SAN DIEGO – San Diego State football head coach Rocky Long announced that 12 student-athletes have committed to the Aztecs on the first day of the early signing period on Wednesday.
The NCAA approved the early signing period in 2017, which runs this year from Dec. 18-20. The mid-year 2-4 (junior college) transfer signing period also commenced today and lasts through Jan. 15, 2020, while the regular signing period is slated for Feb. 5-April 1, 2020.
SDSU's early signing class includes six on defense, five on offense and one athlete. The 12-player early class also features nine from the state of California, two from Nevada and one from Arizona. In all, 10 prospects are high school seniors, while one has Power 5 starting experience and another is a junior college transfer. Additional signees could be added later in the coming days.
"We started off with some specific position needs that we had to address," said Kevin McGarry, the Aztecs' on-campus recruiting coordinator. "Obviously we have some seniors that we need to replace, but I think we did a nice job of addressing those needs. We have some more work to do in February (Feb. 5 for the start of the regular signing period), but overall it was a good day.
"(The early signing day) accelerates things. It's important to ink the players early so you can lock them down. When there was only the one signing day, we would get some commits in December or even January and teams from a Power 5 Conference would come in and steal our commits. So the thing we've been able to do now with the early signing day is lock some kids down in December. It's a much faster recruiting cycle now than it used to be."
Of the six signees on defense, four are defensive backs - Dallas Branch (Redondo Beach, Calif./Salesian High/Long Beach City College), Brody Hughes (Temecula, Calif./Temecula Valley High), Dezjhon Malone (Fresno, Calif./Edison High) and Jelani Whitmore (Rialto, Calif./Carter High). SDSU also inked two linebackers in Kobah Fuamatu (Santa Ana, Calif./Mater Dei High) and Vai Kaho (Reno, Nev./Bishop Manogue High).
Of the five players on offense, three are linemen - Aidan Finney (Chico, Calif./Pleasant Valley High), John Harrison (Carlsbad, Calif./Carlsbad High) and Joey Wright (Reno, Nev./Bishop Manogue High). San Diego State also added quarterback Jack Sears (San Clemente, Calif./San Clemente High/USC) and tight end Jay Rudolph (Scottsdale, Ariz./Horizon High).
The lone "athlete" in the class is Cassius Savage (Buena Park, Calif./Western High).
San Diego State (9-3) will square off with Central Michigan (8-5) in the New Mexico Bowl in Albuquerque, N.M., at noon MT Saturday.
Football Announces 2020 Early Signing Class
