Recruiting Update: 11 Verbals

Committed/Not Yet Signed Fresno State Recruits To Date

Name Pos Ht Wt 40time Hometown (source)

1. Jamel Hamler WR 6-1 185 4.6 San Leando, CA (rivals.com)
   
2. Anthony Harding RB 6-0 202 4.6 Turlock, CA (rivals.com)
   
3. Nico Herron LB 6-2 222 4.9 San Leandro, CA (rivals.com)
   
4. Andrew Jackson DE 6-5 237 5.24 Grass Valley, CA (rivals.com)
   
5. Lonyae Miller RB 5-11 205 4.5 Fontana, CA (rivals.com/scout.com)
   
6. Damion Owens DB 5-11 180 4.99 - San Leandro, CA (rivals.com)
   
7. Charlie Robbins OL 6-2 265 5.4 Fresno, CA (rivals.com)
   
8. Taylor Smith DE 6-2 224 4.84 Clovis, CA (rivals.com)
   
9. Will Smith LB 6-3 215 Fresno, CA (fresno bee)
   
10. Ken Wiggins OL 6-6 265 5.6 Elk Grove, CA (rivals.com)
    
11. Barry Wilson WR 6-4 185 Tulare, CA (fresno bee)

Fresno State has 14 scholarships available, if all 11 keep their verbal commitments, the Bulldogs have three left to offer. Clovis West defensive end Chris Lewis has to be one of those, but still could shun the 'Dogs especially if Hill is not clear about his future as head coach. Clovis East running back Tracy Slocum is all but out of a Fresno State scholarship. FS has already signed two running backs and Miller is the real deal. I'm sure Fresno State would still love to have Slocum, but Hill's flirtation with the NFL just gives him another excuse to overlook Fresno State.

Assuming Lewis signs with the 'Dogs who gets the final two spots? Does high school All-American punter Kyle Peterson deserve one of those spots? The 6-4 210 Peterson is out of South Hills High in Covina, Ca. He was a participant in the US Army All-American game and is deciding between the Bulldogs, South Carolina, Louisville, Duke and UTEP. For the final spot I like WR/DB Tyquan Knox out of Crenshaw. He is an amazing talent that has been overshadowed by all the hype given to teammate Darian Hagan, Jr. Knox had some off the field problems early this year which caused him to enroll at Narbonne, but has since been reinstated at Crenshaw. His off the field problems will probably send him towards the JC route, but Arizona and UCLA are his favorites over the Bulldogs anyway. As far as I know Yosemite's WR/CB Jonathan Blea has yet to commit. The 6-4 200 lb Blea had 51 catches for 993 yards on the year and could pair with Wilson in the future to form a lethal pass catching duo.

According to Scout.com, Fresno State has standing offers to eight players. Two have verbally committed to other schools, LB Mark Johnson has committed to Ohio State and WR James Dockery has a soft verbal to Oregon State. Dockery, however, made an official visit to Fresno State in early December and came away impressed. He may back out of his soft verbal to Oregon State. The other six listed are: Peterson, Slocum, Lewis, RB Demetrius Sumler, RB Eric Jordan and LB J.J. Kulusich.

If had to guess the final three scholarships recipients, the first is obviously Chris Lewis if he still wants to come to Fresno State. The second will probably be Kyle Peterson, considering he is a K/P and Fresno State suffered kicking woes after Clint Stitser got hurt. The final scholarship will probably not going to be a running back, unless Slocum decides on the 'Dogs, highly unlikely. That would rule out Sumler and Jordan. Kulusich was offered back in September according to Scout.com, but rivals.com does not have Fresno State on his list of schools. Dockery seemed pretty excited about his trip to Fresno and my guess is he would get the last scholarship offer.