Sports360AZOn this edition of the Recruiting Roundup presented by Arizona Ford Dealers, Jason Jewell and Jordan Hamm discuss a few notable commitments from JD Johnson, Austin McNamara and Colin Dreis. They also go highlight a few top unsigned players, and Jason gives evaluations on a few guys who jumped out to him:
Andrew Blitzke: LB Chavez: Fantastic senior year on both sides of the ball. Army and NAU offered after junior year. Changes at NAU left that in limbo. Former Lumberjack DC Andy Thompson is now at Sac State, maybe they come calling?
Kaleb Covington: ATH Pinnacle – Wyoming has done home visits with Covington but didn’t offer. He recently was offered by FCS Western Illinois as well as D2 powerhouse CSU Pueblo.
Kohner Cullimore: ATH Highland – Cullimore is one of the state’s top two-way players. He will likely go on his church mission after high school, which has to be the reason not many schools have offered. Western New Mexico and Southern Virginia both have.
Anthony Dedrick: DE/TE Mt. Pointe – Had multiple offers after impressive Spring ball including San Diego State but recruiting cooled.
David Eppinger: CB Chandler – Transfer and academic concerns likely kept schools away but finished senior year strong on field and in classroom and Coach Aguano says Eppinger will heat up.
Terrell Hayward: WR Cienega – Hayward had double-digit offers after junior year including New Mexico State, New Mexico and UC-Davis but recruiting has been quiet recently.
Hendrix Johnson: WR Boulder Creek – Georgetown, NAU and Columbia all offered Johnson, who had a breakout senior year. NAU’s staff change left things in limbo there. Johnson is hoping to hear from more schools when the dead period is over in a few weeks.
Tariq Jordan: ATH Marana – South Dakota State offered but Jordan suffered a bad injury at the end of the season that has affected his recruiting.
Amelec Juntunen: LB Pinnacle – Committed to NAU before coaching change and doesn’t look like new staff honored, as he did not sign in Dec.
Eloi Kwete: DL Central – Committed to UMass and then the staff was fired. New coach didn’t honor commitment. Still looking for a home.
Devin Larsen: QB Queen Creek – FANTASTIC player that was early offered by Idaho. Likely headed on church mission, which is the only reason can see why no one else has offered.
Logan Maxwell: DE Higley – Committed to Utah State over many other FBS offers. Chose not to sign after coaching change in Logan.
Craig McFarland: OT Chaparral – Had multiple Mountain West offers and trips. Memphis offered just before early signing period. Calling it now, McFarland will have Power Five offers before Feb.
Dez Melton: ATH Deer Valley – Heavily recruited after his junior year, Melton had offers from Nebraska, Arizona, Iowa State and many others. He tripped to Iowa State but they filled up before he committed. NAU has been recruiting Melton heavily.
Cole Motes: TE/DE Thatcher – Committed to Utah State but didn’t sign in early period after coaching change.
Daseau Puffer: WR Chandler – Breakout senior year led to Idaho offer just before early signing period. Puffer is 6’4 with good film, he could be hot commodity in next month.
Zach Nelson: WR Casteel – Huge senior year led to offers from Southern Utah and NAU. At the very least, he can compete at that level and will sign during Feb. signing period.
Kyle Patterson: TE Perry – Patterson’s recruiting blew up and he became one of the hottest targets in the state in the month of December. He tripped to Oregon State and Washington, then UCLA offered just before signing day, Arizona just before that.
Noa Pola-Gates: DB Williams Field – The star safety has his list narrowed down to ASU, Nebraska and USC.
Matthew Pola-Mao: DT Chandler – Two years ago, Pola-Mao was a hot, hot name. He was injured most of his junior year and transferred to Chandler from Mt. Pointe. ASU and Nebraska still are in the mix, with the Cornhuskers being his most recent offer.
Nate Polk: DB Saguaro – Air Force could be the landing spot for Polk.
Sully Shannon: S Brophy – Idaho offered just before Dec. signing period. He could be on the verge of some FCS offers here pretty soon.
Brandon Shivers: DB Saguaro – Shivers was committed to San Diego State for months but they parted ways. New Mexico and New Mexico State both offered after his recruitment opened up.
Marques White: DB Brophy – Heated up just before early signing period, getting offers from Dartmouth and Southern Utah.
Some other quality players that could get FCS or better looks before Feb. signing day: Salpointe RB Mario Padilla, Centennial RB Tawee Walker, Desert Ridge RB Lucas Wright, Arcadia OT Oscar Mosqueda, Red Mountain CB Shaq Daniels, North Canyon WR/DB Alphonso Taylor, Saguaro DT Jayden Swink, Willow Canyon TE Zach Enhedler, Liberty DB Eli Pittman
