MWC Recruiting Roundup 1-29-18

It was a nice busy week recruiting-wise in the Mountain West. By this site’s count, there were 18 new offers handed out as teams try to finish up this year’s class or get a head start on the 2019 class. There were also 16 known new commitments by players, with almost half of those coming from Air Force, who had 7 this past week. See below for all the info as well as a few quotes from recruits.

Commitment Spotlight:

QB Will Dana (Utah State)

“I committed because of: great coaches, a top notch football program, and an amazing opportunity to get an education. My relationship with the coaches was better than any other school I was getting recruited by. They welcomed me with open arms and wanted me to be an Aggie very badly. They just said how my all around game is a good fit for their offense. My high school coaches really helped me out when I came to reading defenses. I feel like I know what the defense is going before every single snap. I think that is one of my better qualities as a player.”

2019 LB Kani Taufa (Utah State)

“The biggest thing for me was the support from my family, it being a dream school of mine. The second thing was it felt like home when I went over and I’ve never felt more love and comfort! Also, another big factor was the coaching and the environment. I looked up to former USU/NFL player Bobby Wagner. He was a role model for me. Also some of my family have started a legacy there and I want to keep it going in a way. The opportunity and the excitement of going to my dream school and the coaches offering me are huge. The fact that I can be the first 2019 player to commit is what made me wanna announce it. The coaches were excited. They were just letting me know what it takes to be an Aggie and how I need to represent them well and they were telling me how proud they are and what they are looking forward to in the future! It was an amazing day!”

JUCO DL Kevin Scott Jr (Nevada)

“I committed because I feel like I can dominate this conference, plus it’s a good school that is in the rebuilding process and I’m looking forward to be a leader on this defense. The main reason I committed was to be able to play right away and be a leader. I’m real close with Real close with Coach Scott and Coach Kafusi and the head man (Jay Norvell) calls me every other day I love the relationship I’ve built with all of them. I think some of my best qualities are I’m very coachable and very athletic and I just have a winning attitude overall.”

LB Jace Waters (Air Force)

“The biggest thing for me was the opportunities and things they have in place to help you after graduation. I think it will be the best situation for me to grow and develop as a person. Plus, the fact that we have the opportunity to compete for the conference championship every year is great. I have a great relationship with the coaching staff and I communicate with Coach Calhoun and my position coaches multiple times each week. They said they loved my physicality, playmaking skills, frame, instincts and versatility to play all 4 LB positions that they have. They thinkI could play any LB position whether it’s the inside, edge or nickel and they aren’t sure as of now where exactly I’ll be. They just said whichever position will present me the opportunity to get on the field faster will be the one I play.”

DB Corvan Otanez (Air Force)

“The Air Force Academy is a perfect fit for me. It offers a world class education, an opportunity to play college football at the highest level and the opportunity to serve my country. When I was getting to know the coaching staff I just clicked with them and we were always on the same page. The coaches like my size, versatility, and ball skills. They also like my aggressiveness and ability to tackle on the field. I’m going to play somewhere on defense but they aren’t exactly sure yet. They see me as very versatile so the coaches are exploring several options to find the best fit for me.”

In case you missed it this recruiting news:

From last week: Broncos Land Their 2018 QB Recruit

From last week: some mid-week Recruiting Updates

Recruiting Tidbits:

Offers:

• DB Anthony Diaz was offered by Air Force
• WR Madison Ridgeway was offered by Air Force
• OL Max Barth was offered by Boise State
• TE Ben Redding was offered by Boise State
• S Cam Phillips was offered by Boise State
• JUCO DE Steven Mason was offered by Boise State
• WR/TE Austin Alexander was offered by Boise State
• 2019 RB Devin Ellison was offered by Boise State
• 2019 RB George Holani was offered by Boise State
• LB Jacob Hollins was offered by Fresno State
• LB Jason Gallagher was offered by Nevada
• Sione Taufa Vaki was offered by Nevada
• DB Chris Nash was offered by Nevada (Utah State commit)
• JUCO DE Fanon Vines was offered by Nevada
• JUCO OL Jermaine Ledbetter was offered by Nevada
• 2019 QB Austin Kirksey was offered by Nevada
• 2019 OL Sam Sa’ave’ena Telesa was offered by Nevada
• JUCO DE Jessie Lemonier was offered by New Mexico
• DL Tomasi Fakatoumafi was offered by Hawaii

In-home visits:

• Air Force visited: SS/WR Corvan Otanez
• Boise State visited: Riley Smith, Oaks Christian HS, schools in Las Vegas
• Utah State visited: Nighthawk HS
• San Jose State visited: Uluaki Katoanga

Commits:

• DB Shawn Dourseau committed to Fresno State
• DB Corvan Otanez committed to Air Force
• DB William Westerling committed to Air Force
• P William Broadus committed to Air Force
• QB RJ Fisher committed to Air Force
• TJ Peavy committed to Air Force
• LB Jace Bobo committed to Air Force
• LB Jace Waters committed to Air Force
• CB Malcolm Magee committed to Colorado State
• OL Thomas Wade committed to Hawaii
• DE Malcolm Johnson committed to UNLV
• Ray Rabou committed to Wyoming
• JUCO DL Kevin Scott Jr committed to Nevada
• DB Andrew Jenkins committed to SJSU
• 2019 TE/LB Kani Taufa committed to Utah State
• QB Will Dana committed to Utah State
• QB Riley Smith committed to Boise State
• DE Scott Matlock committed to Boise State (gray shirt)

Decommits:

• DE Ikenna Enechukwu decommitted from Air Force

Visits:

• OL Solo Vaipulu visited Hawaii
• DE Alexandre Dumais visited Hawaii
• DE Mario Mora visited Wyoming
• WR JJ Tucker visited Wyoming
• DB Tyric LeBeauf visited Boise State (commit)
• DT Scale Igiehon visited Boise State (commit)
• WR Cameron Thomas visited Boise State (commit)

For the latest recruiting news, and all news around the conference, make sure to follow @MWCConnection and @Mike_SBN on twitter.