Mountain West Football Weekly Recruiting Roundup: Air Force, Boise State, and Hawaii’s offer aggression

From the rocky Colorado mountains to the sunny California beaches, recruiting never stops for Mountain teams. You’re reading the MWC Weekly Recruiting Roundup, in which I try to catch you up on last week’s recruiting news from the Mountain West. In case you missed last week’s edition, you can read it here.

Air Force

It’s been a recurring theme for Air Force: offering multiple established out of state recruits over a weekend, and that narrative progressed this weekend. Read the highlights of Troy Calhoun and his staff’s offer onslaught:

Air Force went Southwest to find this prospect: Three-star Arizona (Scout) receiver/safety Giovanni Miranda. Miranda announced the offer via Twitter Sunday night. His recruitment has been picking up steam as of late, with the incoming senior taking a visit to Utah’s junior day earlier this month, and making his second of two unofficial visits to Arizona State. His first offer came from Hawaii in February and has been receiving interest from Washington. Check out his 2016 tape:

Two-star (247Sports, Scout) California rangy quarterback was offered over the weekend. Washington, the very definition of a dual-threat quarterback unofficially visited San Diego State on April 23 and has an offer from Cal, as well as offers from a myriad of Ivy League offers, including Brown, Columbia, Yale, Dartmouth, Cornell Princeton, Penn.

Navy, Army, and San Diego University have extended offers. 247Sports rates the Santa Fe Christian Schools (Solana Beach, California) product as the 48th best dual-threat QB in the nation, as well as the 147th player in the state of California.

The Academy also aimed their sights at a pair of Texas recruits, the first being senior Belton HS (Belton, Texas) safety Garrison Vaughn. Vaughn, categorized as a three-star prospect (247Sports, Rivals) is rangy, playmaking safety, who could prove to be a serious asset for secondary coach John Rudzinski. The 6’2,” 185-pound Vaughn now has ten offers, his other nine coming from Bowling Green, Brown, Columbia, Dartmouth, Louisiana-Lafayette, Louisiana-Monroe, Princeton, Stephen F. Austin, Tulsa.

Air Force has some ground to gain in his recruitment, as he seems to be favoring Lafayette. He unofficially visited ULL earlier this month, and it checks the box regarding the geography factor. Vaughn has also unofficially visited multiple big name schools, including Iowa, Notre Dame, SMU, Texas, and Tulsa.

The Falcons continued their assault on the Texas recruiting scene Monday, offering three-star (247Sports) Seminole, TX inside linebacker Cade Barnard on Monday. 247Sports ranks Barnard as the no. 50 inside linebacker in the nation’s class of 2018, and the 160th player in the state of Texas. He holds offers from in-state schools Texas State and Sam Houston State, New Mexico State, Bowling Green, Montana State, and UMass. Interestingly, Sam Houston offered Barnard as a tight end, a position he occasionally plays.

Boise State

The Bryan Harsin led Broncos have been pushing hard on the trail in California and Washington, making those states key parts of their recruiting agenda. Check out this week’s targets:

Brevin White, a four-star (247Sports, ESPN, Rivals, Scout) California quarterback was offered by the Broncos on Monday, adding to his impressive list of suitors. Besides Boise State, he holds offers from Colorado State, Fresno State, Tennessee, Oregon State, Utah, Washington, and Washington State.

Quarterbacks coach and Offensive coordinator Zak Hill could use a talented quarterback like White, and a commitment could serve to bolster both their 2018 recruiting class and their presence in California. White is ranked as the 220th best player in the country and the 28th best in California, according to 247Sports. White possesses great instincts and throws a great deep ball. When pressured, he can also use his legs. He shouldn’t be considered a “dual-threat” quarterback, but his running abilities shouldn’t be underestimated.

I’m not going to sugar coat it: Boise State is not a likely contender for White’s commitment, but it is a notable offer because they are showing they want to play a bigger role in the Golden State. Check out his electrifying junior season tape:

Three-star (247Sports, Scout) 2018 offensive lineman Matthew Cindric was offered by Boise State over the weekend. The 6’4,” 265-pound Cindric is rated as the no. 83 OT in the country and the 9th best player in the state of Washington by 247Sports, and Scout has him as the 72 best OT in the country, the 14th OT in West, and the second best OT in Washington. Cindric has long hands which makes it easy for him to resist oncoming defensive pursuers. He is strong, and a very athletic and mobile blocker.

The Skyline HS (Sammamish, Washington) product has received offers from Boise State, Arizona, and Utah State in the last week, and has offers from other big name schools such as Fresno State, Hawaii, Nevada, UCLA, Utah, Cal, Oregon State, and Washington State. It remains unlikely that he’ll want to move one state to the east and commit to the Broncos, but they have a better shot at landing him than other Mountain West schools.

Hawaii

Hawaii shared a similar mindset in their recruiting last weekend, offering similar prospects from the same regions comparable to the one's Air Force and Boise State targeted:

Hawaii offered three-star (Scout) safety Malik Putney of Eastside Catholic HS in Sammamish, Washington. Sammarish is the same town Matthew Cindric is from. While Boise State might not be actively targeting Putney like they are with Cindric, but the safety certainly isn’t lacking in interested schools.

Air Force offered earlier this month, and Montana State was his first offer back in February. Oregon, UCLA, Utah, and in-state powerhouse recruiter Washington are also interested in Putney. The 6'1," 195-pound Putney is rated as the no. 88 safety in class of 2018, the no. 21 safety in the west, and the third safety in Washington. He is a strong tackler, with great ball skills, and has a knack for forcing deflections.

The Rainbow Warriors kicked off their weekend by being the first offer for class of 2019 Seattle offensive tackle Nathaniel Kalepo. He is also garnering interest from Arizona, Arizona State, USC, Washington, and Washington State, according to his Scout profile. At 6-foot-6 and 275 pounds, Kalepo is a man among children and is an excellent run blocker.

Being the first offer, Hawaii is inserting themselves as a contender for the Washington lineman’s talents. While highlight tapes of offensive linemen might not be as exciting as those of quarterbacks, this one will certainly impress you. Take a look:

Three-star (Scout) California cornerback Chigozie Anusiem received the good news on Monday night, as the incoming senior was offered in the hopes that he could become a great addition to cornerbacks coach Abe Elimimian’s secondary. He holds offers from UNLV, Wyoming, Montana, and Army, and is receiving interest from Cal, Colorado, Minnesota, Nevada, New Mexico, Notre Dame, San Diego State, Tennessee, UCLA, USC, and Washington, according to Scout. Scout rates him as the 74th best cornerback in the country, and the no. 15 CB in the West, per Scout.

Overall, it was a good week for Western region recruits.