Recently in San Diego State Category

Redlands High School got an 11th-hour commitment last night when all-CIF defensive tackle John Siliga committed to Portland State. Siliga signed his letter of intent alongside Redlands teammate Jordan Smith, who signed with San Diego State, at midfield of Dodge Stadium.

"I decided last night," Siliga said. "They offered me at the beginning and have stuck by me this entire time. I wasn't sure if I wanted to go that far from home but Portland State is a great place for me."

Smith was styling for his signing, sporting a black SDSU hat with shades, a red Aztec t-shirt and black pants. After a whirlwind couple of weeks that saw Smith almost reopen his recruitment after former San Diego State coach Brady Hoke left for the Michigan coaching job, Smith was happy to finally ink with the school he's been committed to since June.

"It's such an honor to be able to play college football," Smith said. "To have your school paid for for four years is unbelievable. I can't wait to get down to San Diego State. I was a little nervous with the coach Hoke situation, but (new SDSU coach Rocky) Long talked to me on the phone, went over my options with me and now I'm excited."

Just got off the phone with Kaiser coach Phil Zelaya, who said that three players will be signing National Letters of Intent to Division I schools tomorrow at the school at 9 a.m. Signing will be defensive back Desman Carter (Nevada), linebacker Dennis Taylor (Portland State) and defensive end Walter Earnest (UC Davis).

San Gorgonio also has announced the signing time for offensive lineman Paul Rodriguez, who will sign with San Diego State. Rodriguez will sign with the Aztecs at 8 a.m. tomorrow at San G in room C-34.

San Gorgonio offensive lineman/defensive lineman Paul Rodriguez verbally committed to San Diego State a couple of weeks ago according to San Gorgonio football coach Ron Gueringer. Rodriguez, a 6-foot-6, 240-pound senior, chose the Aztecs over offers from Washington State and Colorado State.

"He's the first of hopefully many kids that we send off to Division I colleges," Gueringer said. "I'm proud of him and what he did for this program. I know the San Diego State coaches came down a few weeks back to see him play and loved him. They had a great season and it's a great place for Paul to go."

Rodriguez starred on both offense and defense for the Spartans, who went 7-5 this season and finished second in the San Andreas League. San G advanced to the Central Division quarterfinals, where it was ousted by top-seeded Moreno Valley Rancho Verde. Gueringer thinks the Aztecs will use Rodriguez on the offensive line.

"That's where I would guess," Gueringer said. "He has a lot of potential with his frame to be a very good offensive lineman and I think he's an all-area guy at that position."

As some of you know, every March I go absolutely crazy when it comes to the NCAA Tournament. Kind of a weird field this year without defending champion North Carolina, UCLA, Arizona (first miss since 1984) and UConn. However, it's literally my favorite time of the year and I'll do my annual region-by-region breakdown. These are for recreational use only, but if you are tempted, I make a profit on my tourney pools a year ago.
Now to the Midwest Region:

Overall theme:
Coaching heavyweights everywhere. In this region alone, there are four coaches - Bill Self (No. 1 Kansas), Gary Williams (No. 4 Maryland), Tom Izzo (No. 5 Michigan State) and Steve Fisher (No. 11 San Diego State) that have won national titles while four others - Thad Matta (No. 2 Ohio State), John Thompson III (No. 3 Georgetown), Lon Kruger (No. 8 UNLV) and Paul Hewitt (No. 10 Georgia Tech) - have led their teams to the Final Four. Half of these coaches have coached on the sport's biggest stage, so don't expect much in the way of jitters.

Would have done this by yesterday, but a nasty cold threw me for a loss. I'm ready to go again though. With that, here's a complete breakdown of local Division I FBS (I-A) and FCS (I-AA) signees.

By school
1. Redlands 4; 2 tie. Colony 3, Colton 3, Los Osos 3, Rancho Cucamonga 3, Redlands East Valley 3; 7 tie. Arroyo Valley 2, Don Lugo 2, Hesperia 2, Kaiser 2, Serrano 2, Upland 2; 13 tie. Aquinas 1, Cajon 1, Chaffey 1, Granite Hills 1, Miller 1, Sultana 1.

Redlands was the surprising winner in this category, as three Terriers - OL Justin Corrales (Bryant University), LB Cole Gridley (Valparaiso) and K/P Shaun McClain (Weber State) were able to parlay strong senior seasons into FCS scholarships. LB Jordan Thomas (San Diego State) was the only FBS scholarship to Redlands, but the Terriers get props for getting their successful kids scholarships.

The teams with three scholarship players are among the usual suspects when it comes to getting kids to Division I scholarships, as REV, Colton, Colony, Rancho Cucamonga and Los Osos have seen an army of players get to the next level recently. REV, Colton and Los Osos all sent their players to FBS school, with each having at least one kid sign with a Pac-10 school. Rancho also had a Pac-10 kid in TE Randall Telfer (USC), while Colony had a Big 12 kid in DB Jered Bell (Colorado).

No real shocks in the 2 and 1 scholarship crowd except maybe Serrano, which had two FBS kids. The Diamondbacks are known for doing more with less, so its no shock that they made a CIF final with two FBS seniors on the roster.

By college:
1. San Diego State 4. 2 tie. Fresno State 3, Oregon 3, USC 3; 5 tie. Montana State 2, Sacramento State 2, San Jose State 2, UNLV 2, Utah 2, UTEP 2; 11 tie. Army 1, Bryant 1, Colorado 1, Iowa State 1, Kansas State 1, Nevada 1, Portland State 1, Prairie View A&M 1, San Diego 1, UCLA 1, Valparaiso 1, Washington 1, Washington State 1, Weber State 1.

On the non-BCS level, San Diego State and Fresno State continue to do work in the county. When Aztecs coach Brady Hoke was hired last year, he told recruits that he was going to put an emphasis on Inland Empire athletes. He's done exactly that, signing 3 SAL kids last year and four county kids this year in Thomas, Serrano DE Everett Beed, Hesperia WR Jay Waddell and Granite Hills TE Bryce Quigley. A fifth, Serrano RB Dionza Bradford, verbally committed to San Diego State before backing out and going with UNLV. So Hoke is getting things done.

Pat Hill has consistently brought local talent into the fold and this year is no different, with Los Osos WR Sean Alston, Arroyo Valley LB Ofa Fifita and Rancho Cucamonga QB Greg Watson all inking with the Bulldogs. Montana State also was a big player in the FCS ranks, getting guys with FBS interest in Don Lugo DB Steve Bethley and Miller RB David Dash.

As far as the Pac-10 goes, 2010 saw a reversal from 2009. Last year, it was UCLA and Oregon State that cleaned up, while this year saw their rivals have success. The Trojans, despite a coaching change, got Kaiser RB/DB Anthony Brown, Telfer and the county's highest-ranked recruit, Don Lugo DT George Uko, to sign. Only an 11th-hour stunner by Kaiser LB Josh Shirley kept UCLA from being swept out of the county.

As for the Oregon schools, the Ducks got two extremely productive defensive players in Los Osos DE Tony Washington and Colton DB Derrick Malone and stole Colton K Alejandro Maldonado from Washington on the last weekend. Last year, it was Oregon State that did damage, with Freshman All-American OL Michael Philipp from Arroyo Valley being the crown jewel.

As far as out-of-region teams, I guess the big winner would be the Big 12 North. Colorado (Colony DB Jered Bell), Iowa State (Hesperia/Chaffey College TE Ricky Howard) and Kansas State (Sultana/Mt. SAC OL Manase Foketi) all signed area players while Nebraska courted several local players as well.

Got off the phone with Redlands athletic director Ken Morse a couple minutes ago and he indicated that the Terriers will hold their Signing Day ceremony at 12:30 p.m. today. Expected to sign are LB Jordan Thomas (San Diego State), LB Cole Gridley (Valparaiso), K Shaun McClain (Montana State) and OL Justin Corrales (Bryant University). Morse wasn't 100 percent on Corrales' school of choice though.

Also, Arroyo Valley will hold its signing ceremony as part of a senior assembly at 9:30 a.m. tomorrow. The signees, LB Ofa Fifita (Fresno State) and WR Damon Ogburn (San Jose State), will send in their letters of intent today.

Been working the phones a bit this morning and got information on a few signing-day press conferences. Redlands East Valley will be holding its press conference at the crack of dawn Wednesday, with a 7 a.m. signing with DE Andrew Hudson (Washington), QB Tyler Shreve (Utah) and OL David Peterson (San Jose State) set to be in REV's football office.

Serrano will be holding its signing at 10:30 a.m. in the performing arts room on campus. Set to sign are DE Everett Beed (San Diego State) and RB Dionza Bradford (UNLV), along with a few soccer players according to athletic director Ray Maholchic.

Kaiser linebacker Josh Shirley will be at the FOX studios in Los Angeles for his announcement Wednesday. While the exact time of the announcement hasn't been set yet, Shirley was told to be at the studios at 11 a.m. according to a text he sent me. Shirley is deciding between USC, Miami (Fla), Washington and Arizona.

Serrano running back Dionza Bradford apparently is back with UNLV, recommitting to the Rebels last week after an official visit to the school that he originally verballed to over the summer.

Bradford, a first-team all-CIF and second-team all-Sun selection, verbally committed to UNLV coach Mike Sanford in July along with Serrano teammate Everett Beed but decommitted in November after Sanford was fired. Both Bradford and Beed committed to San Diego State in December after an official visit to the campus but changed back to UNLV and new coach Bobby Hauck last weekend according to Rivals.com

Beed is still solid with San Diego State after an official visit to Arizona State according to Rivals. com.

Talked to Serrano defensive end Everett Beed this morning, as he was one of the San Bernardino county all-stars present at this morning's media day. During the conversation, Beed confirmed that him and teammate Dionza Bradford committed to San Diego State after an official visit to the school two weekends ago.

"We're committed," Beed said. "Dionza is all San Diego State. We really liked what they had and we liked that there are going to be four High Desert guys there."

Bradford and Beed join Hesperia WR Jay Waddell and Granite Hills TE Bryce Quigley as Aztec commits. They both initially committed to UNLV but decommitted after the Rebels' coach, Mike Sanford, was fired in late November.

Beed did leave the door open for a future change, as he indicated that he is taking an official visit to Arizona within the next month. However, he reiterated that it would take a lot for the Wildcats to sway him.

"I want to see what Arizona has to offer," Beed said. "But San Diego State is a great place and I'm committed to them."

Speaking of Malone, the senior safety made a verbal committment to the Ducks over the weekend according to Rivals.com, just over a month after Oregon offered the 6-foot-3, 195-pound 3-star safety.

Malone, who was considering Nebraska, Washington, Arizona State and Arizona, made his commitment after taking an official visit to Eugene for Oregon's rivalry game for Oregon State last Thursday.

Also, Serrano running back Dionza Bradford and defensive end Everett Beed informed me at the CIF-SS football luncheon that they will be taking official visits to San Diego State next weekend. Both Diamondbacks were committed to UNLV, but decommitted when the school fired head coach Mike Sanford in November.

Redlands defensive end Jordan Thomas verbally committed to San Diego State this past weekend, according to Rivals.com. The 6-foot-1, 240-pounder, a three-star prospect according to Rivals, chose the Aztecs over San Jose State.

Thomas joins Colony cornerback Jered Bell, who verbally committed to Colorado last week after paying a visit to the campus in Boulder, Colo., on Nov. 6, according to Colony head football coach Anthony Rice. Bell was drawing interest from Colorado State, among others, but Colorado made his only scholarship offer.

This week also saw Los Osos forward Khalil Kelley sign with University of Pacific. The 6-foot-7 power forward averaged 9.3 points and 7.3 rebounds last season in helping the Grizzlies to a second-place finish in the Baseline League.

Just got a call from Redlands East Valley athletic director Rhonda Fouch notifying me of three REV athletes signing during the early signing period. Volleyball player Johnna Fouch will sign with San Diego State Friday at 7 p.m. in the REV ASB room, while softball player Amy Nece will sign with North Carolina early next week, as will baseball player Griffin Murphy with San Diego. Nece is going on an official visit to North Carolina this upcoming weekend according to Fouch.

Right before going to bed I looked over the San Diego State boxscore and noticed that Aztec freshman RB Walter Kazee, a Cajon graduate and the 2008 All-Sun Most Valuable Player, had a breakout game to lead SDSU to a 34-17 victory over New Mexico State. Kazee ran for 101 yards on 22 carries against the Aggies, scoring his first career touchdown on a 3-yard run in the fourth quarter.

2007 Most Valuable Player Chris Polk also had a heck of day in a losing cause for Washington against Notre Dame. The redshirt freshman RB, a Redlands East Valley graduate, ran for 136 yards on 22 carries and caught two passes for 9 yards in the Huskies' 37-30 overtime loss to the Fighting Irish. Polk appeared to have scored on a 6-yard TD midway through the fourth quarter, which would have put Washington up 31-22 with a made extra point, but a video review ruled him down inside the Notre Dame 1. Washington couldn't push the ball in and settled for a field goal that would loom large later. He now has 452 yards rushing in five games for Washington.

Here is the complete breakdown of Division I-A and Division I-AA signees per high school and per college.

By High School:
1. Upland 4; 2 tie. Cajon 3; Colony 3; 4 tie. Arroyo Valley 2; Diamond Ranch 2; Etiwanda 2; Los Osos 2; Rancho Cucamonga 2; Redlands 2; Redlands East Valley 2; 11 tie. Aquinas 1; Ayala 1; Bloomington 1; Colton 1; Diamond Bar 1; Eisenhower 1; Kaiser 1; Norco 1; Pomona 1; Roosevelt 1; San Bernardino 1; San Dimas 1; Yucaipa 1.

Obviously Upland was the big winner individually, especially since they had two Pac-10 guys (Josh Nunes and Osahon Irabor) and a Big Ten guy (Davion Fleming). But the city of San Bernardino had seven players (Aarein Booker, Chris Bradford, Daron Griffin, Walter Kazee, Michael Philipp, Marlon Pollard and J.P. Ragan) sign, with Colton's Nat Berhe giving the SAL another signee.

By University
1. UCLA 5; 2 tie. Oregon State 3; San Diego State 3; 4 tie. Fresno State 2; Idaho 2; New Mexico State 2; Northwestern 2; 8 tie. Air Force 1; Arizona State 1; Cal Poly SLO 1; Colorado State 1; Columbia 1; Louisville 1; Montana 1; Navy 1; New Mexico 1; Northern Arizona 1; South Florida 1; Southern Utah 1; Stanford 1; SUNY Stony Brook 1; UNLV 1; Utah 1; UTEP 1; Washington State 1.

A couple things stand out to me. The first one is the dominance of UCLA. Rick Neuheisel seems to recognize the growth of the Inland Empire and made great efforts out here, signing Marlon Pollard, Jayson Allmond, Richard Brehaut, Jared Koster and Brandon Sermons. San Diego State, who "hasn't been out here in years" according to Cajon coach Kim Battin seems to be making an IE effort under new coach Brady Hoke. Oregon State had a big year, while Fresno State continues its steady haul of local talent.

A couple of oddities exist as you go further. One is Northwestern, which picked off Fleming and Arby Fields from the Baseline League despite its location in suburban Chicago. Another is SUNY Stony Brook, who signed Taj Johnson from Upland this year, took Dominick Reyes from Hesperia last year and was in on Daron Griffin. Seems like this Long Island school is a player.

Also, look out for New Mexico State and Eastern Michigan in the future. The Aggies are now coached by former UCLA defensive coordinator DeWayne Walker - who is well-versed in the area - while Eastern Michigan is now being coached by Ganesha graduate Ron English. English recruited Southern California well for Michigan while on Lloyd Carr's staff and pulled Titus Teague from Pomona for Louisville while serving as defensive coordinator there this past season. Don't be surprised if the Eagles start coming up in conversation among 2010 recruits.

Wednesday morning at Cajon High School will be a busy one, as running back Walter Kazee and offensive lineman Daron Griffin will be signing letters of intent. Kazee, the All-County Most Valuable Player, verbally committed to San Diego State after taking an official visit there over the weekend according to Cajon athletic director Rich Imbriani, while Griffin verbally committed to Division I-AA Southern Utah over the weekend. Griffin, another all-County first-team selection, also made his commitment after an official visit.

The two will be joining cornerback Marlon Pollard, who is expected to sign with UCLA after verbally committing to the Bruins three weeks ago. Pollard was committed to Notre Dame, who is still recruiting him heavily, before he switched to UCLA.

When San Bernardino senior defensive back Aarein Booker went on his official visit to San Diego State this past weekend, he wasn't necessarily thinking about committing. But after spending an entire day on the campus, he knew that he wanted to be an Aztec.
"I was thinking about everything right before I went to bed," Booker said. "When I woke up, I knew what I wanted to do."
Booker, a 6-foot, 180-pound jack of all trades for the Cardinals this season, gave his verbal commitment to San Diego State Sunday morning, becoming the first Division I-A football recruit out of San Bernardino since Paul Philipp committed to Arizona in 2001.
"This is a big deal for us," San Bernardino coach Nick Monica said. "For Aarein to be the first D-I guy we've had in eight years is a pretty big deal for us, especially since we were 2-8 this year."
The Cardinals may have struggled on the field, but none of the blame could be placed on Booker. Along with playing cornerback for San Bernardino, Booker ran for 1,058 yards and even served time at quarterback.
San Diego State is looking at Booker, who is also an accomplished sprinter on the Cardinals' track team, to play at corner. After talking to the Aztec defensive coaches, including defensive coordinator and former New Mexico head coach Rocky Long, Booker was pretty excited about his new role.
"I loved the defense they ran and I loved all the players I talked to," Booker said. "I really feel like I connected with the players and coaches and I really enjoyed the campus."
The trip also included breakfast at the beach on Sunday morning, something his other main suitor, Division I-AA Idaho State, couldn't offer. Booker was planning an official trip to Idaho State this upcoming weekend, but canceled it after committing.