Defensive lineman commits to Lobos
6-foot-3, 292-pound Blackwell transferring from Mesa CC
The New Mexico Lobos’ 2017 football recruiting class grew to 14 over the weekend with the commitment of Mesa (Ariz.) Community College defensive lineman Aaron Blackwell.
Blackwell, listed at 6-foot-3 and 292 pounds, announced his commitment via Twitter.
At Mesa last fall, Blackwell was in on 42 tackles with 6½ sacks and 11 tackles for loss. As a senior at Liberty High School in Peoria, Ariz., in 2014, he made 118 tackles with six sacks.
Blackwell spent the 2015 season as a redshirt at Weber State in Ogden, Utah, before transferring to Mesa. At UNM, he’ll be a redshirt sophomore this fall and will have three years in which to play three seasons.
Thus far, the Lobos have commitments or signed letters of intent from:
Three offensive linemen: Piedra Vista’s Dylan Weaver and junior college transfers Sammy Benard and Larry Joubert, both from Northeast Oklahoma A&M. Joubert and Benard are mid-year transfers, though as of Sunday only Benard was shown as being enrolled at UNM for the spring semester.
Two wide receivers: Cleveland’s Marcus Williams and Ahmir Davis of Muir High School in Pasadena, Calif. Williams signed with UNM last February but did not enroll and sat out the 2016 season as a “grayshirt.” He is enrolled for the 2017 spring semester.
Williams, at 6-foot-4, could become a hybrid tight end in the fashion of fellow former Storm star and former Lobo Reece White.
Two quarterbacks: Cameron Burston of Contra Costa College in San Pablo, Calif., and Bryson Carroll of Roosevelt High School in San Antonio. Burston is a spring graduate and plans to enroll at UNM this summer. He’ll be a junior with three years in which to play two seasons.
Two defensive linemen: Blackwell and Jermane Conyers of Dodge City (Kan.) Community College. Conyers is already enrolled.
One outside linebacker: Jordan Flack of Moorpark (Calif.) College, who is enrolled at UNM for the spring semester. Flack also could see action as a defensive end.
Three defensive backs: Willie Hobdy of Coffeyville (Kan.) CC, D’Angelo Ross of Fullerton (Calif.) College and Michael Sewell Jr. of Los Angeles Valley College. Hobdy and Ross are enrolled for the spring semester.
One deep snapper: Case Hampton of Northeast Oklahoma A&M, who is enrolled for the spring.
Of the 14 signings or commitments, 10 are junior-college transfers.
Signing day for high school players and junior college spring graduates is Feb. 1. Commitments are not binding until a signed letter of intent is received by the school.
The Lobos return 59 scholarship players from last year’s team that went 9-4 and defeated UTSA in the Gildan New Mexico Bowl. That means they’ll be able to sign a full recruiting class of 25 and stay within the overall scholarship limit of 85.
GIPSON UPDATE: Though there’s some confusion about Teriyon Gipson’s statistics from Saturday’s NFLPA Bowl, there’s no doubt the former Lobo had a strong performance in front of dozens of NFL player personnel types.
Gipson rushed for either 64 or 54 yards, depending on the source. In either case, he was the American squad’s leading rusher in a 27-7 loss to the National squad.
Gipson had a 13-yard pass reception for the American’s only score, but some accounts had the pass coming from Florida State quarterback Sean Maguire and others had it thrown by Louisiana Tech QB Ryan Higgins.