Photo credit: sjsuspartans.com

By: Ana Kieu

Spartans head coach Brent Brennan made an important announcement Wednesday afternoon at Simpkins Stadium Center in San Jose, California.

Two CalHiSports.com all-state high school seniors and four more that were named a league MVP were among 11 prospective football student-athletes who signed a National Letter-of-Intent with San Jose State at the start of the traditional February signing period.

Wide receiver Jermaine Braddock (6’2″, 200 lbs, Charter Oak High School) and linebacker Isaak Togia (6’1″, 215 lbs, Pacifica High School) were first and third team choices, respectively.

Braddock’s teammate, wide receiver Isaiah Hamilton (5’11”, 180 lbs, Charter Oak High School), the 2017 Hacienda League Offensive Player of the Year, defensive back Tre Jenkins (6’1″, 205, St. Mary’s High School), the 2017 Tri City Athletic League MVP, and Nick Nash (6’3″, 180 lbs, Woodbridge High School), the 2017 Pacific Coast League Offensive MVP, will head to SJSU.

The 11 signees–all high school seniors–joined the 13 prospects that signed a National Letter-of-Intent in the new December signing period.

13 of the 24 are projected to begin their college football careers on defense. SJSU added six defensive backs, five offensive linemen, four linebackers, three wide receivers, three defensive linemen, two running backs and a quarterback who’s most likely going to play a different position. Safety Bobby Brown, II, linebacker Kyle Harmon, offensive lineman Korey Moriboho and cornerbacks Jalen Nelson and Nehemiah Shelton from the December 2017 signing period are enrolled at SJSU for the spring semester and available to participate in 2018 spring practice.

“We feel we recruited guys that can come in and compete immediately and have a chance to impact the game the moment they step foot on the campus which is always a goal in recruiting. You’re always trying to bring in guys that are going to impact your football team,” Brennan said about his second recruiting class.

“How they impact your football team will be interesting to see. Some of it might be leadership; some of it might be on the field; and some of it may be in the classroom. Every player we recruited in this class has a chance to really impact our program.”

Max Barth (6’6″, 280 lbs, St. Mary’s High School), an All-Northern California honoree and a teammate of Jenkins at St. Mary’s, is the fifth new offensive lineman for the Spartans.

Running backs Kairee Robinson (5’8″, 190 lbs, De La Salle High School) rushed for 2,012 yards and 26 touchdowns in his junior season and Lorenzo Burkes (6’2″, 230 lbs, Jesuit High School) scored 20 times on the ground in two seasons.

Braddock caught 147 passes for 2,453 yards and 26 touchdowns in three seasons at Charter Oak High School and still left enough opportunities for Hamilton to catch 68 passes as a junior and had a 22.8 yards per catch average and 22 scores as a senior.

Nash, whose father, Kenny Nash, played wide receiver on the 1985 and 1986 SJSU teams, was an all-purpose threat passing for 1,728 yards and 18 touchdowns and rushing for 1,269 yards and 17 touchdowns.

L.J. Anderson (6’0″, 175 lbs, Moreau Catholic High School) joins Jenkins as one of the two defensive backs from the most recent signing period for the Spartans.

Junior Fehoko (6’4″, 235 lbs, Saint Francis High School) and Michael Pryor (6’3″, 230 lbs, Pittsburg High School) and Togia are three linebacker hopefuls who are competing to be in the 2018 signing class. Fehoko blossomed his senior season. Pryor had 32.0 tackles for loss and 12.5 quarterback sacks combined in his junior and senior years.

“We’re adding some really high-caliber young men to our program, guys with really high ceilings, athletically, talent-wise who are also quality young men. Lots of them come from winning programs. We have a bunch of guys from state championship teams that competed in the highest level in the state of California,” Brennan said.

“The assistant coaches did an outstanding job putting this recruiting class together and getting us to signing with a group of guys we feel really, really good about.”

Notes
Friends of the SJSU football program are invited to its annual “National Letter-of-Intent Celebration” at the Diaz-Compean Student Union Building, Wednesday, February 7. Contact Associate Athletics Director for Football Advancement Tim Rice at (408) 924-1128 or at tim.rice@sjsu.edu.

Season tickets for the 2018 home schedule will go on sale on February 7. The Spartans’ opponents in CEFCU Stadium will be non-conference opponents: Army West Point and UC Davis along with Mountain West foes Colorado State, Hawaii, Nevada and UNLV. Army West Point is making its first appearance in CEFCU Stadium.