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RENO, Nev. – Fresh off the greatest season in school history, the Nevada football team announced the signing of 24 student-athletes to National Letters of Intent on Wednesday, head coach Chris Ault announced at an afternoon press conference at Cashell Football Center.
The class comes with an emphasis on the defensive side of the ball and features nine mid-year players who are already enrolled at the University of Nevada and will go through spring drills with the team.
“This is a solid class,” said Ault, the 2010 Western Athletic Conference Coach of the Year. “Our recruiting priorities were on the defensive side, as well as tight ends, running backs and a freshman quarterback. I feel this class will create some quality competition as well as develop much needed depth.
“There is no question we lost some outstanding seniors off a championship team. Our challenge now is to redefine the role of each position and develop the individual skills necessary to meet the demands of our offensive and defensive schemes.”
The class consists of 17 players coming from the high school ranks (six of whom have already enrolled at Nevada this semester), four junior college transfers and three sophomore transfers with three years of eligibility remaining. Fourteen of the players are on the defensive side of the ball with nine offensive players and one player classified as an athlete.
The lone quarterback of the class is Tanner Roderick, a 6-foot-2, 190-pound product from Bozeman, Mont. Roderick was the Gatorade Player of the Year in Montana and is also an all-state basketball player. He threw for 2,500 yards and 28 touchdowns while running for more than 1,900 yards and 23 touchdowns during his senior season.
Nevada’s two running backs are Kendall Brock (5-9, 193 pounds) from Fresno, Calif., and Anthony Knight (6-1, 225) from Groton, Mass. Brock was the Fresno Bee Player of the Year and was widely considered to be the player of the year in the San Joaquin Valley after running for 2,400 yards and 40 touchdowns. Knight tallied 1,300 yards in just eight games last season, with an average of 14.7 yards per carry.
Nevada brought in four offensive linemen and two tight ends with four of those players already enrolled. Of the two high school products coming in the fall, Ault noted that Andrew Main (6-3, 253) was an All-CIF center at Los Alamitos (Calif.) High School, a traditional powerhouse in Southern California.
The Wolf Pack inked five defensive linemen, including Rykeem Yates (6-2, 271), who signed with UCLA a year ago but enrolled at Nevada this semester, and Reginald Coates (6-1, 232), a multi-sport star who was All-CIF at Crespi High School in Encino, Calif.
With three seniors projected to start at linebacker in 2011 for Nevada, that position was a defined need and the class includes five newcomers to the linebacking corps. One of those players, Burton De Koning (6-2, 218), was a standout on the Folsom (Calif.) High School state championship team who was named Player of the Game in the section championship, the state championship and the end of the season all-star game.
There are four newcomers in the defensive backfield, including two spring enrollees. One of the newcomers, Desman Carter (6-1, 200) of Kasier High School in Fontana, Calif., turned down offers from multiple Pac-12 and Big 12 schools to sign with Nevada.
Nevada is coming off a historic season in which the Wolf Pack went 13-1, won the WAC championship and defeated Boston College of the ACC in the Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl in front of more than 30,000 Wolf Pack fans at AT&T Park in San Francisco.
“Nevada has always had a great name but it’s recognized everywhere we go now,” said Jim Mastro, Nevada’s running backs coach and recruiting coordinator. “The success of ‘The Dream Team’ this past season and Coach Ault’s Pistol Offense have made Nevada football a nationally recognized name.”
The signing class was unveiled at a press conference Wednesday, and the football program is holding a National Signing Day Party Wednesday evening at the Bully’s Sports Bar location on Robb Drive.
Ault and his coaching staff will unveil the 2011 Wolf Pack Football recruiting class with a detailed rundown on each member of the class with a video presentation. The Fremont Cannon will be on display along with the WAC Championship Trophy, the Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl Trophy and the ESPN Herbie Award for the Game of the Year. The Wolf Pack’s team highlight video from the historic 2010 season will also be shown.
The function is open to the public, and Bully’s will be offering food and drink specials throughout the evening. The event runs from 6-8 p.m., and Wolf Pack fans are encouraged to stay afterward to watch the Nevada basketball team take on Utah State in a pivotal WAC showdown on ESPN2.
Season tickets for the 2011 football season will be on sale at the event.
The Wolf Pack will open spring drills on Thursday, March 24 with the annual Silver and Blue Game set for Saturday, April 16.
2011 Nevada Football Recruiting Class
Alphabetical (24)
Name Pos. Ht. Wt. Class-Exp. Hometown (School)
Zack Brickell* OL 6-3 265 Fr.-HS Fallbrook, Calif. (Fallbrook HS)
Kendall Brock RB 5-9 193 Fr.-HS Fresno, Calif. (Clovis West HS)
Teondray Caldwell Ath. 5-9 196 Fr.-HS Los Angeles, Calif. (Venice HS)
Desman Carter DB 6-1 200 Fr.-HS Fontana, Calif. (Kaiser HS)
Reginald Coates DL 6-1 232 Fr.-HS Encino, Calif. (Crespi HS)
Paul Dancy DL 6-3 258 Jr.-TR Los Angeles, Calif. (Mt. San Antonio College)
Burton De Koning LB 6-2 218 Fr.-HS Folsom, Calif. (Folsom HS)
Lorenzo Devers LB 6-0 234 Fr.-HS Orange, Calif. (Orange Lutheran HS)
Ryan Goforth* DB 6-1 202 Fr. HS Long Beach, Calif. (Long Beach Poly HS)
Randy Horton TE 6-4 260 So.-TR Simi Valley, Calif. (College of the Canyons)
Tyler Houk DL 6-4 251 So.-TR Visalia, Calif. (College of the Sequoias)
Lenny Jones* LB 6-3 239 Fr.-HS San Leandro, Calif. (San Leandro HS)
Bryson Keeton DB 6-2 188 Fr.-HS Bakersfield, Calif. (Ridgeview HS)
Anthony Knight RB 6-1 225 Fr.-HS Groton, MA (Lawrence Academy)
Bryan Lane LB 6-4 210 Fr.-HS Sacramento, Calif. (Christian Brothers HS)
Andrew Main OL 6-3 253 Fr. HS Los Alamitos, Calif. (Los Alamitos HS)
Jon McNeal* LB 6-1 230 So.-TR Venice, Calif. (Santa Monica CC)
Jacob Peppard DL 6-3 250 Jr.-TR La Habra, Calif. (Cerritos College)
Tanner Roderick QB 6-2 190 Fr.-HS Bozeman, Mont. (Bozeman HS)
Eric Stewart* TE 6-3 235 Jr.-TR Los Angeles, Calif. (El Camino College)
Connor Talbott* OL 6-3 270 Fr.-HS Reno, Nev. (Bishop Manogue HS)
Tyler Thompson* DB 6-2 203 Jr.-TR Sanger, Calif. (Bakersfield College)
Sebastian Tretola* OL 6-5 305 Fr.-HS Cajon, Calif. (Cajon HS)
Rykeem Yates* DL 6-2 271 Fr.-HS Fresno, Calif. (Edison HS)
* – Enrolled at Nevada in Spring of 2011.
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