Four-star Cibolo Steele safety Caden Sterns spent the entire second half of Friday night’s meeting with San Antonio East Central enjoying a blowout from the sidelines. The elite 2018 talent had already done his part to secure a victory that was in the bag by the start of the second quarter — Steele owned a comfortable 27-0 lead following Sterns’ elusive and electric 58-yard punt return touchdown just before the break.
It was the kind of play that could assure a press box full of scouts on hand to watch the nation’s No. 4 safety that their trip to the San Antonio suburb wasn’t a waste on a night in which the defense largely avoided Sterns.
The nation’s No. 44 player and No. 5 player in Texas, per the 247Sports Composite, Sterns now holds 11 offers after Tennessee and Colorado recently jumped into the mix, and noted Tennessee, Texas, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, and Georgia as the schools making him a priority.
As one of the nation’s premier prospects, Sterns’ list of potential suitors will only continue to grow as he nears the final stretch of his junior season. While there isn’t any offer in particular that he’s still waiting for, Sterns said he’s interested in Washington, though the Huskies are yet to extend an invitation.
Sterns’ brother, Jordan, who currently stars at safety for Oklahoma State, once starred at Steele and has already experienced the recruiting process, so he’s been able to extend a bit of advice from across the Red River.
“Stay humble and just pray; pray about it,” Sterns said of Jordan’s message to him. “He’s always been there and he’s not forcing me to go to any school.”
“Stay humble and just trust yourself because you’re the one that’s going to be going there for the next four years of your life.”
Unlike his brother, the younger Sterns has been offered the opportunity to spend his college years on the Forty Acres at Texas, something he said he’s still interested in despite the Longhorns recent struggles on the field. “It doesn’t really matter to me,” Sterns said, before noting that he doesn’t have any favorites at this time and will be considering schools largely based on education and the university itself.
“It’s what you do there, college-wise, that’s going to affect you for the rest of your life with jobs and everything,” Sterns said.
Sterns also added that despite his relationship with Texas’ secondary coach Vance Bedford, who was recently demoted from his duties as defensive coordinator, Bedford’s future with the program won’t have much of an impact on his recruitment.
“Somewhat, but not really in a big way,” Sterns said. “That happens. It’s college and some things are for the better.”