The two players that Utah football coach Ron McBride was sweating about early Wednesday finally sent in their signed NCAA letters-of-intent Wednesday afternoon, and that means McBride considers this recruiting class one of his best.
Running back Michael Anderson, the California junior college player of the year with 1,686 yards rushing in 1997 (1,511 in '96) from Mount San Jacinto gave McBride a bit of a fright, but, after he verbally committed on Monday, Anderson finally officially came into the fold Wednesday afternoon.With the Utes losing Juan Johnson to graduation and junior Chris Fuamatu-Ma'afala to an NFL declaration, Anderson, at 6-foot-2 and 220 pounds, is an important prize. Utah also signed touted running back D'Shaun Crockett early Wednesday.
Anderson is a two-time JC All-American, two-year school MVP and two-year all-stater, and McBride's staff went after him hard. "Everyone pitched in and did a good job on him," McBride says of the 24-year-old former Marine from South Carolina. "He's a big explosive back, a big-time player."
The other big Wednesday-afternoon signing was noseguard Lauvale Sape, 6-2, 290, from Leilehua, Hawaii, a freshman first-team all-stater who was most valuable defenseman in the state all-star game. McBride says he was a "Super-Prep All-American."
Those two were part of an eight-man group that waited until afternoon to fax in their signed letters. That makes 24 in the recruiting class so far, though two of the afternoon group will be walk-ons (Mike Fuller, DL, 6-3, 240, Fr., Palisade, Colo. (Palisade); and Dustin Thome, QB, 6-2, 218, Fr., Englewood, Colo. (Cherry Creek), meaning a few scholarships may still be available.
The Wednesday-afternoon signees also included 6-4, 270-pound defensive end Bobby Enosa of Mountain View, Calif., (Foothill JC); linebacker Peter Salavea (6-1, 240), a junior from Honolulu and Dixie College whom McBride compares to Phil Glover; defensive back Marcus Gaines, 5-11, 170, freshman from Oakland McClymonds, a PrepStar Magazine all-region choice and Blue Chip Top 100 selection; and freshman offensive lineman Jordan Gross, 6-5, 260, of Fruitland, Idaho (Fruitland).
Utah State
New coach Dave Arslanian announced the signing of 29 recruits, and he expected to add a few more in the next couple of days.
Besides the 23 recruits announced in Wednesday's Deseret News, the Aggies signed six more players later in the day.
They included Jose Fuentes, a 6-3, 190-pound quarterback from Rancho Cucamonga, Calif.; Jamar Glasper, a 6-1, 180-pound defensive back from Las Vegas; Luis Trujillo, 6-2, 305-pound offensive lineman from Long Beach, Calif.; Jesse Busta, a 6-2, 240-pound lineacker from La Crescenta, Calif.; Mark Rush, a 6-5, 260-pound defensive lineman from Arroya Grande, Calif.; and Linton Coleman, a 5-11, 175-pound receiver from Miami.
Fuentes is among four quarterbacks signed Wednesday as Arslanian wants to have plenty of candidates to succeed two-year starter Matt Sauk. Other QBs who signed with the Aggies are Ogden High's Blake Moore, Steve Mullins of Phoenix and Eric Bracken of Compton, Calif. The Aggies also return several reserve quarterbacks from last year, plus redshirt Riley Jensen, who transferred from BYU.
The largest bunch of recruits came at the offensive line position where the Aggies snagged seven new players, led by Steve Candidate, a 310-pounder from Florida. Three other JC linemen were signed to bolster a line that graduated three starters. The Aggies also inked four defensive backs and three running backs, including Emmett White, the Class 3A MVP from Ben Lomond.
Weber State
New Weber State head football coach Jerry Graybeal announced the signing of 12 new players into the Wildcat program, including three JC transfers.
Six of the high school seniors and one JC transfer come from Utah. Graybeal and his staff plucked three players from Washington prep ranks as well.
Headlining the local recruiting was the signing of runningback Myles Cooper (5-7, 170) from Ogden High. Cooper rushed for over 1,000 yards this season for the Tigers but doesn't attend Ogden High. He attends St. Joseph High School in Ogden which doesn't have a football team, so Cooper was allowed to play for Ogden. Cooper is currently one of the top scorers on the St. Joseph boys' basketball team.
Junior college signees include: Josh Andrews (WR 5-11, 175, Jr., Spanish Fork HS/Gavilan JC); Ron James (OT, 6-5, 275, Jr., Pawnee, Okla., Pawnee HS/Long Beach City College); Brad Rekuc (LB, 6-2, 240, Jr., Mesa, Ariz., Mountain View HS/Mesa CC).
High school signees are: Chris Amidan (LB, 6-2 ,215, Ogden, Bonneville HS); Robert Carlstrom (DE, 6-2, 230, Ferndale, Wash., Ferndale HS); Sylvester Daniels (WR, 5-11, 180, Layton, Layton HS); Matthew Jensen (LB, 6-1, 215, Ogden, Bonneville HS); Albert Jones (TE, 6-5, 220, Kearns, Kearns HS); Eric Lohnes (LB, 6-2, 220, Olympia, Wash., Olympia HS); Ben Olson (DT, 6-3, 240, Kent, Wash., Kent HS); Corey Pantuso (LB, 6-2, 220, Long Beach, Calif., St. John Bosco HS).
Southern Utah
Southern Utah University signed has signed nine football players to national letters of intent.
"I think we did pretty well this year," said SUU coach C. Ray Gregory said.
Included on SUU's list are seven all-staters, including Colorado's 3A player of the year. The T-Birds also signed quarterbacks Brad Austin (Hunter High) and Joel Clark (Orem). Both were named to their respective all-region squads.
Of local interest, the Thunderbirds got a commitment from 2A all-stater Chad Marshall, a Beaver High School product and brother of SUU standout Clay Marshall, who can play defensive back, running back or receiver.
Perhaps the most heralded signees on the SUU list are Murray High product Nate Sundloff and Rod Madsen, a returned missionary who prepped at West. Sundloff is a two-time all-stater who earned recognition as both a kickoff return specialist and as a defensive back this year after tallying 54 solo tackles and six interceptions as well as returning a pair of kicks for touchdowns. Madsen, who has already enrolled at SUU, is another two-time all-stater, who won recognition as both a running back and as a linebacker. Madsen's brother, Brook, will be a senior this fall and needs four yards to become the school's all-time leading rusher.
SUU also signed running back Jamie Thatcher, Colorado's 3A player of the year out of Woodland Park High School; Richard Slack, a linebacker from Granger High; Colby Wakefield, a defensive back from Orem High; and Ryan Warner, an offensive lineman from Juab High School.
Out-of-state
A couple of Pac-10 schools and several other out-of-state programs received signatures from Utah prep players on Wednesday.
Brighton High tight end Copper Blackhurst, a first-team all-stater, signed with the Stanford Cardinals. The 4.0 student, who plays defensive end and tight end, was recruited by Utah and BYU.
Bonneville linebacker Mason Unck, a second-team all-stater, signed to play for Arizona State. Snow College's Junior Ioane will also play for ASU.
Several Utahns are headed to Nevada schools: Cyprus lineman Cody Johnson signed with Nevada-Reno, while Logan receiver Nick Palmer and American Fork lineman Gabe Gurney are headed to UNLV.
Other Utahns who signed out-of-state include: Box Elder quarterback Brian Cusick, Air Force; Skyline quarterback Stillman Clark, Virginia Military Institute; Mountain View wide receiver J.C. Davis, Navy; and Cedar City lineman Justin Taylor, Idaho State.