Palo Verde High running back Brandon Wright, shown against Cheyenne this fall, is one of 11 from the Las Vegas Valley who is expected to sign with a Division I school on national signing day.
Wednesday, Feb. 2, 2011 | 2:05 a.m.
2011 recruits expected to sign Wednesday
- Connor Afoa, LB, Foothill High, UNLV
- Tala Atimalala, DL, Desert Pines High, Army
- Malik Brown, RB, Canyon Springs High, Southern Utah
- Jalen Grimble, DL, Bishop Gorman High, Miami or UCLA
- Bennie Harris, DE, Silverado High, San Diego
- Ladale Jackson, ATH, Silverado High, Utah State
- Miles Killebrew, DB, Foothill High, Southern Utah
- Marquan Major, WR, Las Vegas High, Idaho
- Bryson Mook, DL, Bishop Gorman High, Northern Arizona
- Eric Noone, OL, Silverado High, San Diego
- A.C. Patterson, C, Bishop Gorman High, UTEP
- Don Pearson, WR, Faith Lutheran, Navy
- Togasii Peko, DB, Bishop Gorman High, Navy
- LaShaun Sims, DB, Agassi Prep, Southern Utah
- Sam Tai, DL, Liberty High, UCLA
- Brandon Wright, RB, Palo Verde High, San Diego State
- Evan Zeger, S, Bishop Gorman High, Washington
Eleven local high school football players Wednesday will sign with Division I college programs. Another six will ink with Football Championship Subdivision schools such as Southern Utah.
Still, national signing day won’t be as celebrated in the Las Vegas Valley as last year. That’s when eight from state champion Bishop Gorman High signed letters of intent, leading the way for 27 locals to sign — 15 with Division I programs and another 12 to FCS schools.
“(Las Vegas’) top-end players are pretty good (this year),” Gorman coach Tony Sanchez said. “We just don’t have the volume this year. All things considered, it’s still a good year for Vegas football, just probably not as good as last year.”
While the numbers of Division I recruits is down, it’s no reason to panic. Palo Verde coach Darwin Rost, whose coaching career in Southern Nevada goes back to the early 1990s, remembers a good year as being sending four prospects to the next level. Some years, there would be none.
“It goes in cycles,” said Rost, who is also president of the local coaches association.
Jalen Grimble, who is rated as a four-star prospect out of five stars by recruiting website Rivals.com, leads this year’s class. The 6-foot-4, 255-pound defensive lineman verbally committed to Southern California last May but is no longer being recruited by the school. A consensus top-100 prospect by multiple services, he is considering Miami and UCLA and is expected to decide Wednesday.
Gorman has six advancing to the next level — safety Evan Zeger to Washington, defensive back Togasii Peko to Navy, center A.C. Patterson to UTEP, defensive lineman Bryson Mook to Northern Arizona, wide receiver Cameron Hanson to Division II Simon Fraser University in Canada and Grimble.
The 6-foot, 180-pound Hanson was used primarily as a reserve on Gorman's back-to-back state championship teams, but earned praise from Sanchez for providing depth and a strong work ethic. Simon Fraser is the lone international school that competes in the NCAA.
"Cameron is one of those steadfast guys who showed up everyday and grinded and worked hard," Sanchez said. "I know he will do well at Simon Fraser. He will be a great addition to that program."
Defensive lineman Sam Tai from Sunrise Region champion Liberty signed with UCLA in November and is already enrolled. Palo Verde running back Brandon Wright picked San Diego State, opting to join the Mountain West Conference school because he was recruited on offense. Cal, his second choice, recruited him at defensive back.
Three are expected to sign with military academies — Peko and Bishop Gorman High wide receiver and linebacker Don Pearson with Navy, and Desert Pines' Tala Atimalala with Army. There are five locals already in Navy’s program, including two each from Faith Lutheran and Gorman.
Las Vegas High wide receiver Marquan Major sign his national letter of intent with the University of Idaho Wednesday morning in the office at his high school. Major is joined by his parents, Derek and Yvette.
Las Vegas High wide receiver Marquan Major, a three-year varsity starter, picked Idaho over an offer from UNLV.
UNLV, which signed eight from the Las Vegas Valley last year, is only expected to ink Foothill linebacker Connor Afoa. They also offered scholarships to Pearson, Wright, Grimble and Tai, but couldn’t get any commitments.
“You have to judge UNLV by the offers they made, not the number of kids who went there,” Sanchez said. “I’m sure they would have loved to have had a Jalen Grimble or a Brandon Wright. The kids just didn’t want to go there.”
The group of FCS commits includes LaShaun Sims of 2A classification Agassi Prep signing with Southern Utah. Sims is the first from the public charter school backed by tennis legend Andre Agassi to receive a full-ride athletic scholarship.
Also, Canyon Spring running back Malik Brown and Foothill defensive back Miles Killebrew are signing with Southern Utah, bringing the total number of locals at the Cedar City, Utah, school to roughly 10. Two others from Foothill are signing with non-Division I or FCS schools —Wes Hudson with Northwestern Oklahoma State an Ryan Call with Colorado School of the Mines, Foothill coach Marty Redmond said.
Silverado linebacker Bennie Harris and offensive lineman Eric Noone are signing with San Diego. The Skyhawks’ Ladale Jackson will ink with Division I Utah State. Jackson surprisingly picked Utah State over offers from larger school because Utah State said he could also run track.
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