CSU football welcomes 19 new recruits to program

 

2005 NATIONAL LETTER OF INTET SIGNEES Name Pos. Ht/Wt Brian Abata OL/DL 6-3/240 Durrell Chamorro K 6-1/190 Micah Crews DB/WR 5-11/185 Zach Helm DB 6-2/195 Klint Kubiak DB 6-0/185 Wade Landers DE 6-6/265 Adrian Martinez OL/DL 6-4/275 Shawn McGovern DL 6-3/260 Nnamdi Ohaeri RB 5-9/200 Sedric Patterson LB 6-1/222 Cole Pemberton OL 6-7/290 James Peterson OL/DL 6-6/265 Jake Pottorff LB 6-4/235 Jon Radford DL 6-1/230 Joey Rucks DB 5-10/180 Shelly Smith OL 6-8/320 Grant Stucker QB 6-2/185 Trevis Turner OL 6-8/320 Tim Walter OL/DL 6-6/275

Before a room full of cameras, reporters and microphones, Sonny Lubick introduced to the world the newest members of the CSU football team.

The CSU head coach announced this year's recruiting class Wednesday in a news conference at the McGraw Athletic Center.

"This is a solid recruiting class," Lubick said of the 19 athletes who will attend CSU in the fall. "Our coaches did a heck of a job, I'm really proud of them."

Lubick said the students who committed to CSU all did so because of the reputation of the school and the football program, and the impacts of coming off a 4-7 season – and no bowl game for the first time in five years – did not impact the recruiting class.

"Players see CSU as a place they can go to go to a bowl game, have winning seasons," Lubick said. "Our program's pretty good right now.

The class, which contained 10 offensive or defensive linemen, filled key critical areas, Lubick said.

"It's what we needed," Lubick said. "Did we get everybody we wanted? No, but if you say that then you weren't aiming high enough."

Offensive coordination Dan Hammerschmidt said his star of the class was Nnamdi Ohaeri, a running back transfer from UCLA. Ohaeri will start class at CSU next fall with two years of eligibility remaining. Hammerschmidt also said he felt good about recruiting up to seven offensive linemen.

"We had some needs at guard and center," Hammerschmidt said. "I think Shelly Smith or Tim Walters could both play at center."

Lubick said that players such as Brian Abata, Wade Landers and Tim Walters were good additions to the program.

"We're always looking to beef up the offensive and defensive lines with size and speed," Lubick said. "(Abata, Landers and Walters) all have so much growth potential."

Adrian Martinez, Cole Pemberton, Smith and Trevis Turner all weighed more than 270 pounds coming out of high school.

Hammerschmidt also said quarterback Grant Stucker impressed coaches during summer camps, a camp that Colorado signee Mack Brown attended.

"Of all the kids at the camp, Grant had the strongest arm," Hammerschimidt said.

Linebacker Jake Pottorff, a three-star prospect according to Rivals.com, impressed both Lubick and defensive coordinator Steve Stanard.

"He sure is a good player," Lubick said. "He has the physical strength to come right in and get the job done."

Lubick also said that this year's class might not yet be complete.

"I think there may be one more addition to the class," Lubick said. "We'll know next week, maybe in the next 3-4 days."

As for next year's class?

"As far as recruiting goes, we start on the class for next year today," Lubick said with a laugh.

NOTES: CSU lost one verbal commitment. Bryan Tarkington, a junior-college transfer from Moorpark, Calif., backed out of his verbal commitment to CSU this past week and committed to Washington State … Senior-to-be running back Uldis Jaunarajs will no longer be able to play football because of multiple concussions and their lingering effects … Spring football will start up on March 26 or March 27. The annual intrasquad spring game will be held April 23 at French Field in Fort Collins.