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Early Enrollees
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Signing Day, 2017, is Wednesday, February 1st. On that day, Colorado is expected to sign one of the most decorated recruiting Classes in over a decade. The CU Recruiting Class of 2017, thanks to a large class of graduating seniors, will also be one of the largest in recent history.
The NCAA limits a given Recruiting Class to 25 members, but, with the “fuzzy math” of the collegiate recruiting world, the CU Recruiting Class will likely be in the 28-30 range.
How is that possible? Welcome to the world of “early enrollees” and “gray-shirts”.
High school seniors who graduated in December and enroll in classes at Colorado in January can be counted backwards towards the Recruiting Class of 2016, while players who are willing to “gray-shirt” – delay enrollment until January of 2018 – can be counted as a member of the Class of 2018.
Got it?
Even though the Recruiting Class of 2017 won’t be completed until the first Wednesday of February, the roster is already seeing an impact. A total of nine players will already be in the fold before the fax machine (yes, they still use the fax machine) starts spitting out signed Letters of Intent on February 1st.
The breakdown:
Early Enrollees (6):
Tyler Lytle – QB
Just the facts … Committed June 21st … Tyler Lytle is a 6’5″, 205-pound quarterback from Anaheim, California Rivals bio Scout bio 247Sports bio
What others have to say about Lytle … Lytle is rated as a three-star prospect by Rivals, Scout and 247Sports. Rivals has Lytle ranked as the No. 22 pro-style quarterback in the nation. Scout, meanwhile, has Lytle rated as the No. 40 quarterback in the nation, and the No. 10 quarterback out of the west this recruiting cycle. At 247Sports, Lytle is considered the 28th-best quarterback in the nation.
Servite High School finished the 2016 season with a 4-7 record after losing to Mission Viejo in the CIF Southern Section Playoffs. Lytle finished 170-of-288 passing for 2,424-yards and 17 touchdowns. Lytle threw for 331-yards in his final high school football game.
Here is an evaluation from Greg Biggins at Scout.com … Lytle is a big, strong kid with the ability to get the ball down the field. He shows good touch on the deep ball and can make every throw you want to see on the field. He has improved his accuracy and can fit the ball in to some tight windows because of the amount of zip he possesses. He’s a very confident quarterback who will stand in the pocket and shows better mobility than given credit for. As he continues to improve his ability to anticipate and throw the ball early, his game will move to another level.
Lytle had other offers from … about half of the country. Out of the Pac-12, Lytle had offers from California, Washington State, Oregon State, and Arizona State. Other offers from Power-Five conference schools came from Miami (Fla.), Boston College, Illinois, Indiana, Pitt, Purdue, and Vanderbilt.
In his own words … “Colorado felt like home to me,” Lytle told Scout.com upon his commitment. “I have a great relationship with the coaches, that was key. They communicated with me on a daily basis and Coach Mac (Mike MacIntyre), Coach Chev (Darrin Chiaverini) and Coach (Brian) Lindgren went out of their way to let me know I was their guy for the 2017 class.
“They were great throughout this entire process and made it clear to me that I was the top guy on their board. They also made sure I knew that there was an opportunity to compete for playing time early and I’m definitely excited about that opportunity.”
On coming to Boulder, Lytle told CUSportsNation … “It is going to be a great ride and (the Buff Nation) should expect nothing less than championships and bowl games over the years. It can and will be done. I am going to give it all I have to deliver beyond their expectations.”
Here are Hudl.com highlights of Lytle in action:
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Dante Sparaco – DE/TE
Just the facts … Committed February 28th … Dante Sparaco is a 6’4″, 235-pound athlete from IMG Academy in Brandento, Florida, by way of Cherry Creek high school in Greenwood Village, Colorado Rivals bio Scout bio 247 Sports bio
What others say about Sparaco … Sparaco is considered to be a three-star prospect by Rivals, Scout, and 247 Sports. Scout considers Sparaco to be the 120th-best defensive end in the nation, while 247Sports has him as the No. 42 tight end prospect in the country.
Sparaco transferred from Cherry Creek to IMG Academy last fall, to get better prepared for college. His move to Florida caused some worry in the Buff Nation about Sparaco changing his commitment, but he never wavered in his commitment to the Buffs.
Sparaco had other offers from … numerous schools, including numerous Ivy League schools (so qualifying was never an issue). Sparaco also had offers from Utah, Purdue, Colorado State and Utah State. Several other Pac-12 schools, including Cal, UCLA, and Stanford (the academic schools in the conference) expressed interest in Sparaco, but with his early (February 28th) commitment to Colorado, his offer sheet wasn’t as long as it would have been otherwise.
Regarding his recruiting Sparaco told PrepColorado.com in December, 2015: “I have been in contact with so many schools recently, it has been kind of crazy! UCLA, Cal, Penn State, Clemson and since I got my ACT scores back, Stanford, Vanderbilt and Northwestern have been pretty hot. I really like Colorado too, the staff has been great”.
Here is an analysis of Sparaco from YouTube, courtesy of Rivals.com:
Other early enrollees (Bios to be posted later Friday):
Jake Moretti – OL
Shamar Hamilton – DE
Isaiah Lewis – DB
Jaylon Jackson – WR
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Junior College signees (3):
Chris Mulumba – DE
Just the facts … Signed with CU on December 15th … Mulumba is a 6’4″, 280-pound defensive end who last played for Diablo Valley Community College in California Rivals bio Scout bio
What others have to say about Mulumba … Mulumba is rated as a three-star prospect by Rivals, but only a two-star player by Scout. Perhaps the reason for his low rating is owed to the fact that Mulumba did not play football this fall, and also did not play in high school in his hometown of Helsinki, Finland. Read on …
Mulumba played one seasons at Diablo Valley College in 2015 for coach Mike Darr; he signed with Central Florida after his sophomore season but did not attend school there so he sat out the year and essentially took a red-shirt season. As a sophomore in 2015 he led DVC with 63 tackles, had nine tackles for losses and four sacks in 10 games. He was a first-team All-Bay 6 League selection that season when he was a teammate of Kyle Trego, who signed with CU and was a sophomore defensive back for the Buffs this past fall. He played his freshman season at Chabot Junior College in 2014 where he posted 35 tackles, four tackles for a loss and had one sack.
He will have two years to complete his two remaining seasons of eligibility.
Mulumba had other offers from … only a handful of schools. As noted, Mulumba signed with Central Florida last February, after his first year at Diablo Valley Community College, choosing the Knights over offers from Iowa State, Central Michigan, and Fresno State.
Did not play football in high school, but he did wrestle and was a state champion in 2009. He is a four-time Finnish national judo champion from 2009-12 and he was a Scandinavian champion in 2010. Played for the Helsinki Roosters in 2012, which is a founding member of the American Football Association of Finland. He served his mandatory one-year of military service for the Finnish Army where he trained as a scout.
Here is a link to Mulumba’s Hudl.com junior college highlights.
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Javier Edwards – DT
Just the facts … Signed with CU on December 14th … Edwards is a 6’3″, 330-pound defensive tackle who last played at Blinn College in Houston Rivals bio Scout bio 247Sports bio
What others have to say about Edwards … Edwards is rated as a three-star prospect Rivals, Scout, and 247 Sports. Scout considers Edwards to be the 46th-best overall junior college prospect, while 247 Sports has Edwards as the No. 63 overall junior college player, and the ninth-best defensive tackle prospect coming out of the junior college ranks this fall.
At Blinn College Edwards was a second-team All-Southwest Junior College Football Conference selection in 2016 as a sophomore and garnered honorable mention accolades his freshman season. In eight games for the Buccaneers in 2016 he recorded 24 tackles, two sacks and 3.5 tackles for losses. His freshman year he recorded 29 tackles, including one for a loss, in nine games.
Mike MacIntyre on Edwards: “Javier is an athletic, big nose tackle that will work perfect in our 3-4 defense,” MacIntyre said Wednesday. “We are excited about having him here at the University of Colorado.”
At Blinn College … Was a second-team All-Southwest Junior College Football Conference selection in 2016 as a sophomore and garnered honorable mention accolades his freshman season. In eight games for the Buccaneers in 2016 he recorded 24 tackles, two sacks and 3.5 tackles for losses. His freshman year he recorded 29 tackles, including one for a loss, in nine games.
Having played two seasons, Edwards will have three seasons to play two at Colorado.
Edwards had other offers from … a pair of SEC schools, Florida and Arkansas. Edwards also had offers from schools like Tulsa, New Mexico State, UNLV and Texas State.
In his own words … “My strength is stopping the run and pushing the pocket, putting the center in the quarterback’s lap,” Edwards told HawgSports.com (an Arkansas Rivals site).
Here is a link to Edwards’ Hudl.com highlights.
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Dante Wigley – DB
Just the facts … Committed December 1st … Signed with CU on December 14th … Wigley is a 6’1″, 184-pound defensive back from Holmes Community College in Goodman, Mississippi Rivals bio Scout bio 247Sports bio
What others have to say about Wigley … Wigley is rated as a three-star junior college prospect by Scout and 247Sports. Wigley was unrated by Rivals when he committed, but was given three-star status on December 20th.
Wigley originally signed with Georgia Tech out of high school, but, after a red-shirt season, transferred to Holmes Community College in in Goodman, Mississippi. According to Scout, Wigley is the fourth-best junior college defensive back in the nation this year, and the 78th overall junior college prospect. 247Sports, meanwhile, rates Wigley as the 73rd-best junior college player overall, and the tenth-best cornerback.
Mike MacIntyre on Wigley: “We are really excited about Dante Wigley coming to the University of Colorado. He is a very athletic corner and physical football player with good size. We are excited about having Dante in our program and he will fit well into the University of Colorado and to our football program.”
At Holmes Community college … Played in all 10 games at Holmes Community College in Goodman, Miss., helping the Bulldogs to a 7-3 record and a victory in the 2016 Graphic Edge Bowl. Holmes finished the 2016 season ranked No. 7 in the NJCAA and the bowl appearance was its first in 28 years. He recorded 30 tackles on the season, including three for a loss and blocked one kick. He scored one touchdown in 2016, which came in a 63-49 win over No. 15 Itawamba Community College when he stripped an ICC receiver of the ball and raced 66 yards into the end zone. He had a team-high six pass breakups on the season for the Bulldog defense that allowed only 374.1 yards of offense per game.
With a red-shirt year and a year of junior college behind him, Wigley will have three years to play three at Colorado.
Wigley had other offers from … almost two dozen schools, though most were in Group of Five Conferences. Cincinnati and Mississippi State were two of the higher profile offers, with Wigley also reporting offers from schools like Louisiana Tech, New Mexico, Southern Mississippi and Troy. Out of high school, before committing to Georgia Tech, Wigley had offers from several Power Five schools, including North Carolina State, Boston College, and Mississippi State.
In his own words … Here’s what Wigley posted on social media upon his commitment: “First I would like to thank God, I am very blessed to be in the situation I’m in. This recruiting process has been very enjoyable this time around. I would like to thank all the schools that recruited me and to my family and friends for all their support. With that being said I am furthering my education and football career at the University of Colorado! #GoBuffs”.
Here is a link to Hudl.com highlights of Wigley in action at Holmes Community College.
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Stuart
Continue reading...
Early Enrollees
—
Signing Day, 2017, is Wednesday, February 1st. On that day, Colorado is expected to sign one of the most decorated recruiting Classes in over a decade. The CU Recruiting Class of 2017, thanks to a large class of graduating seniors, will also be one of the largest in recent history.
The NCAA limits a given Recruiting Class to 25 members, but, with the “fuzzy math” of the collegiate recruiting world, the CU Recruiting Class will likely be in the 28-30 range.
How is that possible? Welcome to the world of “early enrollees” and “gray-shirts”.
High school seniors who graduated in December and enroll in classes at Colorado in January can be counted backwards towards the Recruiting Class of 2016, while players who are willing to “gray-shirt” – delay enrollment until January of 2018 – can be counted as a member of the Class of 2018.
Got it?
Even though the Recruiting Class of 2017 won’t be completed until the first Wednesday of February, the roster is already seeing an impact. A total of nine players will already be in the fold before the fax machine (yes, they still use the fax machine) starts spitting out signed Letters of Intent on February 1st.
The breakdown:
Early Enrollees (6):
Tyler Lytle – QB
Just the facts … Committed June 21st … Tyler Lytle is a 6’5″, 205-pound quarterback from Anaheim, California Rivals bio Scout bio 247Sports bio
What others have to say about Lytle … Lytle is rated as a three-star prospect by Rivals, Scout and 247Sports. Rivals has Lytle ranked as the No. 22 pro-style quarterback in the nation. Scout, meanwhile, has Lytle rated as the No. 40 quarterback in the nation, and the No. 10 quarterback out of the west this recruiting cycle. At 247Sports, Lytle is considered the 28th-best quarterback in the nation.
Servite High School finished the 2016 season with a 4-7 record after losing to Mission Viejo in the CIF Southern Section Playoffs. Lytle finished 170-of-288 passing for 2,424-yards and 17 touchdowns. Lytle threw for 331-yards in his final high school football game.
Here is an evaluation from Greg Biggins at Scout.com … Lytle is a big, strong kid with the ability to get the ball down the field. He shows good touch on the deep ball and can make every throw you want to see on the field. He has improved his accuracy and can fit the ball in to some tight windows because of the amount of zip he possesses. He’s a very confident quarterback who will stand in the pocket and shows better mobility than given credit for. As he continues to improve his ability to anticipate and throw the ball early, his game will move to another level.
Lytle had other offers from … about half of the country. Out of the Pac-12, Lytle had offers from California, Washington State, Oregon State, and Arizona State. Other offers from Power-Five conference schools came from Miami (Fla.), Boston College, Illinois, Indiana, Pitt, Purdue, and Vanderbilt.
In his own words … “Colorado felt like home to me,” Lytle told Scout.com upon his commitment. “I have a great relationship with the coaches, that was key. They communicated with me on a daily basis and Coach Mac (Mike MacIntyre), Coach Chev (Darrin Chiaverini) and Coach (Brian) Lindgren went out of their way to let me know I was their guy for the 2017 class.
“They were great throughout this entire process and made it clear to me that I was the top guy on their board. They also made sure I knew that there was an opportunity to compete for playing time early and I’m definitely excited about that opportunity.”
On coming to Boulder, Lytle told CUSportsNation … “It is going to be a great ride and (the Buff Nation) should expect nothing less than championships and bowl games over the years. It can and will be done. I am going to give it all I have to deliver beyond their expectations.”
Here are Hudl.com highlights of Lytle in action:
—–
Dante Sparaco – DE/TE
Just the facts … Committed February 28th … Dante Sparaco is a 6’4″, 235-pound athlete from IMG Academy in Brandento, Florida, by way of Cherry Creek high school in Greenwood Village, Colorado Rivals bio Scout bio 247 Sports bio
What others say about Sparaco … Sparaco is considered to be a three-star prospect by Rivals, Scout, and 247 Sports. Scout considers Sparaco to be the 120th-best defensive end in the nation, while 247Sports has him as the No. 42 tight end prospect in the country.
Sparaco transferred from Cherry Creek to IMG Academy last fall, to get better prepared for college. His move to Florida caused some worry in the Buff Nation about Sparaco changing his commitment, but he never wavered in his commitment to the Buffs.
Sparaco had other offers from … numerous schools, including numerous Ivy League schools (so qualifying was never an issue). Sparaco also had offers from Utah, Purdue, Colorado State and Utah State. Several other Pac-12 schools, including Cal, UCLA, and Stanford (the academic schools in the conference) expressed interest in Sparaco, but with his early (February 28th) commitment to Colorado, his offer sheet wasn’t as long as it would have been otherwise.
Regarding his recruiting Sparaco told PrepColorado.com in December, 2015: “I have been in contact with so many schools recently, it has been kind of crazy! UCLA, Cal, Penn State, Clemson and since I got my ACT scores back, Stanford, Vanderbilt and Northwestern have been pretty hot. I really like Colorado too, the staff has been great”.
Here is an analysis of Sparaco from YouTube, courtesy of Rivals.com:
Other early enrollees (Bios to be posted later Friday):
Jake Moretti – OL
Shamar Hamilton – DE
Isaiah Lewis – DB
Jaylon Jackson – WR
—–
Junior College signees (3):
Chris Mulumba – DE
Just the facts … Signed with CU on December 15th … Mulumba is a 6’4″, 280-pound defensive end who last played for Diablo Valley Community College in California Rivals bio Scout bio
What others have to say about Mulumba … Mulumba is rated as a three-star prospect by Rivals, but only a two-star player by Scout. Perhaps the reason for his low rating is owed to the fact that Mulumba did not play football this fall, and also did not play in high school in his hometown of Helsinki, Finland. Read on …
Mulumba played one seasons at Diablo Valley College in 2015 for coach Mike Darr; he signed with Central Florida after his sophomore season but did not attend school there so he sat out the year and essentially took a red-shirt season. As a sophomore in 2015 he led DVC with 63 tackles, had nine tackles for losses and four sacks in 10 games. He was a first-team All-Bay 6 League selection that season when he was a teammate of Kyle Trego, who signed with CU and was a sophomore defensive back for the Buffs this past fall. He played his freshman season at Chabot Junior College in 2014 where he posted 35 tackles, four tackles for a loss and had one sack.
He will have two years to complete his two remaining seasons of eligibility.
Mulumba had other offers from … only a handful of schools. As noted, Mulumba signed with Central Florida last February, after his first year at Diablo Valley Community College, choosing the Knights over offers from Iowa State, Central Michigan, and Fresno State.
Did not play football in high school, but he did wrestle and was a state champion in 2009. He is a four-time Finnish national judo champion from 2009-12 and he was a Scandinavian champion in 2010. Played for the Helsinki Roosters in 2012, which is a founding member of the American Football Association of Finland. He served his mandatory one-year of military service for the Finnish Army where he trained as a scout.
Here is a link to Mulumba’s Hudl.com junior college highlights.
—–
Javier Edwards – DT
Just the facts … Signed with CU on December 14th … Edwards is a 6’3″, 330-pound defensive tackle who last played at Blinn College in Houston Rivals bio Scout bio 247Sports bio
What others have to say about Edwards … Edwards is rated as a three-star prospect Rivals, Scout, and 247 Sports. Scout considers Edwards to be the 46th-best overall junior college prospect, while 247 Sports has Edwards as the No. 63 overall junior college player, and the ninth-best defensive tackle prospect coming out of the junior college ranks this fall.
At Blinn College Edwards was a second-team All-Southwest Junior College Football Conference selection in 2016 as a sophomore and garnered honorable mention accolades his freshman season. In eight games for the Buccaneers in 2016 he recorded 24 tackles, two sacks and 3.5 tackles for losses. His freshman year he recorded 29 tackles, including one for a loss, in nine games.
Mike MacIntyre on Edwards: “Javier is an athletic, big nose tackle that will work perfect in our 3-4 defense,” MacIntyre said Wednesday. “We are excited about having him here at the University of Colorado.”
At Blinn College … Was a second-team All-Southwest Junior College Football Conference selection in 2016 as a sophomore and garnered honorable mention accolades his freshman season. In eight games for the Buccaneers in 2016 he recorded 24 tackles, two sacks and 3.5 tackles for losses. His freshman year he recorded 29 tackles, including one for a loss, in nine games.
Having played two seasons, Edwards will have three seasons to play two at Colorado.
Edwards had other offers from … a pair of SEC schools, Florida and Arkansas. Edwards also had offers from schools like Tulsa, New Mexico State, UNLV and Texas State.
In his own words … “My strength is stopping the run and pushing the pocket, putting the center in the quarterback’s lap,” Edwards told HawgSports.com (an Arkansas Rivals site).
Here is a link to Edwards’ Hudl.com highlights.
—–
Dante Wigley – DB
Just the facts … Committed December 1st … Signed with CU on December 14th … Wigley is a 6’1″, 184-pound defensive back from Holmes Community College in Goodman, Mississippi Rivals bio Scout bio 247Sports bio
What others have to say about Wigley … Wigley is rated as a three-star junior college prospect by Scout and 247Sports. Wigley was unrated by Rivals when he committed, but was given three-star status on December 20th.
Wigley originally signed with Georgia Tech out of high school, but, after a red-shirt season, transferred to Holmes Community College in in Goodman, Mississippi. According to Scout, Wigley is the fourth-best junior college defensive back in the nation this year, and the 78th overall junior college prospect. 247Sports, meanwhile, rates Wigley as the 73rd-best junior college player overall, and the tenth-best cornerback.
Mike MacIntyre on Wigley: “We are really excited about Dante Wigley coming to the University of Colorado. He is a very athletic corner and physical football player with good size. We are excited about having Dante in our program and he will fit well into the University of Colorado and to our football program.”
At Holmes Community college … Played in all 10 games at Holmes Community College in Goodman, Miss., helping the Bulldogs to a 7-3 record and a victory in the 2016 Graphic Edge Bowl. Holmes finished the 2016 season ranked No. 7 in the NJCAA and the bowl appearance was its first in 28 years. He recorded 30 tackles on the season, including three for a loss and blocked one kick. He scored one touchdown in 2016, which came in a 63-49 win over No. 15 Itawamba Community College when he stripped an ICC receiver of the ball and raced 66 yards into the end zone. He had a team-high six pass breakups on the season for the Bulldog defense that allowed only 374.1 yards of offense per game.
With a red-shirt year and a year of junior college behind him, Wigley will have three years to play three at Colorado.
Wigley had other offers from … almost two dozen schools, though most were in Group of Five Conferences. Cincinnati and Mississippi State were two of the higher profile offers, with Wigley also reporting offers from schools like Louisiana Tech, New Mexico, Southern Mississippi and Troy. Out of high school, before committing to Georgia Tech, Wigley had offers from several Power Five schools, including North Carolina State, Boston College, and Mississippi State.
In his own words … Here’s what Wigley posted on social media upon his commitment: “First I would like to thank God, I am very blessed to be in the situation I’m in. This recruiting process has been very enjoyable this time around. I would like to thank all the schools that recruited me and to my family and friends for all their support. With that being said I am furthering my education and football career at the University of Colorado! #GoBuffs”.
Here is a link to Hudl.com highlights of Wigley in action at Holmes Community College.
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Stuart
Continue reading...
