Upland, CA — “I feel so relieved,” said Justin Flowe minutes after announcing his decision to play for the University of Oregon in front of hundreds on Wednesday morning.
The five-star linebacker out of Upland High School narrowed his choices down to Clemson, Miami, USC and Oregon. After faking out everybody in the gym reaching for the Clemson hat, he then quickly reached for the Oregon cap and proceeded to put it on with a big smile on his face.
“Oregon was my dream school,” Flowe told the media after his announcement. “I loved my campus visit there, how they ran practice and how their program was run.”
The Ducks had their first-ever top-10 recruiting class last season and are following that up this year with an even more impressive haul in 2019. Flowe will join fellow five-star linebacker Noah Sewell out of Orem, Utah, on Oregon’s defense next season.
Flowe finished the 2019 season with 123 tackles, 10 sacks and five forced fumbles for the Highlanders defense. The inside linebacker played all four years at the varsity level and finished with over 430 tackles in his career.
The Ducks finished the 2019 regular season 11-2 and were winners of the Pac-12 Conference after defeating Utah 37-15 in the championship game. Oregon was a team on the fringe of making the College Football Playoffs but had a costly fourth-quarter meltdown against Auburn and another to Arizona State that ultimately put them out of the hunt.
While the Ducks will lose leading tackler Troy Dye next season, they could return up to eight of their top 10 tacklers from this season. And with underclassmen such as Mase Funa (8.5 tackles for loss), Verone McKinley III (four interceptions), Isaac Slade-Matautia (54 tackles, 11 pass breakups) and Kayvon Thibodeaux (14 tackles for loss, 9 sacks) this Oregon defense could be a dominant force the next couple seasons with the additions of Flowe and Sewell.
