Heavily Recruited Fien Agrees to Attend University of Texas

The recruiting battle for Royal High quarterback Ryan Fien ended late Sunday when he committed to the University of Texas.

Fien, the Southern Section Division II player of the year, visited Texas over the weekend and committed before leaving campus.

In addition, Royal’s Jason Wendland, a 6-foot-5, 255-pound offensive tackle, said he will accept a scholarship offer from Northwestern, and San Fernando defensive back Brian Brison has committed to Ohio, a Division I school in the Mid-American Conference.

Those players can sign national letters of intent Feb. 5, the signing date for high school seniors.

Fien, who passed for 4,542 yards and 50 touchdowns in three seasons at Royal, also had visited Michigan State, Washington and UCLA.

“I knew before I went out there that Texas offered a great opportunity, great coaches,” he said.

“Texas had the best facilities of all my trips, and 80,000 fans attend their games. But I wanted to check out how well they liked a quarterback from California. They don’t have any California players on their roster, and I guess they’ve never had a quarterback from California. They were friendlier than I could have ever imagined.”

Fien, 6-foot-4 and 200 pounds, is among several heralded high school quarterbacks who have visited Texas since Coach John Mackovic left Illinois for the Longhorns in December.

Brison (5-9, 180) chose Ohio after visiting the school two weeks ago. He also visited Oregon State and canceled trips to Oregon, Colorado State and Northern Arizona.

Brison, a second-team All-Valley selection by The Times, doubled as a fullback for San Fernando last fall, gaining 725 yards in 74 carries, a 9.8 per-rush average.