Busy day for CU football recruiting with Akil Jones committing, three unofficial visitors from Florida still on campus and the Buffs hosting their final summer camp in Boulder. A recruiting dead period begins on Monday so CU's coaches will be enjoying some vacation time the next two weeks. Below are notes on the five 2016 recruits I interviewed at the camp. I'll have video/write-ups with more on all five in the next few days. Of course Dante Sparaco's camp performance as a defensive player on Saturday earned him a scholarship offer so I will try to track him down for a phone interview as well. I talked to him briefly after the camp but he was in a hurry to get off the practice fields to take a campus tour. It was great having Tyler (a.k.a. TZISKIN) and William (a.k.a. Maximus Buff) at today's camp... I'm sure they'll chime in with their camp thoughts as well.
Anthony Julmisse is an athlete prospect from South Plantation High School in Florida. He has 20-plus offers. Julmisse said he had never left the Sunshine State before. "It is great," he said of Colorado. "It is more than I expected it to be. I am loving it up here honestly." Julmisse went on to talk about how much he likes the environment in Boulder. "It is nothing like what I thought it was going to be," he admitted. "I thought it was going to be snowing out here or something like that. It is nice and warm out here." Julmisse plays all over the field for South Plantation. He is being recruited by the Buffs primarily as a wide receiver. Although he said he is going to take his time with the recruiting process, Julmisse mentioned he is "getting pretty close" to trimming his list. He wasn't ready to tip his hand today but said he'll probably announce his shortened list of suitors on Twitter after he goes home and talks it over with his parents.
Johnny Huntley is a wide receiver prospect, also from South Plantation High School in Florida. He also has 20-plus offers. And like Julmisse, it was his first time venturing outside his home state. Expecting snow in late June? Really? "I thought it was going to be cold, snowy. But no," he said. "We drove around the city, saw a lot of stuff we've never seen before like the mountains." Huntley plans to visit Tennessee on July 17. He wants to take roughly three official visits before deciding mid-way through his senior season. Huntley said he definitely wants to take official visits to CU and TCU, and confirmed both schools are among his favorites. "They basically sat down with me and showed me how I would fit into the offense perfectly," Huntley said of the Buffs' coaches. Huntley said he will not necessarily be a package deal with Julmisse.
Pookie Maka is a 6-foot-2.5, 205-pound outside linebacker prospect from Murray (Utah) Cottonwood Senior. He has 12 offers, including offers from Arizona State, BYU, Colorado, Missouri, Utah, Utah State, Washington and Wisconsin. "It was fun, a good time to work with Coach Leavitt. He had some good wisdom to teach me," Maka said of his camping experience with the Buffs. He came in on Friday to tour the campus. "The facilities are nicer than I thought, I didn't expect it to be that big. That's what $160 million can do," he said. "The staff is nicer than I thought, too. They welcomed us in with open arms." He plans to visit "some California schools" later this summer and admitted right now he is leaning towards the in-state programs: Utah, BYU and Utah State. After the camp, I got a chance to talk briefly with one of Maka's coaches from Cottonwood Senior. Leavitt has been telling him that he has been searching coast-to-coast for another linebacker that has the same attractive skill set that Maka has, but he hasn't been able to find it.
Fua Pututau is a 6-foot-1.5, 245-pound linebacker prospect, also from Cottonwood Senior in Utah. Like Maka, he already has an offer from CU but decided to participate in Saturday's camp regardless. "I got a lot of new techniques to use at my school at home," said Pututau, who was also one of the fastest two linebackers during the fastest man competition at the end of the camp. "It is nice over here. It is just like back home in Utah." The Buffs also scouted him at the All-Poly Camp in Utah earlier this month. "They have been involved a lot, especially Coach Leavitt. He really wants us so he has been giving us a lot of good tips, like what we would expect if we committed here," Pututau said. He plans to visit Washington, Washington State, Oregon State, Boise State and Nevada in July. All of the aforementioned colleges have offered him. "I'll be visiting more campuses but Colorado should be one of my top ones," he said. Pututau is not in a rush to decide. "Something like home," he said when asked what he is looking for in a college.
And last, but certainly not least. Craig Watts is a four-star cornerback prospect from St. Petersburg (Fla.) Admiral Farragut Academy. He verbally committed to Wisconsin last weekend and admitted that he probably would have canceled his trip to Colorado but his coach had already paid for the visit. He's glad he made it out to Boulder. "It is great, beautiful. Seeing all this (pointing at the mountains), it is crazy," Watts said. "I thought [Colorado] was something small but this is the real deal right here. ... This trip, I love it here. This is like the best trip." Watts said he is still committed to Wisconsin but added "Colorado, they got a chance." The hard hitting cornerback has roughly 40 offers but he is not planning to re-open his recruitment and take a lot of official visits. "Either here (Colorado) or Wisconsin," he said on where he'll end up signing.
Anthony Julmisse is an athlete prospect from South Plantation High School in Florida. He has 20-plus offers. Julmisse said he had never left the Sunshine State before. "It is great," he said of Colorado. "It is more than I expected it to be. I am loving it up here honestly." Julmisse went on to talk about how much he likes the environment in Boulder. "It is nothing like what I thought it was going to be," he admitted. "I thought it was going to be snowing out here or something like that. It is nice and warm out here." Julmisse plays all over the field for South Plantation. He is being recruited by the Buffs primarily as a wide receiver. Although he said he is going to take his time with the recruiting process, Julmisse mentioned he is "getting pretty close" to trimming his list. He wasn't ready to tip his hand today but said he'll probably announce his shortened list of suitors on Twitter after he goes home and talks it over with his parents.
Johnny Huntley is a wide receiver prospect, also from South Plantation High School in Florida. He also has 20-plus offers. And like Julmisse, it was his first time venturing outside his home state. Expecting snow in late June? Really? "I thought it was going to be cold, snowy. But no," he said. "We drove around the city, saw a lot of stuff we've never seen before like the mountains." Huntley plans to visit Tennessee on July 17. He wants to take roughly three official visits before deciding mid-way through his senior season. Huntley said he definitely wants to take official visits to CU and TCU, and confirmed both schools are among his favorites. "They basically sat down with me and showed me how I would fit into the offense perfectly," Huntley said of the Buffs' coaches. Huntley said he will not necessarily be a package deal with Julmisse.
Pookie Maka is a 6-foot-2.5, 205-pound outside linebacker prospect from Murray (Utah) Cottonwood Senior. He has 12 offers, including offers from Arizona State, BYU, Colorado, Missouri, Utah, Utah State, Washington and Wisconsin. "It was fun, a good time to work with Coach Leavitt. He had some good wisdom to teach me," Maka said of his camping experience with the Buffs. He came in on Friday to tour the campus. "The facilities are nicer than I thought, I didn't expect it to be that big. That's what $160 million can do," he said. "The staff is nicer than I thought, too. They welcomed us in with open arms." He plans to visit "some California schools" later this summer and admitted right now he is leaning towards the in-state programs: Utah, BYU and Utah State. After the camp, I got a chance to talk briefly with one of Maka's coaches from Cottonwood Senior. Leavitt has been telling him that he has been searching coast-to-coast for another linebacker that has the same attractive skill set that Maka has, but he hasn't been able to find it.
Fua Pututau is a 6-foot-1.5, 245-pound linebacker prospect, also from Cottonwood Senior in Utah. Like Maka, he already has an offer from CU but decided to participate in Saturday's camp regardless. "I got a lot of new techniques to use at my school at home," said Pututau, who was also one of the fastest two linebackers during the fastest man competition at the end of the camp. "It is nice over here. It is just like back home in Utah." The Buffs also scouted him at the All-Poly Camp in Utah earlier this month. "They have been involved a lot, especially Coach Leavitt. He really wants us so he has been giving us a lot of good tips, like what we would expect if we committed here," Pututau said. He plans to visit Washington, Washington State, Oregon State, Boise State and Nevada in July. All of the aforementioned colleges have offered him. "I'll be visiting more campuses but Colorado should be one of my top ones," he said. Pututau is not in a rush to decide. "Something like home," he said when asked what he is looking for in a college.
And last, but certainly not least. Craig Watts is a four-star cornerback prospect from St. Petersburg (Fla.) Admiral Farragut Academy. He verbally committed to Wisconsin last weekend and admitted that he probably would have canceled his trip to Colorado but his coach had already paid for the visit. He's glad he made it out to Boulder. "It is great, beautiful. Seeing all this (pointing at the mountains), it is crazy," Watts said. "I thought [Colorado] was something small but this is the real deal right here. ... This trip, I love it here. This is like the best trip." Watts said he is still committed to Wisconsin but added "Colorado, they got a chance." The hard hitting cornerback has roughly 40 offers but he is not planning to re-open his recruitment and take a lot of official visits. "Either here (Colorado) or Wisconsin," he said on where he'll end up signing.
