On Pete's fete, Oden's odyssey, Vikings' in-state push and more
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• Portland State’s recent football recruiting class is being hailed as top-notch, but what caught my attention was the number of athletes among the 16 high school signees who are from outside Oregon and Southwest Washington.
Only two – both from the Seattle area.
That has to be unprecedented in the Park Blocks. Tim Walsh and Pokey Allen relied on a number of players from California and Washington, and even Mouse Davis never had a near-full prep class of in-state and area kids.
Third-year coach Nigel Burton – who also landed seven ready-to-play transfers from JCs and four-year colleges – made a concerted effort to keep a lot of the good in-state players at home, and he has done that.
“We always want to recruit Oregon and Washington first, but this might have been the deepest in-state class ever,” Burton says. “We wanted to take advantage of that.”
Burton says the Vikings have four coaches scouting southern California and two in northern California, and they will continue with those responsibilities.
What will be fascinating to watch over the next few years is if the FCS Vikings can take it to the next level nationally with primarily homegrown talent.
http://www.portlandtribune.com/sports/print_story.php?story_id=132834281271109000" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
• Portland State’s recent football recruiting class is being hailed as top-notch, but what caught my attention was the number of athletes among the 16 high school signees who are from outside Oregon and Southwest Washington.
Only two – both from the Seattle area.
That has to be unprecedented in the Park Blocks. Tim Walsh and Pokey Allen relied on a number of players from California and Washington, and even Mouse Davis never had a near-full prep class of in-state and area kids.
Third-year coach Nigel Burton – who also landed seven ready-to-play transfers from JCs and four-year colleges – made a concerted effort to keep a lot of the good in-state players at home, and he has done that.
“We always want to recruit Oregon and Washington first, but this might have been the deepest in-state class ever,” Burton says. “We wanted to take advantage of that.”
Burton says the Vikings have four coaches scouting southern California and two in northern California, and they will continue with those responsibilities.
What will be fascinating to watch over the next few years is if the FCS Vikings can take it to the next level nationally with primarily homegrown talent.
