San Jose Mercury News: Football Recruits Out-of-State Standouts

San Jose State takes out-of-state approach with recruiting class

Posted by the San Jose Mercury News Feb. 1, 2011.

By Jon Wilner

One notable difference between San Jose State‘s 2012 recruiting class and many of its predecessors is the names.

Not the names of the players — the names of the players’ hometowns.

One SJSU signee is from Houston, another from Mesa, Ariz., yet another from Tucson.

In all, the Spartans signed four high school recruits from out of state, including touted Houston running back Jalynn McCain.

That’s the highest total in years and yet another sign that the football program is on solid ground financially and expanding its recruiting pool.

“I’m excited about our opportunities out of state,” coach Mike MacIntyre said. “Texas is so loaded with talent. We’re starting to get more interest from kids who are out of state and want to come here.”

And the Spartans are willing to pay for them — under certain circumstances.

The scholarship costs for an out-of-state recruit is approximately $10,000 more than for an in-state player (because of the difference in tuition). Signing five high school players from Texas and Arizona on Wednesday means an additional $50,000 per year for the football program for four years (and five, if the players redshirt).

The money was raised by private donations, according to athletic director Tom Bowen, who has encouraged coaches in numerous sports to look beyond the state line for prospects.

“I told the coaches, ‘Don’t bring me role players from out of state, but if you can get a difference

maker, then go get them,'” Bowen said.

The Spartans hope McCain is just that.

The 220-pounder from Houston had scholarship offers from numerous schools, including Texas-El Paso, of Conference USA, and Texas-San Antonio, one of two new football-playing members of the Western Athletic Conference. (Texas State is the other.)

McCain averaged 6.1 yards per carry over the course of two seasons for George Bush High School and was awarded three stars by the Rivals recruiting service.

“I was sweating it out,” MacIntyre said, referring to McCain’s letter of intent, which arrived via fax on Wednesday morning.

Another recruit with the potential to make an immediate impact is quarterback David Fales, who began his career at Nevada and transferred to Monterey Peninsula College.

He has already enrolled and will compete for the starting job in spring practice with returnees Dasmen Stewart and Blake Jurich.

Freshman Joe Gray won’t participate in spring practice for academic reasons but is expected to be ready for training camp.

The recruiting class includes four players from the South Bay: linebacker Brad Kuh (Bellarmine Prep), linebacker/end Eugene Taylor (Oak Grove), linebacker Lemaki Musika (Milpitas) and Fernando Villaneuva (Independence).Villaneuva, who had scholarship offers from Pac-12 schools, will be evaluated as both an offensive and defensive lineman.”We’ll see how he matures and figure out where he should play,” MacIntyre said.

SJSU’s class is rated No. 98 nationally by Scout recruiting service, second in the conference (behind Idaho) and ahead of outgoing WAC schools Fresno State, Nevada and Hawaii.

MacIntyre targeted linebackers and tight ends — there are eight in the class — not only because of depth chart needs but also because of versatility.”I learned from Bill Parcells that you want big, athletic bodies” capable of playing multiple positions, he said.For more on college sports, see Jon Wilner’s College Hotline at blogs.mercurynews.com/collegesports. Contact him at jwilner@mercurynews.com or 408-920-5716.