Wyoming coach Craig Bohl began his second season Wednesday in Laramie by announcing a supercharged class of new prospects for the football program and saying there is no time to wait in the rebuilding of his team that finished 4-8 overall, 2-8 in the Mountain West.
Bohl pointed to running back Kellen Overstreet out of Penney High School in Hamilton, Mo., wide receiver C. J. Johnson out of Bellevue (Nev.) High School and safety Andrew Wingard from Ralston Valley High School in Arvada as products of an intensified recruiting effort by the Cowboys’ coaching staff.
Overstreet is the first Parade All-America team member ever to commit to Wyoming. Wingard and Johnson were Gatorade players of the year in Colorado and Nebraska, respectively.
“We certainly set our sights higher,” Bohl said in announcing Wyoming’s letter-of-intent signings. “After seeing the tremendous skill and ability of the players we were facing, we had to retool our recruiting efforts.”
Bohl said the Cowboys in 2014 were deficient in skill level, especially on the perimeter play both offensively and defensively.
At least some of his 2014 recruits could quickly fit into Bohl’s rebuilding plan.
“If any of our freshmen show they’re able to help us, we’re planning to play them,” Bohl said. “Our responsibility is to put the best football team on the field.”
Wyoming’s freshman class includes three players from Colorado and two each from Wyoming and Nebraska. Bohl expects Wyoming, Nebraska and the Front Range in Colorado to become the base for Wyoming’s recruiting.
Besides Wingard, players from Colorado were wide receiver Joseph Parker from Cherry Creek and linebacker Kevin Prosser from Overland in Aurora.
Irv Moss: 303-954-1296, imoss@denverpost.com or
