Presented by the POOL DOCTOR STORE.
Thursday, February 5, 2015.
All the secret commitments were revealed yesterday on National Letter of Intent Day. The last one bordered on the dramatic. Boise State’s recruiting class news release was out, coach Bryan Harsin’s press conference was done, and the only question left was where cornerback Tyler Horton of Edison High in Fresno would go. On Twitter later in the afternoon you could see Horton sitting behind a table for his announcement. In front of him were hats from Florida, Miami, Cal and Fresno State. Uh-oh. Then he pulled out a Boise State hat and perched it on his head—and switched to a Fiesta Bowl Champions hat shortly thereafter. The Fresno Bee's Austin Kemp was there and tweeted, "Edison head coach Matt Johnson told me Florida spent hours trying to get Horton. Last night and even this morning." Icing on the cake for the Bronco class of 2015.
Two other coveted players who hadn’t previously revealed their commitments signed with Boise State yesterday. Darreon Jackson, the top-rated safety in the state of Kansas, settled on the Broncos over Kansas and Kansas State. Jackson scored seven touchdowns last year for Derby High School without taking an offensive snap (four of them on punt and kickoff returns). And Donzale Roddie, a cornerback from Compton, CA, chose Boise State after previously having committed to Utah. There are eight defensive backs in the Broncos’ 21-player class, filling a future need in what will be a senior-heavy secondary this year.
Two of the DBs are already in school, junior college transfers Raymond Ford and Kameron Miles. The Boise State coaching staff held a surprise signing day ceremony with the team yesterday for Ford and Miles—and the other spring semester enrollee, quarterback Brett Rypien—since they didn’t have a chance to celebrate in their hometowns. “Today’s a great day,” said Harsin. “Today is the one time you can really individualize it and live for the moment.”
Both of the Idaho standouts who had committed to Boise State faxed their letters yesterday. Offensive lineman Garrett Larson of Fruitland High was the Broncos’ first 2015 commit almost a year ago, and linebacker Drew Berger of Coeur d’Alene High joins a guy who he considers a brother, Boise State tight end and former Vikings teammate Chase Blakley. Scout.com’s Brandon Huffman noted on Idaho SportsTalk yesterday that the influence of Blakley had to help, as Berger otherwise would have been a prime candidate for a Pac-12 scholarship.
There was levity mixed in with the chaos of National Letter of Intent Day. “The night before signing day, everybody is all stressed out—let’s have a little bit of fun,” said Harsin. So Tuesday night, under the guise of a major recruiting announcement, Harsin tweeted out a photo of a cartoon character shark on the blue turf with the caption, “I am committing to The Blue and Boise State University!” It was based on the sharks from Katy Perry’s Super Bowl halftime show. Tweeted Harsin, “GO BRONCOS! Welcome our biggest catch #LeftShark of 2015! HAHA #EnjoyTheProcess tomorrow is a great day! @katyperry.” The tweet went viral and gave the Broncos as much buzz as anybody on the eve of NLI Day. Harsin said yesterday recruiting now begins for the 2016 class, and Right Shark is his No. 1 target.
You hear a lot about Boise State’s basketball success under Leon Rice when scoring 70 points or more. The final score in the landmark win at Utah State Tuesday night was, of course, 68-63. It was only the second time the Broncos have won a game this season while scoring fewer than 70 points. Boise State can count on having to do that again Sunday when it hosts San Diego State. The Aztecs stopped Nevada 65-63 in Reno last night and are allowing just 53.5 points per game. They’re the best in the Mountain West in that category and third in the country.
While Boise State will be missing Anthony Drmic (as it has for the past two months), San Diego State won’t have Dwayne Polee to throw at the Broncos Sunday. It was Polee who drained a three-pointer with three seconds left a year ago in Taco Bell Arena to beat BSU 67-65 and complete a comeback from a 14-point second-half deficit. Polee collaped on the court in a win over UC Riverside just before Christmas—a very scary moment. Last word in the San Diego Union-Tribune was that he had been cleared to begin a basic and “very supervised” exercise regimen that would probably consist of sessions on a treadmill or exercycle and possible some light running while a heart monitor transmits data to medical personnel. Polee is a senior who, unlike Drmic, has played too many games this season to apply for an extra year of eligibility.
Here’s a road trip that harkens back to the olden days: Idaho will play at Montana State tonight and Montana Saturday night. Tonight’s game in Bozeman provides a chance for the Vandals to get back on track after a heartbreaking overtime loss at Eastern Washington last Saturday. The Bobcats are 4-17 overall and 1-8 in the Big Sky. Elsewhere, the Boise State women placed five players in double figures and had two more score nine points and another eight in a 94-55 rout of Utah State last night at Taco Bell Arena. The Broncos are now 14-6 overall and 6-3 in the Mountain West.
The Idaho Stampede trailed by 18 points at the end of the third quarter in Grand Rapids last night before mounting a furious fourth quarter rally. But alas, it fell short in a 101-97 loss to the Drive, the Stampede’s 25th defeat in their last 26 games. The Stamps did get some good news yesterday—Jerrelle Benimon has been named to the 2015 NBA D-League All-Star Team and will represent the Stampede in New York a week from Saturday. Benimon has appeared in 28 games for Idaho and is averaging 20.5 points, 11 rebounds and four assists per game.
Henri Kiviaho was up to the task last night in his first game as the Idaho Steelheads’ feature starter in place of the injured Olivier Roy. Kiviaho stopped 18 of 19 shots while his teammates were pummeling two Utah goalies in a 6-1 win in CenturyLink Arena. Jason Bast celebrated his receipt of the ECHL’s Rookie of the Month award by continuing his mastery of the Grizzlies, notching his fifth goal against them this season. It was Bast’s 25th goal overall, tops among rookies in the ECHL. During January, Bast had 17 points and collected his first professional hat trick. The Steelies and Grizzlies face off again tomorrow night and Saturday night.
Graham DeLaet isn’t going to get to build on the momentum he gained last week with a seventh-place tie at the Phoenix Open. DeLaet has had to withdraw from the Farmers Insurance Open near San Diego this week due to the flu bug. At least it’s not because of an ailing back or a bulging disc. It’s especially disappointing since DeLaet was the co-runnerup last year at Torrey Pines. Fellow former Boise State star Troy Merritt will tee it up today, though.
This Day In Sports…brought to you by BBSI…partners in profitability.
February 5, 2012: Eli Manning leads the New York Giants on an 88-yard drive, capped by a six-yard Ahmad Bradshaw touchdown run that wasn’t supposed to be, to win Super Bowl XLVI 21-17 over the New England Patriots. The Giants had intended to run out the clock and kick a field goal to keep the Patriots from getting the ball back. But the Pats tried to let the Giants score—and despite trying to stop at the one-yard line, Bradshaw’s momentum caused him to fall into the end zone with 57 seconds left. Nevertheless, New England and Tom Brady couldn’t answer, and the game ended on a failed Hail Mary. The Giants became the first team to go 9-7 in the regular season and win the Super Bowl.
(Tom Scott hosts the Scott Slant segment Sunday nights at 10:30PM on KTVB’s Sunday Sports Extra and anchors five sports segments each weekday on 93.1 The Ticket. He also served as color commentator on KTVB’s telecasts of Boise State football for 14 seasons.)
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