Gorman freshman grabs UNLV football scholarship offer, sheds light on Rebs’ recruiting strategy

By Ray Brewer (contact)

Saturday, May 9, 2015 | 2 a.m.

This high school football quarterback hasn’t played one snap on the varsity level. Rather, 15-year-old Dorian Thompson-Robinson was the freshman team quarterback last fall at Bishop Gorman.

With a logjam at his position, he’s not projected to be the Gorman starter until 2017, his senior season.

Yet, for the UNLV program, Thompson-Robinson is a major recruiting target. He’s so coveted that first-year Rebel coach Tony Sanchez, some five months on the job after coaching Gorman to its sixth straight state championship, last month extended Thompson-Robinson a scholarship offer.

The offer sheds light on some of the UNLV recruiting philosophies with Sanchez calling the shots.

First, and most important, Rebel coaches will be aggressive in their pursuit of players at Gorman — it’s the defending mythical national champions, after all, and there’s an abundance of talent. Second, they’ll start recruiting players who are high school freshmen and sophomores, beginning the courting process significantly ahead of the past coaching regime.

And, in what could truly transform UNLV into a winner, they are targeting a higher caliber type of player, ones who previously wouldn't consider playing for the perennial two-win program.

Take the 6-foot-2, 190-pound Thompson-Robinson, a dual-threat quarterback who unofficially passed for about 2,000 yards and 20 touchdowns as a freshman, according to his Hudl profile. He was an Adidas freshman All-American and has received interest letters from heavyweights such as Georgia, Oregon and UCLA.

UNLV, though, was the first to pull the trigger and offer a scholarship.

“Given the fact Tony was here last year and got to see all his games as a freshman, he obviously had an inside track on how this kid was really going to be,” said Kenny Sanchez, the Gorman coach and brother of UNLV’s Sanchez. “You can’t beat his genetics. He is a big, tall, strong and fast kid, especially for his age.”

He’s not the lone underclassman UNLV has offered, both local and regionally.

They’ve offered local class of 2017 prospects by the masses, including four-star defensive lineman Greg Rogers (Centennial), offensive lineman PJ Poutasi (Desert Pines), Arizona State commit Alex Perry (Gorman) and speedy running back Biaggio Ali-Walsh (Gorman), among others.

This week, UNLV has offered Aashari Crosswell, a class of 2018 safety from Los Angeles, and multiple recruits who are about to become seniors, according to recruiting websites such as Scout.com. They include: athlete Isaiah Love from West Covina, Calif., who already has offers from Fresno State and San Jose State; three-star defensive back Darreon Lockett of Pomona, Calif., and wide receiver Trey Udoffia from Del Oro High in Northern California.

Instead of waiting for major-conference schools to grab top prospects, a common practice for some Mountain West schools, UNLV is clearly taking a different approach. On the program’s Twitter account earlier this week, they posted a map of where assistants would be recruiting and this message: “Our coaches are in California, Utah and Arizona this week searching for elite athletes to join #TheNewEra of #UNLVFB.”

That includes Thompson-Robinson, who is no ordinary backup. He also rushed for double-digit touchdowns last season and is so talented he could find playing time at running back or wide receiver for Gorman in the fall. The Gorman starting quarterback is rising junior Tate Martell, one of the nation’s best for the class of 2017 who was the Nevada player of the year last season as a sophomore.

“From an athletic standpoint, (Thompson-Robinson) doesn’t look like a freshman,” Kenny Sanchez said. “He holds his own and some. He’s a smart and intelligent kid, and has a great work ethic.”

He was offered a scholarship at the UNLV Spring Showcase, which came as a surprise.

“(Tony Sanchez) was talking about how they rarely offer young kids, then right before the spring game he threw the big offer at me,” Thompson-Robinson said. “With coach Sanchez being here and then going over there, we already have a good relationship. And staying home would always be nice.”

Prospects arrived by the dozens — from Las Vegas and out of state — to watch UNLV during its 15-session spring practice. Two offensive linemen from Gorman verbally committed, marking the earliest in the recruiting calender UNLV has received a commitment in more than 10 years.

Thompson-Robinson surely will be offered by more schools before signing a letter of intent in February 2018, but at least UNLV is in the conversation. At least UNLV was first.

Ray Brewer can be reached at 702-990-2662 or [email protected]. Follow Ray on Twitter at twitter.com/raybrewer21