VERO BEACH — Wonderful “Champ” Monds has been one of the nation’s most sought-after quarterbacks since before even played his first high school game.
Now, he’s down to three schools: Florida State, Notre Dame and Ohio State.
Vero Beach’s star rising senior quarterback is set to announce his college decision at 1:05 p,m. May 1 on The Pat McAfee Show.
“It was very rough,” Monds said of narrowing his list of more than 30 offers. “I built plenty of relationships throughout my short high school career. It’s been a blessing to be able to have all of this. It hurts to have to tell people I’m down to three, but at some point, I have to make a decision.”
The 6-foot-2, 224-pound Monds reclassified to the 2027 class in December A four-star recruit, Monds is No. 22 on the USA TODAY Florida Network top 100 and the No. 2 ranked quarterback in the state.
Monds missed most of 2025 with a high ankle sprain but completed 45 of 63 passes (71.4 percent completion percentage) for 691 yards and seven touchdowns with no interceptions. As a freshman, Monds threw for 2,234 yards and 23 touchdowns and rushed for 502 yards and nine touchdowns.
Monds gave the USA TODAY Florida Network his thoughts on each of his finalists.
Florida State
“I’ve known Coach (Mike) Norvell for a while. Coach Norvell and the whole coaching staff, (quarterbacks) coach (Austin) Tucker, coach (Tim) Harris being the new OC, they’re all great people and great coaches overall. When I went up to visit, I got to see how they really operate in their offense, the way they practice and the way they coach their quarterbacks. It’s definitely something I can see myself fitting in to.”
Notre Dame
They have academics and football at a very level. That’s something my parents really like is the academic part of it. Of course, if the football is good too, that’s a plus. I got to get with coach (offensive coordinator Mike) Denbrock, (head) coach (Marcus) Freeman and (quarterbacks) coach (Gino) Guidugli over the weekend and watch that practice. I was very impressed with CJ Carr. I can’t wait to see them in action.
Ohio State
“They have testimony of the amount of quarterbacks they’ve been sending to the league. They’ve all done well in the NFL. So, of course, they’re going to be high on my list. With Ryan Day, (quarterbacks) coach (Billy) Fessler, I know they do a great job. And getting to see Julian Sayin in person was a great experience.”
This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: Vero Beach QB Champ Monds set to college announce decision on May 1
Reporting by Jon Santucci, Treasure Coast Newspapers / Treasure Coast Newspapers
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
