The Opening -- Day 3

After catching the ball, running back Darrian Felix runs down the field on the third day of the Opening. The Opening 2016 continued on July 8, 2016 at Nike World Headquarters in Beaverton, Oregon. Rebeca Bagdocimo/Staff

(Rebeca Bagdocimo)

For months, the nation's No. 5 all-purpose back, Darrian Felix, strongly considered the Oregon Ducks.

He mentioned it at The Opening Finals, where he was a top-five athlete in Nike Football testing, wrote "studied at University of Oregon" in his Facebook information and consistently listed the Ducks among his top schools.

On Sunday, the electric 5-foot-11, 194-pound athlete, out of Fort Myers High School (Florida), committed to Oregon over fellow finalists Clemson, Nebraska, North Carolina and Tennessee.

The news was first reported by Justin Hopkins.

"I woke up at 2:45 a.m. and said, 'I got to go to Oregon.' I talked to my mom and we just made the decision," Felix said. "There's a three-hour time difference, so I called Coach Pimpleton and he was up."

The electric Florida playmaker also held offers from Arizona, Arkansas, Auburn, Louisville, Miami (Fla.), West Virginia and others.

Keeping in line with the new staff's social media recruiting clues, Oregon running back coach Donte Pimpleton and head coach Willie Taggart both tweeted a veiled message about the impending good news.

I just received a BIG TIME PHONE CALL!!!! IT'S A GREAT DAY TO BE AN OREGON DUCK!!! This was a big one duck nation. #GODUCKS #WINTHEDAY — Donte' Pimpleton (@coach_pimp) January 8, 2017

Great phone call for the Ducks. We love Duck hunting. You can't stop the momentum, can only hope to contain it. Go Ducks! #DoSomething — Willie Taggart (@CoachTaggart) January 8, 2017

For Felix, the commitment to Oregon has been a long-time coming, as he has dreamed of playing in Eugene since he was a small child.

"Oregon has been my childhood dream school since I was about six years old," he said. "I got the opportunity, but I considered other schools, too. Today, I woke up and had the feeling Oregon was the one."

That feeling didn't boil down to just one factor, rather Felix considered Eugene the perfect fit in multiple avenues.

"The people there are great - the players are great," he said. "It's Oregon, so what's not to like about it?"

As a senior, the Florida product ran the ball 190 times for 1,477 yards with 20 touchdowns and an additional 186 receiving yards with three more scores, earning him a News-Press all-area football first-team selection.

Felix intends to add weight in college and will sort out a position once he arrives on campus, expressing that he'll find ways to contribute wherever he's needed.

Oregon landed one of the nation's most electric athletes Sunday.

Perhaps as important, it appears Taggart's pull in Florida should not be underestimated.

-- Andrew Nemec

anemec@oregonian.com

@AndrewNemec