Key players stay as recruiting season heats up
Recruiting season is heating up and moves are being made at Colorado State with players committing, leaving and deciding to stay.
With the opening of the transfer portal last week, the CSU coaching staff has been hard at work recruiting players, both high schoolers and players in the portal, while more have decided to test the waters and look for other opportunities.
But in the last week and a half, head coach Jay Norvell has gotten some of the biggest commitments he was looking for, and they came from players already on the team.
Following the team’s season finale against New Mexico, Norvell mentioned two players who still had a year of eligibility left if they chose to use it and he was going to push hard for them to return. Those two players have decided to suit up for the Rams for one more season.
Defensive lineman Mohamed Kamara and defensive back Chigozie Anusiem both elected to take advantage of the extra season given to players due to COVID.
Kamara led the Rams with 8.5 sacks, 16 tackles for loss and 11 quarterback hurries to go along with 44 tackles. Anusiem had 36 tackles and nine pass breakups. Kamara was a second- team all- Mountain West selection while Anusiem earned honorable mention.
In addition to those two, CSU announced on social media that its two all- conference first- team selections, defensive back Jack Howell and wide receiver Tory Horton, will also be returning.
Howell led the Rams with 108 tackles and tied for the team lead with three interceptions. Horton had 71 catches for 1,131 yards and eight TDS.
While those four Rams are staying, several entered the transfer portal last week. In total, 22 CSU players have entered the portal, many of whom left the team and announced their intentions during the season.
Among the most recent Rams entering the portal are tight end Tanner Arkin and offensive linemen Owen Snively and George Miki- Han.
Arkin was the only Ram named to the preseason all- Mountain West team, but he finished the season with only 14 catches for 116 yards despite playing in all 12 games. Snively appeared in eight games for the Rams and started two while Miki- Han appeared in seven games and started six.
O ther Rams in the portal include linebacker Bam Amina; offensive lineman Ches Jackson; tight end Drake Martinez; running back A’jon Vivens; defensive back Angel King; wide receiver E. J. Scott; wide receiver Ty Mccullough; defensive lineman Devin Phillips; running back Alex Berrouet; linebacker Tavian Brown; wide receiver Melquan Stovall; safety Tywan Francis; defensive back D’andre Greeley; running back David Bailey; wide receiver Dante Wright; receiver/ defensive back Thomas Pannunzio; defensive back Robert Floyd; wide receiver Gerick Robinson; and kicker Cayden Camper.
CSU has already gotten one commitment from the portal as offensive lineman Drew Moss announced his commitment on Thursday. Moss will join the Rams from Lamar, an FCS school in Beaumont, Texas. The 6- foot- 4, 280- pount junior played in 22 games in two seasons for the Cardinals.
Moss joins 26 high school players who have verbally committed to CSU prior to signing day. The most recent of that group to announce his commitment is wide receiver Israel Polk from Bellflower, Calif. Polk also had offers from Oregon State, Cal, Washington State, Fresno State, San Diego State, San Jose State, Utah State and UNLV.
In addition, three Rams announced in the past couple of weeks their intentions to enter the NFL draft. Outgoing seniors linebacker Dequan Jackson and defensive lineman CJ Onyechi, along with junior Greg Laday, made their announcements via social media in the last week.
Jackson finished his five- year CSU career with 322 tackles, 4.5 sacks, 27 tackles for loss and four fumble recoveries. Onyechi, who transferred to CSU after five seasons at Rutgers, finished his final season at CSU with 58 tackles, 3.5 sacks and nine tackles for loss.