The Scouting Guru has been all over the San Gabriel Valley and beyond, and like always, he’s offered to share his thoughts, free of charge. Don’t hate, enjoy it for what it’s worth, which is one man’s opinion on the talent in the San Gabriel Valley.

Guru says: Needless to say, it has been a very busy May and June for your friendly friend here on the recruiting trail. The month of May was spent with college coaches on the west coast and the month of June has seen us working college camps (including USC and UCLA). For this column, let’s take a look at what I will call “the big three” These are the three best college recruits for the San Gabriel Valley and see what is going on with their recruiting. (To continue, click thread).

Sioasi Aiono (OL, South Hills, 6-2, 290) — It’s been a nice month of May for this prospect and his recruiting cycle has just moved into overdrive in the month of June. He has added offers from Hawaii, New Mexico State and Fresno State during the last two months. The one offer that is real intriguing is the offer from Fresno State. Fresno State has a very nice history with South Hills players with the Jiron Fairman having tremendous success with the Bulldogs after a superb high school football career with the Huskies.

Then their was Sioasi’s performance at the USC one-day OL/DL camp last weekend. He practiced at the guard position and at the center position and did a wonderful job. He’ll be back at USC next week for the Rising Stars Camp and a huge performance there could propel Lane Kiffin to pulling the trigger and offering the kid. He’ll also be at UCLA this weekend and if he performs at UCLA the same way that he performed USC, there is no doubt in my mind that he’ll be offered by Rick Neuhesiel after the camp. He’ll come away impressed with the kid, just like Pat Hill did at Fresno State and just like Lane Kiffin did at USC last weekend.

The one school that could be the x-factor in the situation is Utah. There are many reasons for this thinking. And rather than list all the reasons, the main reason in my eyes that I am willing to make public is that Utah seems to be on the verge of being invited into the Pac-10 . And that reason alone will change the landscape of recruiting on the west coast.

The approach that Steve Bogan and his staff at South Hills has taken to Siaosi’s recruiting has been nothing short of brilliant. They have been proactive with game and practice film and have let Sioasi go to whatever camp that he has wanted to go to. In these days of recruiting, going to college camps is a lot more important that going to on-line camps, like the NIKE camp and a Scout.com camp. The reason is simple. At the NIKE camp, college coaches are not allowed to go to those events. When a prospect goes to a college camp, not only does the head coach get to look at the kid, but the position coach also gets to work and evaluate the kid. That was one of the main reasons why Fresno State offered Aiono. He was very coachable from the first moment he arrived to the camp to the last. And it’s this proactive approach that has Aiono on the verge of being offered by the Pac-10.

Chad Jeffries (QB, Glendora, 6-2, 190) — There is the ugly side of recruiting and — unfortunately — this prospect was seeing that side of the business. Now, this is the reason why I say that it’s good to go to a NIKE camp and do really well at the event (remember, this kid was named the MVP of the Camp and was listed as the top QB at the Elite 11 camp at Berkeley) but it doesn’t guarantee that you’ll get an offer.

As the month of May was rolling along, there was a strong buzz about the kid. I was asked to send game film to practically every school on the west coast. But, at the end of May came one of the most hauntingly bottom line facts of recruiting, despite the fact that he was talk of the internet from every recruiting site, despite the fact that he got a glowing review from Nike QB coach Matt James, Jeffries had NO offers.

But that all changed this week with (and see if you have not heard this one before) a huge performance at the San Diego State football camp. His performance was so good that he was offered after the camp, Again, here is a prospect that used a football camp to further enhance his recruiting stock. And it’s a credit to Mark Pasqurella and the staff at Glendora to map out a plan for his recruiting and it’s coming into the shape very nicely.

So you might be asking, what’s next for him?

Well, glad you asked. Since I am in the recruiting business, I am going to do is give a little breakdown on what is going on with recruiting at the QB position on the west coast. It’s what I do when I decide to help a kid out with his recruiting.

Right now, the Pac-10 is waiting to see what will happen with Brett Hundley from Chandler HS in Arizona. He has been offered by virtually everyone is the Pac-10 and (according to people who opinions I respect) it’s going to be either Oregon or UCLA that will get this prospect.

So that leaves us with three Pac-10 schools that could take a QB this year. Oregon State, Washington and Washington State. And here are the QB’s that could be at the camps during this week or next week. (BTW, we know for a fact that Jeffries is going to Oregon State next week, so we’ll see what happens). And remember one thing, prospects that go to camps with offers have a bit of an advantage over prospects that don’t have offers…

Rick Lloyd (Concord HS, Concord, CA) — He has offers from Iowa State, Tulsa, Louisana Tech, Iowa State, Southern Mississippi and Sacramento State.

Brett Smith (West Salem HS, Salem, OR) — Dual-Threat QB has offers from Eastern Washington, New Mexico State, San Jose State and Wyoming.

Nick Sherry (Casa Grande HS, CA) — He has offers from San Diego State, Colorado and Sacramento State

Dustin Walton (Raton HS, NM) — Offered by Colorado State

John Cabot (Torrey Pines HS, CA) — Offered by Idaho

Tana Pritchard (Clover Park HS, WA) — Offered by UNLV

Derrick Brown (Vista Murrieta HS, CA) — Offered by San Diego State and Colorado State

And don’t forget about Corona Centennial QB Michael Eubanks and Loyola QB Jerry Neuheisel.

So it’s a daunting task for Jeffries to take. But, I think that Jeffries is up to getting a Pac-10 offer. And San Diego State has helped by offering the kid. He has done a fabulous job so far during the spring and summer. And he has a strong supporting system that is helping him out, So he should be on a good foundation right now.

And if you don’t believe me about recruiting as a quarterback, just talk to Chris Allen and Cameron Deen… I’m sure that they will be more than happy to relive their recruiting memories.

Dennis Rufus (Charter Oak, DB, 6-1, 170) — He is listed at 6-1 and it’s right on the money. And here is another prospect that has had a really nice spring. He got offers from San Diego State, Utah State, Idaho and Colorado State.

But there were Pac-10 coaches that wanted to see him at their camps, and as far as I know, he was not at one of the Pac-10 camps.

In my opinion, this is a kid that has the ability to be a Pac-10 kid, but Pac-10 coaches need to see him.

So, here is a free piece of advice. UCLA has their one-day skills camp this Sunday, Washington has their Rising Stars Camp on Tuesday and Wednesday and USC has their Rising Stars Camp on Wednesday and Thursday. Plus Oregon has their camps next week as well. There are plenty of opportunities for Mr. Rufus to showcase his skills to Pac-10 coaches, so lets hope he takes the opportunity.

I just wanted to offer up one final thought.
I had a chance to watch and evaluate Bishop Amat TE/WR prospect Wallace Gonzalez. And after spending the day with him, I have had to change my tune. I really like this kid and I hope that he is showcased this season at Bishop Amat.

He did a very nice job at USC at their one-day skills camp on Sunday and showed some much needed toughness too. He caught the ball nicely and it looks like his attitude has taken a turn for the better. Now, there is still questions about his speed and he is still a bit tight around the hips, but he is definitely a kid that appears to have grown up mentally.

BTW, we had a chance to meet with his mother after the camp, and we are happy to report that she is a big fan of the “guru.” There is nothing like being in the minority huh?

See you at UCLA this weekend….