Sanford: UNLV has reclaimed city recruiting

Steve Guiremand

Thursday, Feb. 3, 2005 | 9:48 a.m.

Corey Anderson, wr, 6-1, 170, Birmingham HS, Lake Balboa, Calif.

Rodelin Anthony, te, 6-5, 210, Immokalee (Fla.) HS

Jason Beauchamp, lb, 6-3, 205, Steele Canyon HS, San Diego

Chris Brogdon, rb, 5-9, 215, Desert Vista HS, Phoenix

Chris Butler, te, 6-3, 250, College of the Canyons, Canyon Country, Calif.

Torrie Coleman, rb, 6-2, 210, Cheyenne HS, North Las Vegas, Nev.

Travis Dixon, qb, 6-1, 185, Hamilton HS, Chandler, Ariz.

Perry Eppenger, dt, 6-3, 315, Cheyenne HS, North Las Vegas, Nev.

Cedrick Fisher, dt, 6-3, 320, Santa Monica College, Quincy, Fla.

Lafayette Fletcher, rb/db, 5-8, 175, Morningside HS, Anaheim, Calif.

Daryl Forte, db, 6-0, 185, Culver City (Calif.) HS

John Guice, cb, 5-9, 180, Grossmont College, Atlanta, Ga.

Jacob Hales, de, 6-5, 275, Las Vegas (Nev.) HS

Jarrell Harrison, qb, 6-2, 205, Palo Verde HS, Las Vegas

Jarrod Jackson, qb, 6-1, 205, Grossmont College, Lake Oswego, Ore.

Kameron Kranz, athlete, 6-2, 210, Chaparral HS, Scottsdale, Ariz.

Ray Lobato, ol, 6-3, 275, Amphitheater HS, Tucson, Ariz.

Lamont Long, db, 6-1, 185, Narbonne HS, Harbor City, Calif.

Justin Marvel, wr, 6-0, 175, Arroyo Valley HS, San Bernardino, Calif.

Mike McDonald, qb, 6-1, 205, Burbank (Calif.) HS

Kellen Moriarty, db, 6-0, 195, Dos Pueblos HS, Goleta, Calif.

Brian Pacheco, p, 5-11, 200, Glendale CC, Peoria, Ariz.

A.J. Rodriguez, ol, 6-5, 300, Las Vegas (Nev.) HS

Wiselet Rouzard, cb, 5-10, 185, Immokalee (Fla.) HS

Renan Saint Preux, wr, 6-2, 190, Immokalee (Fla.) HS

Josh Smith, ol, 6-5, 330, Norco (Calif.) HS

Channing Trotter, rb, 5-9, 185, Red Mountain HS, Mesa, Ariz.

E.J. Whitley, cb, 5-9, 170, Victory Valley College, Del Valle, Texas

Ryan Wolfe, wr, 6-1, 180, Hart HS, Santa Clarita, Calif.

When he took over the head football coaching duties at UNLV on Dec. 6, Mike Sanford made it clear one of his top priorities would be to keep the top local talent from leaving the area.

For one year, anyway, it was mission accomplished.

Despite having less than two months to recruit -- 57 days to be exact -- Sanford managed to persuade five of the area's top prep prospects to give UNLV a try over schools such as Oregon State, UCLA, Colorado and BYU.

Those players highlighted a massive 29-player signing list released Wednesday afternoon by the school during a news conference at the Si Redd Room in the Thomas & Mack Center.

Palo Verde quarterback Jarrell Harrison, Las Vegas High linemen A.J. Rodriguez and Jacob Hales, and the Cheyenne High School duo of running back Torrie Coleman and defensive tackle Perry Eppenger all inked national letters of intent to play with the Rebels next fall.

Harrison, Rodriguez and Eppenger were all first-team members of the Sun's All-State football team while Coleman, a second-team selection, had schools such as Oregon State, UCLA and Colorado recruiting him. And Hales, who took a two-year LDS Church mission after redshirting as a freshman at Southern Utah in 2001, picked the Rebels over BYU.

"That was a huge priority," Sanford said of signing local prep products. "I think we've taken back the city of Las Vegas and made it UNLV's city."

Sanford gave a lot of credit for UNLV's local recruiting success to wide receivers coach Kris Cinkovich, one of two holdovers from John Robinson's staff and the former head coach at Las Vegas High School who laid much of the groundwork in the fall.

"I think Mike did a tremendous job in town," Cinkovich said. "His first home visits after taking the job were in Las Vegas. I just thought he was really good in the home and obviously the parents and the players thought so, too. His emphasis to recruit Southern Nevada was huge for us."

The only two players UNLV recruited in Southern Nevada who signed elsewhere were Bishop Gorman linebacker Ryan Reynolds, a Parade All-American who was rumored to be a lock for Oklahoma since last summer, and Green Valley WR/DB Brett Johnson, who choose Pac-10 power Cal over the Rebels.

"What we did in Las Vegas was undeniably positive," Sanford said.

As expected, the bulk of UNLV's signees came from neighboring California (11) and Arizona (six). But thanks to the recruiting efforts of offensive coordinator Noah Brindise, a Florida native who played quarterback for Steve Spurrier at the University of Florida, the Rebels also came away with four players from that talent-rich state.

UNLV signed defensive tackle Cedrick Fisher (6-3, 320) of Santa Monica (Calif.) College over Illinois, Arkansas and Central Florida, where his brother, Travis, now a starting corner for the St. Louis Rams, attended college. Fisher played his high school football at Shanks High School in Quincy, Fla., near Tallahassee.

"I got a call from an old friend in Tallahassee who coached against him in high school and knew about him and said we should check him out," Brindise said. "We took one look at him on tape and offered him."

The Rebels also landed three first-team all-2A players -- tight end Rodelin Anthony, cornerback Wiselet Rouzard and wide receiver Renan Saint Preux -- from Florida state Class 2A champion Immokalee High School, which produced current NFL star Edgerrin James. Immokalee coach John Weber had coached Brindise in high school.

"I had been recruiting those kids since last May when I was at East Carolina," Brindise said. "So I knew them well and put a lot of time in with them and was real excited to get them."

Brindise was asked if UNLV might be able to establish a recruiting pipeline to the Sunshine State.

"We're certainly going to try," he said. "There's a lot of great players down there. But there are also a lot of great players in California and right here in Las Vegas as well. We're just going to go where the good players are. I have some connections down there, which helps."

Most of the letters began coming in shortly after 7 a.m.

Oregon State, which lost out on Coleman last week, reportedly continued to put a fullcourt press on the the explosive 6-foot-2, 210-pounder until the end.

Coleman's letter of intent finally came in shortly before lunch. He was the second-to-last player to fax his letter into the office.

"We made a decision when we had a higher return than normal on our initial (scholarship) offers to keep going and bring some of the players in next spring if we need to," Sanford said. "We were up front with the guys who might have to be grayshirted so that there would be no confusion."

Sanford refused to divulge which players could potentially be grayshirted.

"It's a good thing for the players who are grayshirted because they don't waste a redshirt year and they get to come in for spring practice next year when your numbers are usually down," Sanford said.

Sanford said he would honor the scholarships that Robinson offered to two grayshirt signees from last February -- offensive lineman Josh Smith (6-5, 330) of Norco (Calif.) High School and running back Kameron Kranz (6-2, 210) of Scottsdale (Ariz.) Chaparral High School. Both enrolled in school earlier this month and will take part in spring practice.

The Rebels have already offered scholarships to a handful of the top junior prospects in southern Nevada.