Colorado picked up their first commitment of the class of 2008, dipping into the Junior College ranks and snagging a verbal from one of the premier JC programs in the country
El Camino (Calif.) College was the state champs in 2006 and one of their contributors was receiver Corey Surrency. The Buffs staff visited ElCo in the fall and head coach Dan Hawkins offered Surrency on the spot.
The loyalty from the Buffs paid off when Surrency committed to Colorado on Sunday.
“My mom kept drilling into my head that they were the first to offer and that meant a lot,” said Surrency. “So I gave them a call and said I was ready to be a Buffalo.”
Arcadia (Calif.) receiver/defensive back Kevan Walker is following his father, DeWayne, but not to where his dad is at now.
DeWayne Walker is the defensive coordinator at UCLA, but Kevan chose to follow in his father’s footsteps in choosing to play at Minnesota, where DeWayne played, as he committed to the Gophers on Thursday.
An all-state underclass selection as a junior, Walker could play on either side of the ball, receiver or cornerback, though he’ll play quarterback for the Apaches this fall.
Jim Harbaugh made news in the last week after comments he made about USC coach Pete Carroll. But to Harbaugh, the bigger news was the talent that assembled in Palo Alto over the weekend for Stanford’s Junior Day.
The new coach of the Cardinal had several of the Golden State’s best on campus, including a handful of the top passers. The headliner was Sherman Oaks (Calif.) Notre Dame quarterback Dayne Crist, the top signal-caller in California. Also in attendance from the quarterback ranks were Drew McAllister from Monte Vista in Danville, Ryan Griffin from Chaminade Prep in West Hills, Kevin Prince from Crespi in Encino and Beau Sweeney from Clovis West in Fresno.
Offensive lineman A.J. Wallerstein from Canyon, receiver Chris Owusu from Oaks Christian in Westlake Village, David DeCastro from Bellevue, Wash. and tight end Joseph Fauria from Crespi were some of the other prominent names of attendees.
Fauria and Owusu both picked up offers from the Cardinal over the weekend.
Redmond (Wash.) lineman Drew Schaefer holds offers from the two in-state schools and is hearing Stanford and the two Oregon schools, but the local program stands in front.
“Washington is my favorite right now," Schaefer told Scout.com “They offered me when I went to their junior day on March 3. It was really cool. We got to meet all the coaches and then Coach (Tyrone) Willingham called me and my parents up to his office.”
Washington State, where his sister attends, is right behind the Huskies in the services for Schaefer.
South Jordan (Utah) Bingham lineman Derek Tuimauagha also holds a pair of offers, from in-state Utah and Pac-10 school Oregon
"The coaches at Oregon are great and they were the first school to offer me," Tuimauga told Scout.com. "It felt like a second home to me when I was there last year. I really think they have one of the best programs in the nation. They showed me a lot of attention at their camp last summer and said I could really contribute to their o-line and do well."
BYU, though, is the program that he grew up favoring, and the in-state Cougars already have a commitment from his teammate Austin Holt, and the Cougars could be the next school to offer Tuimauga.
"They are really interested and I think I'll be getting an offer from them soon."