Gorman’s Ron Scoggins Jr. verbally commits to New Mexico football

By Ray Brewer (contact)

Sunday, Jan. 22, 2012 | 9:34 p.m.

The opportunity to be part of helping New Mexico rebuild its college football program is something Ron Scoggins Jr. can’t wait to be part of.

Scoggins, an offensive lineman from three-time defending state champion Bishop Gorman High , verbally committed to New Mexico Sunday night. He visited the school this weekend and made an announcement during the Gaels’ end-of-the-year banquet.

The 6-foot-4, 300-pound Scoggins also had scholarship offers from UNLV, Fresno State, New Mexico State and San Jose State. He just couldn’t resist playing for newly hired New Mexico coach Bob Davie — the former Notre Dame coach is back in coaching after nearly a decade of working in television.

“He has that passion and has been able to soak in a lot of things over the last 10 years,” Scoggins said. “I’m ready to be part of what he is building.”

Scoggins, a three-star recruiting prospect on the Rivals.com scale of five stars, was impressed with the school's facilities and said the city of Albuquerque reminded him of Las Vegas. More importantly, he was inspired by how positive the new coaching staff was about the future of the program, which was one of the worst in Division I last year.

Verbal commitments are non-binding and don’t become official until the Feb. 1 national signing day.

Scoggins is the fourth from Gorman to commit, joining running back Shaquille Powell (Duke), offensive tackle Ronnie Stanley (Notre Dame) and defensive linemanZach Hutchins (San Jose State). All four prospects were three-year starters, helping Gorman post a 43-3 record and finish ranked this fall in the top-10 nationally.

Ray Brewer can be reached at 990-2662 or [email protected]. Follow Ray on Twitter at twitter.com/raybrewer21.