Brindise’s Florida connection pays off

Steve Guiremand

Tuesday, Jan. 18, 2005 | 10:48 a.m.

UNLV picked up three more football commitments on Monday, including a pair from Florida state Class 2A champion Immokalee High School.

Tight end/linebacker Rodlin Anthony (6-foot-6, 210 pounds), a first-team all-state 2A pick, and WR/DB Wiselet Rouzard (5-10, 185), a second-team all-state pick, both committed to the Rebels.

New Rebels offensive coordinator Noah Brindise, who recruited the duo while an assistant at East Carolina last season, played for Immokalee head coach John Weber while attending Cypress Lake (Fla.) High School before going on to play for Steve Spurrier at the University of Florida.

The Rebels also landed one of the top wide receiver prospects in Southern California when Corey Anderson (6-1, 170) of Los Angeles city champion Lake Balboa Birmingham choose UNLV over UNR.

Anderson took an official recruiting trip to UCLA over the weekend but was put on hold for a scholarship offer by the Bruins. He was a first-team all-San Fernando Valley pick by the Los Angeles Daily News after catching 58 passes for 1,425 yards and 12 touchdowns this past season. He also intercepted eight passes as a defensive back.

UNLV is still waiting for a decision from Las Vegas High School offensive lineman A.J. Rodriguez (6-4, 300) who visited over the weekend after earlier committing to New Mexico.

Rodriguez, who turned down scholarship offers from Oregon and Oregon State to stay closer to home, said at Monday night's All-Southern Nevada Football Banquet at Big Dog's that he hoped to make a decision "in the next few days.

"It's a very tough decision," Rodriguez said. "I really enjoyed my trip to New Mexico."

New UNLV head coach Mike Sanford was the keynote speaker at the banquet, which honored players selected to the all-Southern Nevada football squad. Oklahoma-bound linebacker Ryan Reynolds of Bishop Gorman was named the defensive player of the year while UNLV-bound quarterback Jarrell Harrison of Palo Verde was named offensive player of the year.