FORT COLLINS — The new on-campus stadium’s groundbreaking was in September 2015, during the first weeks of Mike Bobo’s first season as Colorado State’s head coach. Nearly 17 months later, construction is entering the final stages, and the new stadium era will open against Abiliene Christian on Sept. 9.
So how much did the attraction of a new stadium — still unnamed — enter into the Rams’ recruiting pitch for the 26-player 2017 recruiting class, announced Wednesday on national letter of intent day?
The Bobo staff’s third recruiting class most notably included five players from Georgia high schools, counting Tennessee transfer wide receiver Preston Williams; and three from Colorado, cornerback Christian Cumber and running back Marcus McElroy, both from Mullen, and Windsor linebacker Corte Tapia.
“Recruiting, I’m really proud of where we are, and a lot of it has to do with our stadium,” Bobo said at his Wednesday news conference in the team auditorium. He added, “The guys we’re able to get on campus, the guys that I feel are players that can be difference-makers … has improved from year one to year two, to year three.
“Now we’re not getting them all, but it’s the vision of being able to show that stadium. Last year, we sat them in this room and we showed them a video and kind of walked them by where it’s going to be. This year, we were able to tour them through the stadium and they could see the walls and picture themselves. Next year, it’s going to be done. Next (season), we’re going to be able to have official visits on game weekends, on campus, and show that stadium. They can see themselves play in that arena, in front of 40,000. Next year’s going to be even better in recruiting in my opinion because of where we’re going and what we’re going to continue to do. And that’s going to be a big part of it, that stadium.”
Bobo said his staff had been after McElroy, who rushed for 106 yards per game for Mullen last season, since he was a sophomore. “Marcus McElroy’s probably one of the first guys who sat in my office when I became head coach,” Bobo said. “I sat with his mom, B.J., and his dad, Marcus, and talked about what we were going to try to do here as a football program … I think he appreciated our continuous commitment to him in recruiting him. Throughout the process, we never wavered.”
The Rams’ class included seven offensive linemen, and two of them — Tyler Bjorklund (College of the Canyons) and Ben Knox (Independence Community College) — are junior college transfers already on campus and enrolled in the spring semester. Knox was recruited by Power 5 programs out of high school, but ended up at the Kansas JC. The other five: John Blasco Jr., from Tacoma, Wash.; Scott Brooks (Moorpark, Calif.); Kieran Firment (Oakdale, Pa.); Luis Lebron (Jacksonville) and Joctavis Phillips (West Monroe, La.). The Rams’ only returning offensive line starters are center Jake Bennett, from Bear Creek High, and tackle Zack Golditch, from Aurora Gateway.
“The number for an offensive line on most football rosters is 16, out of 85,” Bobo said. “We’re not even going to be at the 16 this year. We’re going to be a little under our target goal.” He said Bjorklund and Knox “hopefully can provide depth immediately for us,” and said of the five high school linemen: “I wouldn’t rule anything out as far as being able to come in early and play. If you look at this group, the number one thing you’ll see is the size. We’ve gotten bigger. They’re all probably 300-pounds-plus and the average is probably 6-5. They’re guys that are big and athletic and can move.”
Although CSU started a true freshman quarterback, Collin Hill, for part of last season before he suffered a season-ending knee injury on Oct. 10 against Utah State, the Rams were able to sign quarterback Justice McCoy from Saint Augustine High in New Orleans. He threw for 5,826 yards and rushed for 976 yards in three years as a starter.
“Justice was a guy we targeted very early,” Bobo said. “You don’t get to draft, you have to recruit, so you have to offer more than one guy. And Justice was one of the first guys we offered, if not maybe the first quarterback we offered. We offered a handful of guys. He was one of the first that came on campus. He came on campus with his aunt … and he just wasn’t ready to make a decision. But he felt comfortable here.”
Bobo said that in a normal fluctuating status of a recruiting class, the Rams cultivated the relationship “even though we didn’t have something, in case something opened up. . . A lot of guys, quite frankly, want to have the the opportunity to play in our system and what we do offensively. We want guys that are able to extend plays and have athletic ability. Quarterbacks want to be distributors. They want to see themselves as the Tom Bradys and the Matt Ryans and run an offense and distribute it to the playmakers, and that appealed to Justice. He’s a competitor. He didn’t care who was at quarterback.
“Collin Hill did not care that Nick Stevens was second team Mountain West. You want guys who believe when they come in that they’re going to have a chance to play, and that if they’re the best, they’re going to play. That’s the kind of guys I want to recruit. I don’t want to recruit somebody that I have to sit with and constantly go over the depth chart. … After I sign you, I’m going to try to sign somebody better than you.”
CSU also signed three high school wide receivers to go with Williams, the transfer from Tennessee who already is enrolled but won’t be eligible until the 2018 season. The most prominent was Warren Jackson, from Bishop Alemany High in Mission Hills, Calif., who at one point in the process said he would attend Arizona. As a high school senior, he had 57 catches for 955 yards. Junior college transfer Michael Gallup was all-Mountain West last season, and will be a senior, and the Rams’ other major returning receiver threat is junior-to-be Olabisi Johnson.
“We have needed to provide some more depth there, some more compeition,” Bobo said. “Warren Jackson is a guy … we probably targeted two years ago. We were one of his first offers and in this recruiting process, we just continued to recruit, continued to develop a relationship, and we were able to get him to come on a visit a couple of weeks ago, him and his dad, and they really fell in love with the place.”
Bobo acknowledged the Rams lost out on some recruits they believed they had locked up, or at least had a good shot at, and it was another reminder that there are no “commitments” until signing day for the high school prospects. Defensive lineman David Porter, who signed with Arkansas, and linebacker Jamal Gates (Florida International) were among those who earlier had said they intended to sign with Colorado State, but changed their minds the past few days.
“At the of the day, we’re going to wish them good luck,” he said. “I had a couple of ‘good luck’ phone calls last night and this morning, and I told them it hurt and I was sorry it didn’t work out, but I wish you the best of luck. And then I’m on to talking to these 25 young men and their families and (about) how excited I am that they’re coming into this program.”
Colorado State’s 2017 signing class:
(Note: The class originally was announced as having 25 players, but that was amended to 26 when defensive back Nikolas Maka was added in the afternoon.)
HIGH SCHOOL
OL John Blasco, Jr., Tacoma, Wash., Stadium HS, 6-7, 306
OL Scott Brooks, Moorpark, Calif., Moorpark HS, 6-3, 271
TE Cameron Butler, Columbia, S.C., Ridge View HS, 6-2, 225
CB Darius Campbell, Marrero, La., John Ehret HS, 5-10, 170
CB Christian Cumber, Denver, Mullen HS, 6-0, 179
OL Kieran Firment, Oakdale, Pa., West Allegheny HS, 6-4, 298
DL Ellison Hubbard, Logansville, Ga., Grayson HS, 6-1, 267
WR Warren Jackson, Mission Hills, Calif., Bishop Alemany HS, 6-5, 196
LB Emmanuel Jones, Cartersville, Ga, Woodland HS, 6-4, 245
OL Luis Lebron, Jacksonville, Fla., Sandalwood HS, 6-4, 356
QB Justice McCoy, New Orleans, La., Saint Augustine HS, 6-1, 186
RB Marcus McElroy, Denver, Mullen HS, 5-10, 211
LB Patrick Moody, Vero Beach, Fla., Vero Beach HS, 6-1, 236
DT Livingston Paogofie, Arlington, Tex., Bowie HS, 6-1, 250
OL Joctavis Phillips, West Monroe, La., Neville HS, 6-4, 305
WR EJ Scott, Powder Springs, Ga., McEachern HS, 6-1, 189
LB Corte Tapia, Windsor, Windsor HS, 6-2, 230
CB Jadon Walker, CB, Lithia Springs, Ga., Chapel Hills HS, 6-0, 171
CB Darius Wise, Midland, PA, Beaver Area HS, 5-9, 164
JUNIOR COLLEGE
S Zoauntarrious Brunt, Gastonia, N.C., Orange Coast College, 6-3, 187.
DE Christian Howard, Indianapolis, Independence Community College, 6-1, 268
DB Nikolas Maka, San Mateo, Calif., College of San Mateo, 6-1, 185
SIGNEES ALREADY ENROLLED, ON CAMPUS
OL Tyler Bjorklünd, Santa Clarita, Calif., College of the Canyons (JC), 6-4, 281
TE Griffin Hammer, South Elgin, Ill., St. Charles North HS, 6-4, 222
OL Ben Knox, Deland, Fla. Independence Community College, 6-6, 328
WR Preston Williams, Lovejoy, Ga., Tennessee (transfer), 6-4, 209
Five things about CSU’s recruiting class
Interesting nuggets about Colorado State’s recruiting class, which was finalized Wednesday:
— The signees hailed from Georgia (5), California (4); Colorado, Florida and Louisiana (3); Pennsylvania (2); Indiana, Illinois, North Carolina, South Carolina, Texas and Washington (all 1).
— Mike Bobo light-heartedly tried to claim linebacker Patrick Moody as a fourth in-state recruit, though he will graduate from Vero Beach High in Florida. He attended Parker’s Chaparral High for two years before moving.
— CSU’s first announcements of signings (Luis Lebron and Jadon Walker) came at 5:14 a.m. The last announcement (Nikolas Maka) came in mid-afternoon and bumped the recruiting class from the originally announced 25 to 26.
— Among the four signees who already are enrolled and on campus, Tennessee transfer Preston Williams is the headliner. But he will have to sit out the 2017 season. He had 16 catches for 249 yards in two seasons with the Volunteers.
— Defensive tackle Ellison Hubbard will remain a Ram. He helped the Grayson High Rams in Georgia to the state Class 7A title, with eight sacks and 58 tackles last season. The same school produced CSU’s standout departing guard, Fred Zerblis.
— Terry Frei, The Denver Post
