Crook County's Eddie Freauff on his official visit to Oregon State. Freauff committed to play football for the Beavers on Aug. 7. 

Three Central Oregon high school football players committed this summer to continue their careers at college programs that are currently in the rapidly dissolving Pac-12 Conference.

Summit tight end Charlie Crowell is off to play for Big 12-bound Arizona, Crook County wideout Eddie Freauff is headed to Oregon State and Mountain View kicker Connor Calvert will attend Washington State.

All three of the commitments have come at a time when the Conference of Champions, which has existed for more than 100 years and has a rich history and tradition, is on shaky ground after four teams bolted for the Big 10 and four more joined the Big 12 earlier this month.

But Crowell, Freauff and Calvert, seniors-to-be at their respective high schools, all said similarly that the conference realignment did not affect their decisions on where to play college football.

“I really liked the Pac-12,” Crowell said. “I was looking forward to coming back to Oregon and having my parents come and watch me at Autzen (Stadium) or Reser (Stadium). But it didn’t change my decision. I picked the school based on the university, not the conference.”

The fracturing of the Pac-12 was set into motion last summer when USC and UCLA stunned college football by announcing that they would be leaving the conference to join the Big 10. Then Oregon and Washington earlier this month decided to leave for the Big 10, and Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado and Utah jumped ship to the Big 12. The changes are effective Aug. 2, 2024.

So the Pac-12 is down to the Pac-4, as Oregon State, Washington State, Stanford and Cal are still figuring out their plans for 2024, with the Mountain West and American Athletic conferences reportedly showing interest.

Still, for Calvert and Freauff, the uncertainty surrounding the Beavers’ and Cougars’ programs did not scare them away from making their commitments.

“It didn’t have an impact on me,” Freauff said. “I don’t think changing the conference is going to change Beaver football. The football is still going to be the same, coach (Jonathan) Smith is going to be the same. Because of that I don’t think it impacted me very much.”

“It crossed my mind (and my parents’ minds), but after getting to campus and getting to meet the coaches, it seemed like they had an idea where the program would go and it was one that I wanted to be a part of,” said WSU-bound Calvert. “The uprights are still the same. If you are good enough and long enough they will find you. After that we will see where that takes me, and hopefully that is the NFL.”

In Crowell, Arizona gets a 6-foot-5-inch, 235-pound tight end with enticing receiving skills and high upside. Wildcats tight ends coach Jordan Paopao, while a coach at Washington, helped coach three tight ends who went on to be drafted into the NFL.

“It is more about the people,” said Crowell, who made his commitment on June 25, several weeks before Arizona announced its move to the Big 12. “It felt like home. When I went on my official visit, I had a great time. Definitely the best of all my visits. I like the way that the program is going and how I see myself fitting into the offense. I see myself being the most successful there and giving myself the best shot to go and play in the pros.”

Washington State was not on Calvert’s radar. He hadn’t been in contact with anyone in the program, but decided to take a visit to Pullman to attend Washington State’s kicking showcase in late June. And once there, he put on a show.

He won both the field goal and kickoff competition, he was the only camper to make a 57-yard field goal (a little short of his personal best of 65 yards that he has made during practice) and was offered a preferred walk-on spot by special teams coordinator Nick Whitworth. On Aug. 11, Calvert announced his commitment.

It was the relationship developed with Whitworth that sold Calvert on Washington State.

“I felt that he wanted what was best for me,” Calvert said. “My goal is playing in the NFL and I think that will help me get there. It would help me become the best athlete and the best human overall.”

Picking Oregon State, coming off a 10-win season in 2022, was an easy choice for Freauff. His father attended OSU and he grew up as part of Beaver Nation.

“I just really like the energy of Beaver football,” Freauff said. “That is why it was easy to commit there. It was an easy pick because my family has been Beaver fans.”

Freauff had been on the football camp circuit throughout the summer, attending six different camps. Oregon State had coaches at most of those camps and they were impressed with the play-making of Freauff, who scored touchdowns through the air, on the ground, on kickoffs and off interceptions last fall for the Cowboys. He is also a basketball star at Crook County.

Three days after receiving an offer, Freauff made his commitment on Aug. 7, just a few days after the Beavers were left twisting in the wind by fleeing Pac-12 member schools.

“They have a pretty small receiver room,” Freauff said. “I’ll come in and be a bigger type of receiver in the room. I think that is why they pulled the trigger on me, because I’m a bigger receiver.”

With commitments out of the way and knowing which schools they will be playing for next fall, Crowell, Calvert and Freauff are able to focus on their high school teams’ upcoming seasons.

“It is a huge weight off my shoulders,” Crowell said. “My junior year was really stressful because my dream is to play college football. I didn’t have any offers during my junior season, I was just fighting to get opportunities. Now that it’s all taken care of I have a weight off my shoulders and I can play free.”