Courtesy of Eastern Washington Athletics
This year, size and speed took on new meanings for the Eastern Washington University football program as it signed 14 high school athletes to letters of intent to attend EWU and play for the Eagles next fall.
The Eagles got a late start on recruiting two years ago when Beau Baldwin was initially named head coach, and last year the Eagles hurriedly caught up by signing 33 players. This year, Eastern concentrated on finding the right kind of size and speed it needed.
"When you look at what we did and the goals we had when we started recruiting, we are very pleased," said Baldwin. "We definitely made speed an emphasis in our skill players, and I think we'll definitely see that with this class."
Besides the 14 high school players, Baldwin also announced the addition of a pair of quarterbacks who will be transferring to EWU. Bo Levi Mitchell, who signed a financial aid agreement with the Eagles and is expected to attend classes at EWU in the spring, played two seasons at Southern Methodist University in Texas where he started all 19 of the games he played. In his career, the 6-foot-2, 210-pound Mitchell completed 385-of-676 passes (57.0 percent) for 4,590 yards (241.6 per game) with 36 touchdowns and 33 interceptions. He was also 29-1 as a high school starter at Katy (Texas) High School.
Eastern also announced the previous signing of junior college quarterback Greg Panelli from Newman, Calif., and Modesto Junior College. The strong-armed, 6-foot-3, 225-pounder passed for more than 5,000 yards and 56 touchdowns at Modesto and twice earned All-Golden Gate Conference honors.
"Our mindset was to really pinpoint areas," Baldwin explained of his coaching staff's recruiting emphasis this year. "We wanted to make sure we felt good in terms of the players we were signing. Whether they redshirt or not, we feel good about each player we signed and think they are going to have huge impacts early in their careers. Sometimes when you sign bigger classes, you take a chance here or there. With a small class, we want to be very certain with each player we sign."
The speedsters include a pair of players who are among the fastest in the State of Washington during track season in both the 100 and 200 meters. Wide receiver Markeem Adams (West Seattle HS) has won a pair of State 3A titles in the 200 and wide receiver Trenton Pinson (Federal Way HS) was the State 4A runner-up in both the 100 and 200. Pinson was a first team All-State selection as an all-purpose back in 2009.
"We have some good, young outside receivers, but we really wanted to find a couple of skilled receivers who may not be as big but are quicker," said Baldwin. "That was a goal for us and we were able to accomplish that."
A pair of players from California, including running back Mario Brown from Berkeley, Calif. (Bishop O'Dowd HS), are also speedsters. Brown rushed for 1,200 yards and 14 touchdowns as a senior, and 1,928 yards (9.2 per carry) and 23 touchdowns as a junior. The other is wide receiver Andre Willliams from El Cerrito (Calif.) HS, who rushed for 711 yards and had another 575 yards receiving with 13 total touchdowns in 2009.
"You are always looking for great running backs -- you can never have enough of those," Baldwin added. "After that, we wanted to sign two linebackers that I think have the physical tools and make-up to help us right away."
The list of high school players includes a pair of offensive linemen to help replace a pair of seniors from last year's team.
"One of the things we definitely wanted to do was shore up the offensive line," said Baldwin. "Numbers-wise, we felt we were thin by the end of the year in terms of depth of our whole team. I would like to come into camp with 17 or 18 offensive linemen. So it was good to sign two, with the potential of bringing in a third or a fourth somewhere down the road."
The lone local signee was running back Cody Hecker from Sandpoint, Idaho. Eastern did sign three pairs of high school teammates -- Adams and defensive back Isaiah Jenkins (West Seattle), defensive lineman Dylan Zylstra and linebacker Devin Topps (Kentridge) and offensive lineman Jase Butorac and defensive lineman Evan Day (Skyline). Skyline won the State 4A title in 2009.
Zylstra outside at end and Day inside at tackle fit the needs perfectly that the Eagles were looking for along the defensive line. Zach Chapman and two-time 2A All-State selection Ryan Seto are two tight ends the Eagles recruited to help replace senior All-America tight end Nathan Overbay.
"We filled a nice little need on the defensive line by signing an inside player and a defensive end," Baldwin said. "We may also add another tight end/defensive end -- it's nice to always have those kinds of players with longer, 6-5 bodies."
The Eagles finished the 2009 season with an 8-4 record and advanced to the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision Playoffs for the fourth time in the last six seasons. Eastern expects to return 10 starters from that team and a total of 42 letter winners. Included in the returning letter winners are six players from last year's recruiting class who played for the Eagles as true freshmen.
Name
Pos.
Ht.
Wt.
Hometown (High School)
Markeem Adams
WR
6-0
175
Seattle, Wash. (West Seattle HS '10)
Mario Brown
RB
5-9
175
Berkeley, Calif. (Bishop O'Dowd HS '10)
Jase Butorac
OL
6-3
280
Sammamish, Wash. (Skyline HS '10)
Zach Chapman
TE
6-3
240
Vancouver, Wash. (Mountain View HS '10)
Evan Day
DL
6-3
245
Sammamish, Wash. (Skyline HS '10)
John Goldwire
LB
6-1
225
Lakewood, Wash. (Lakes HS '10)
Jared Hansen
OL
6-5
295
University Place, Wash. (Curtis HS '10)
Cody Hecker
RB
6-0
210
Sandpoint, Idaho (Sandpoint HS '10)
Isaiah Jenkins
DB
6-0
170
Seattle, Wash. (West Seattle HS '10)
Trenton Pinson
WR
5-11
185
Auburn, Wash. (Federal Way HS '10)
Ryan Seto
TE
6-5
230
Lynden, Wash. (Lynden HS '10)
Devin Topps
LB
6-2
210
Kent, Wash. (Kentridge HS '10)
Andre "Bird" Williams
WR
5-9
170
Richmond, Calif. (El Cerrito HS '10)
Dylan Zylstra
DL
6-4
225
Kent, Wash. (Kentridge HS '10)
Other Eagle Newcomers
Bo Levi Mitchell
QB
6-2
210
Katy, Texas (Katy HS '08 & SMU)
Greg Panelli
QB
6-3
225
Newman, Calif. (Orestimba HS '07)