In early February, Nathan Hale High School's No. 1 tight end, Wyatt Taboh-Graziano, signed a letter of intent to play football at Western Oregon University (WOU).
After helping to bring the Raiders to the playoffs last season for the school's first time since 1980, Taboh-Graziano is looking forward to continuing his football success.
"I'm obviously very happy," he said.
Taboh-Graziano also considered Western Washington University and Eastern Washington University. But after visiting the campus in Mon-mouth, Ore., in the Willamette Valley last year, he thought WOU was a good match for him.
Size, location and community were key factors in his decision.
"It's small, and it's out of the city, but still really close," he said. "And the people were nice."
SHARING SUCCESS
When Taboh-Graziano expressed interest in the school, Juan Cotto, a Nathan Hale assistant football coach and former WOU baseball player, contacted the football coach of his alma mater.
"It's been very exciting for me," Cotto said. "It was a great, great school for me."
Though the decision to sign with WOU was Taboh-Graziano's, the tight-end's mother, Iris Taboh, recognized the encouragement from Cotto and other Nathan Hale coaches.
"The coaches have been amazingly supportive," she said. "I can't say enough about them."
Taboh-Graziano's father, Anthony Graziano, also appreciated the coaches' efforts.
"What they did for those guys off the field, as much as they did on, was really amazing," he said.
The day Taboh-Graziano signed the letter of intent, the football coaches held a small ceremony at the school to recognize the athlete's achievement. Teammates, administrators, parents and his academic advisor attended.
"He's very well-known around school, and everybody's real proud of him," said Hoover Hopkins, Nathan Hale head football coach. "The staff is definitely excited about it."
Mentors spoke not only of Taboh-Graziano's athletic ability, but praised his ambition, humility and potential as a young man.
Teammates were also supportive.
"Wyatt's success was their success," Cotto said. "They treated it like a team event."
'A LOT OF NATURAL ABILITY'
College athletic scholarships are a rare opportunity for high school athletes. According to ScholarshipCoach. com, an informational website for scholarship-aspiring high school students, about 200,000 students received NCAA Division I and Division II scholarships in 2001.
"In my 14 years as a high school head football coach, [Taboh-Graziano] is only the third player to sign a letter of intent," Hopkins said.
Though Taboh-Graziano had some playing time as a sophomore, a wrist injury put him on the bench his junior year. Thus, this year, his senior year, was his first full-time, on-the-field season.
The 6-foot, 7-inch, 210-pound senior also plays center for Nathan Hale's varsity basketball team. He hopes to walk on to the WOU basketball team, but, at this point, he is more focused on football.
"I really wanted to play basketball [for college] until this year," Taboh-Graziano said. "We had a really good year [in football] this year."
Taboh-Graziano and his parents moved from San Francisco to Seattle when he was 3 years old. He began playing soccer in kindergarten. In middle school, he focused on baseball and basketball, while football became his newest game in 10th grade.
"He just has a lot of natural ability," his mother said.
Though his athletic plans are decided, Taboh-Graziano remains uncertain about his academic interests.
"I'm probably going to do business," he said of his major. "But I'm still pretty undecided."
As for his football future after WOU, Taboh-Graziano said he will need to improve a great deal before thinking about the NFL.
Cotto, however, recognizes similar traits between Taboh-Graziano and WOU's 2007 NFL draft pick, Kevin Boss.
"[Boss] had the same build as Wyatt and was also a high school basketball player," he said.
LOOKING AHEAD
Taboh-Graziano is mostly looking forward to becoming a part of the WOU community and working with the people there.
Cotto has faith in the WOU coaching staff's ability to aid Taboh-Graziano in accomplishing a great deal.
"Whatever his dreams are," he said. "He's got people down there who will help him."
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