Foothill RB Ford announces he’ll attend UNLV

Steve Guiremand

Wednesday, July 11, 2001 | 10:38 a.m.

UNLV is still a little less than a month away from the start of fall football practice, but head coach John Robinson already has scored one big victory.

John Ford, a 6-foot-2, 220-pound running back from Henderson's Foothill High School who is widely considered the state's top prospect and one of the West's top running backs prospects, announced that he will attend UNLV.

"It's official," Ford said Tuesday night from his mother's home in Fairfield, Calif. "I went to their summer camp and I just knew it was the place for me. My family is close by and I really like Coach Robinson."

Family is an important aspect of Ford's decision. He moved to Henderson from Palmdale, Calif., to live with his uncle this past spring after his father died of a heart attack last November.

"I just wanted to get away from that," Ford said.

As a junior at Littlerock High, Ford powered his way to 1,464 yards and 19 touchdowns despite playing in just six games because of injury. One college coach said he recently timed Ford at 4.5 in the 40-yard dash even though he wasn't wearing cleats.

ESPN.com recruiting analyst Tom Lemming, who met Ford during a Memorial Day visit with the top prospects in Las Vegas, rates Ford as one of the nation's top 100 prospects.

Ford picked UNLV despite offers from Nebraska, which made a very strong push, Ohio State, Oregon State, Oregon and Washington. He said the fact Robinson had coached two previous Heisman Trophy winning tailbacks, Marcus Allen and Charles White, as well as NFL great Eric Dickerson, played a role in his decision.

"He told me he'd bring out the best in me," Ford said. "Considering his background, that meant a lot."

Although KLAS-TV Channel 8 erroneously reported Tuesday night that Ford had actually "signed" with UNLV, his commitment is only a non-binding oral agreement.

Prep seniors cannot sign a binding national letter of intent until Feb. 6, 2002, the first day of the national signing period.

"It's a little tight from not throwing for so long," Thomas said. "But once I get warm it feels pretty good. I'm just trying to get stronger and get in shape for the start of fall camp."

"He's pretty much back to 100 percent lifting-wise," UNLV trainer Kyle Wilson said. "He's been throwing for the last week-and-a-half and looking pretty good."