The Rancho Cucamonga football team boasted a couple major commitments this week as Thomas Graham Jr., a trasnfer from Eastvale Roosevelt, made a verbal to USC while Tayari Venable announced he’ll attend Washington State.
Both are juniors so nothing is signed, sealed or delivered yet and some kids change their minds. But the fact that both have opted for Pac 12 schools tells you the quality of players we’re talking about here.
Just how good should the Cougars secondary be? Well, pretty good. Not only does coach Nick Baiz have those two, there’s another junior-to-be in Jaylon Redd who started last year and saw saw significant playing time as a freshman.
Redd already has seven Pac 12 offers, the first of those coming shortly after his freshman year. Among his offers are USC and UCLA.
The fourth member of the Rancho secondary is Darriel Busby, who is the most experienced of the four but is smaller in stature which is going to limit his college prospects.
Baiz says its the best quartet at that position he has ever coached but he isn’t going overboard yet as far as his praise.
“We have some great players back there but it’s not just about them,” he said. “You have to have the pass rush. You have to stop the run. The defense is about each unit doing its job for them for it to be effective as whole.”
The Baseline League will be as tough as ever this year and there are several teams with potent passing attacks. So stay tuned.
