After evaluating more than a thousand prospects at satellite camps during the first eight days of June, the Buffaloes hosted 353 younger kids at their youth football camp this week and are now set to host their first high school individual skills camp in Boulder on Saturday afternoon. Cherry Creek junior-to-be Jonathan Van Diest, Denver South offensive lineman Terriek Roberts and Cherokee Trail offensive lineman Ashton Torres are among the 150-175 players expected to be in attendance tomorrow.
We've already reported that Temecula (Calif.) Linfield Christian School athlete Lorenzo Burns, Loomis (Calif.) Del Oro athlete Trey Udoffia and Honolulu (Hawaii) St. Louis offensive lineman Nate Herbig have received an offer from the Buffs following an impressive satellite camp performance. I heard CU's staff was blown away with Herbig's showing. He has trimmed a little weight and is now moving better than he did on his junior film. Herbig is working to lose even more weight, attempting to get down to 310-pounds before the start of his senior campaign. I got the sense from talking with Herbig that Texas Tech, Colorado and Washington State are the colleges he is highest on right now.
Another new offer did go out on Thursday to La Mirada (Calif.) High defensive end Keanu Saleapaga, a 6-foot-5, 270-pound three-star prospect with other offers from Arizona, Arizona State, Boise State and Oregon State. It was also based off his showing at one of CU's satellite camps. The connection the Buffs have at La Mirada with Mike Moschetti did not get them Tony Brown last cycle but did help them get a preferred walk-on long snapper in J.T. Bale. We'll see how Saleapaga's recruitment plays out.
There was a big turnout of 250 players at the Buffs' first satellite camp in Phoenix on Monday. We could be hearing about a couple new offers from that camp in the coming days or weeks. In addition to Saturday's skills camp in Boulder, the Buffs are set to host a 7-on-7 tournament on Sunday, some CU coaches will be at the All-Poly Camp in Utah June 16-18, then they'll helping at a satellite camp in Houston June 19-20, and finally the whole staff will be back in Boulder for the second individual skills camp on the 27th. I believe Jim Leavitt, Joe Tumpkin and Charles Clark will also be helping at camps in Florida but I don't have the details on that yet.
Other Football Recruiting Notes
*** What were some of the characteristics that the Buffs' staff really likes about their first two verbal commitments for the Class of 2016? I heard Sam Noyer's quick release, his size, the fact he is a three-sport athlete, and the fact he has excelled in an offensive system at Beaverton High which is similar to CU's, are some of the things that made him an attractive recruit. With Derrion Rakestraw, while he has long arms, he can power clean 245 pounds. So he has a lot of strength in his wiry 6-foot-3, 175-pound frame. His ability to go up and high-point the ball with his size makes him stand out. He can catch balls a lot of receivers can't.
*** With his college decision pending, Regis Jesuit tight end Jack Stoll took another unofficial visit to CU on Wednesday. He has another trip to Nebraska planned for this coming week before announcing on June 19, next Friday. I've heard from multiple sources that while Stoll has genuine interest in the Buffs, and he likes the thought of his parents being able to attend all of his home games in college, he is expected to commit to either Nebraska or Texas. In other words, Buffs fans shouldn't get their hopes up.
*** Georgia offensive guard Tremayne Anchrum, who is originally from Denver, was up at CU for an unofficial visit on Tuesday. It is worth keeping tabs on his recruitment, but he expressed recently that Georgia and Nebraska are his two favorites.
*** Riverview (Fla.) Spoto athlete Terence Williams, Los Angeles (Calif.) Loyola athlete Myles Bryant, Corona (Calif.) Centennial cornerback Kentrell Love, Fresno (Calif.) Edison outside linebacker David Tate, Keller (Texas) High offensive lineman Houston Miller and Loomis (Calif.) Del Oro athlete Trey Udoffia are other Colorado targets from the 2016 class that have told me they plan to visit Boulder sometime this summer.
*** I recently did a story on Huntington Beach (Calif.) High prospect Nick Crabtree, who felt good about his performance at the Buffs' satellite camp at the University of Redlands. He has recently picked up offers from Fresno State, Nevada and San Jose State. The Buffs might consider Crabtree as an offensive tackle option, as he is already 6-foot-6, 245-pounds, but no word on whether CU will offer or not. Does not sound like he runs quite fast enough to be a Pac-12 tight end recruit but has a lot of attractive attributes.
*** I heard Matt Lynch showed big strides from last summer when he camped with the Buffs to this spring when Brian Lindgren stopped by. Lindgren was scheduled to stop by Legacy again at the end of the spring evaluation period, as Lynch was still working his way back to 100 percent from a minor knee injury, but by then UCLA had swooped in and picked him up. Even if CU had offered off the initial spring evaluation it probably wouldn't have mattered in the end, as Lynch was enamored with the Bruins and committed to UCLA as soon as they offered.
*** Early on it looked like a foregone conclusion that Pomona offensive tackle Jake Moretti was going to be the 2017 in-state recruit with the most offers but Cherry Creek outside linebacker Santino Marchiol has passed him. Moretti has 17 reported offers, while Marchiol now has 20. I still personally think Moretti is the better recruit. I have to commend Marchiol and his father for the networking they have done early in the process. I don't know if I've ever seen a prospect be more proactive. Moretti is a much more realistic target for the Buffaloes than Marchiol, who is looking to leave the state for college.
