell ready to sign with CU

To say that Class of 2022 wide receiver Chase Sowell experienced a bit of an abnormal recruiting experience might be an understatement.

Sowell, who became CU's 19th verbal pledge Tuesday, was only offered by the Buffaloes on Dec. 4. From there, he quickly penciled in an official visit, which he completed last weekend.

After returning home to Humble, Texas, from Boulder, Sowell was quick to pull the trigger and commit.

Before his senior season at Atascocita High School, Sowell was primarily focused on continuing his baseball career, going as far as to take an official visit to Indiana to check out the program in Bloomington.

Ultimately, getting on Colorado's radar came about somewhat by accident.

“Colorado had come out earlier in the season just to scout our area and I talked to coach (Bryan) Cook, the tight ends coach," Sowell said. "He was recruiting our area and he asked me what my name was and everything."

"He got my information but said they didn’t have any spots because recruiting was crazy and they were trying to figure out what they were going to do."

While at the time earlier this fall, the Buffs were unsure about having any open scholarships to offer him, a strong mid-season showing by Sowell against North Shore, in which he scored two touchdowns, helped grease the wheels.

Following that game and a second visit to the greater Houston area by Cook, Sowell's film was passed on back to Boulder, where it was received with interest.

When Sowell eventually took his official visit to Colorado, it helped convince him that he wanted to be in Boulder for the next few years.

Freshman tight end Austin Smith and sophomore quarterback J.T. Shrout served as his player-hosts.

“The official is really what made my decision," Sowell said. "I went up there and as soon as I got off (the plane), I met the coaches. We drove down to Boulder from Denver and it was great. It was like family. Great environment, the mountains were beautiful, I met a lot of great people, great coaching — it was just great all-around.”

Other than the Buffaloes, Sowell had opportunities to play college football at Northern Iowa, Sam Houston State, and UTSA.

For those wanting to pin the underdog label on Sowell, he doesn't necessarily feel the same.

“The coaches at Colorado like my film and know what ‘m capable of," he said. "I’ll always have to prove myself but I don’t think I really have to put on too much. The coaches at Colorado, coach Dorrell, coach (Reggie) Moore, they trust me and they believe in me.”

Sowell plans to sign his national letter of intent tomorrow and will join Colorado this upcoming summer.