Three Schools Standing out for LaVar Arrington II

Arrington is one of Oregon's top defensive targets in the 2025 class and is fresh off a trip to Eugene.

Oregon has made a habit of recruiting and signing the top defensive recruits on the West Coast and the expectation is that will continue in the 2025 cycle under head coach Dan Lanning. 

2025 Covina (Calif.) Charter Oak ATH LaVar Arrington II, the son of legendary Penn State linebacker LaVar Arrington, took his first trip to Eugene over the weekend and spoke with Ducks Digest about that trip.

One reason he wanted to take the trip was because of how hard the Ducks have been recruiting him, with linebackers coach Brian Michalowksi coming to visit him in Southern California recently.

"Just cause you know I've been visiting all these other colleges I might as well just take one to Eugene. Especially since they're recruiting me super hard."

The 6-foot-4, 215-pound defender is primarily being recruited by the Ducks to play outside linebacker and was impressed by a number of things in Eugene.

"Just Oregon overall. You step up in there, all you see is green," Arrington said. "It's good weather, then you go into the facility. The facility is beautiful. You could tell they take pride in their football program. The players are pretty cool. I hung out with them after the visit. Everything there, you can tell it's a football school."

While in the Northwest he got to spend most of his time with a pair of coaches.

"Mainly it was Coach Tosh (Lupoi) and Coach (Brian) Michalowski," he said. "They're just taking me through what it's like to be an Oregon Duck. I had to wake up early so that I could actually watch film with Michalowksi the inside linebacker coach. I also got to watch film with the outside linebacker coach, Coach Tosh."

What stands out most about the Ducks?

"I would say the family culture. You got Oregon, they really will care about you. They've proven to me that you're not just somebody who's coming in from football. After you go in and come out---it's for life. You're gonna have connections with Oregon for the rest of your life, whether that's through Nike or the program, whatever. They'll take care of you even after you go there."

2025 Covina (Calif.) Charter Oak ATH Lavar Arrington on a visit to the University of Oregon / LaVar Arrington II on Instagram (@manman_arrington)

2025 Covina (Calif.) Charter Oak ATH LaVar Arrington II on a visit to Oregon / LaVar Arrington II on Instagram (@manman_arrington)

Looking ahead Arrington has plans to visit a couple of other schools.

"I plan on going to probably Tennesse during the spring and then to Arizona State probably a couple weeks from now," the Southern California product said. "Maybe Stanford or whatever other schools might invite me."

He spoke on his thoughts regarding a decision timeline, with a couple schools standing out right now.

"It really depends right now because I'm still trying to look at my choices and see which ones are the best for me. But since I've been on those three visits, I would say that Penn State and Oregon were the most enjoyable. UCLA was more like a mellow type visit.  I still gotta take all my visits to really rank which ones I would go to. So I don't really have a ranking yet."

Arrington is prioritizing academics and a school that can help set him up for long-term success.

"What's most important for me in a school is the academics because I know football doesn't last forever. So I feel like after football I want to do a business and I want to brand my business and I want to promote it. So I feel like a school with a good business program I could really go to and they could benefit me after I leave."

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