Better late than never.

Three-star athlete Jeremiah Pruitte signed his national letter of intent to become a member of Colorado State’s football team in front of friends and family at Wheeler High School Tuesday morning.

Pruitte joins twenty-one players in CSU’s 2019 incoming class which ranks second in the Mountain West behind only Boise State.

The Georgia native initially committed to Louisville last Summer over additional Power 5 offers with hopes of excelling within former head coach Bobby Petrino’s offense. Pruitte decommitted from UL in light of Petrino’s firing and decided to play for the Rams on February 22, about two weeks after CSU’s February signing day.

The Rams immediately came to Pruitte’s mind when he reopened his recruitment considering CSU offered the athlete prior. Though the athlete had a hand full of programs to pick from the second time around, Pruitte’s interest in head coach Mike Bobo’s offensive-mind resulted in him reaching out to the Rams.

“I started hearing from a couple other schools when I opened my recruitment back up,” Pruitte said. “Then decided to reach out to CSU because I remember they offered me prior to me committing to Louisville. I had known about CSU’s offensive scheme a lot and their spread offense and how they like to put the ball in playmakers’ hands. So once I decommitted, I just looked at it as an opportunity and reached out to them. They were all for it, and we decided to make it happen.”

While Pruitte committed to play for the Rams at ease, his signing process turned out to be a little more complicated.

Missing signing day alone delayed Pruitte from putting pen to paper on time. Inking his letter of intent was then delayed further as Pruitte needed to handle “personal matters” including maintaining academic eligibility.

Despite the holdup, Pruitte never felt pressure from CSU’s coaching staff to sign at any point. The support and personal space issued by the Rams appropriately took stress off Pruite while also keeping him confident in his decision.

“Coach Bobo and coach (Joe) Cox let me know there no rush to the process, and I let them know that CSU is going to be my home,” Pruitte said. “They let me know that whenever I was ready to make it happen, that was when it was going to happen. They expressed that there was no rush and I could take my time and focus on my school work.”

CSU’s respectfulness and patient approach to the situation comes as no surprise to Pruitte. One of Pruitte’s priorities when choosing a new program was selecting a team that would give him “time to figure everything out” on his end.

The positive impressions CSU made on Pruitte during his official visit last Spring reassured his comfortability in selecting the Rams amid a tricky circumstance.

“For starters, I liked how they were really family-oriented,” Pruitte said. “I remember back in the Spring when they came down and offered me coach Cox was really family-oriented and was truthful with me from the beginning. That is one thing that stuck out to me, how well they treated me from the beginning.”

The addition of Pruitte awards CSU a versatile athlete who will most likely transition from tight end to wide receiver in college.

Pruitte averaged 61 receiving yards per game at Wheeler in nine games played at tight end his senior year. He totaled 545 yards and 35 receptions while also finding the endzone eight times.

Pruitte’s large frame and sturdy hands indicate legitimate red zone potential at the next level. With pass-catching ambitions in mind, Pruitte is looking forward to learning from the Rams’ talented receivers when he arrives in Fort Collins in June.

“I’ve watched their receivers a lot and learned from them a lot,” Pruitte said. “Warren Jackson is league-bound, and I think he will get drafted after this next year. He is one guy I’m really looking forward to shadowing and practicing behind.”