For those that think the glitz and glamour of signing day is a bit much(and I’m one of them, seeing an 18 year old holding a press conference on ESPN to decide where they’re going to school), I can also tell you National Signing Day is as important a day to a college football program as is the opening day of fall camp. College coaches find out today if the hard work they’ve been putting in over the past year will pay off. Rewind two years ago to this date. Craig Bohl was downright giddy when I talked to him on the news that night about the class he had coming in, and it turns out had every right to be. With guys like Colten Heagle, Billy Turner, Grant Olson, Travis Beck, Ryan Smith, Carlton Littlejohn, Christian Dudzik, Kyle Emanuel and Jesse Hinz. All signed in 2010, all were key contributors to the National Title Team. Now on to this year, thru Jeff and I’s knowledge these are the known players we BELIEVE will sign letters of intent tomorrow. Mind you until 3pm tomorrow when the press conference is held, that’s all we know. There will be a few walk-ons that are not on this list and we’ll detail more tomorrow night. Here we go….
1) Jack Plankers – 6’7, 290 lbs, Offensive Lineman, Kindred, ND
2) Zach Riopelle – 6’2, 215 lbs, Linebacker, Warren-Alvarado-Oslo, MN
3) DeSean Warren – 5’10, 158 lbs, Wide Receiver, Overland Park, KS
4) Zach Johnson – 6’4, 310 lbs, Offensive Guard, Apple Valley, MN
5) Andy Smith – 6’0, 185 lbs, Defensive Back, Sioux Falls, SD
6) M.J. Stumpf – 6’2, 195 lbs, Linebacker, Harvey, ND
7) Bo Liekhus – 6’0, 200 lbs, Safety, Bellevue, NE
8) Derek McGinnis – 6’2, 200 lbs, Quarterback, Crete, NE
9) Carey Woods – 6’0, 180 lbs, Wide Receiver, Bemidji, MN
10) Demetrius Gray – 6’4, 180 lbs, Wide Receiver, Aurora, IL
11) Austin Farnlof – 6’1, 255 lbs, Offensive/Defensive Line, Anthem AZ
12) Chuks Amaechi – 6’2, 202 lbs, Linebacker, Avondale, AZ
13) Brett Pierce – 6’6, 250 lbs, Defensive End, Richfield, MN
14) Jacob Davis – 6’2, 242 lbs, Linebacker, Wichita, KS
15) Deveon Dinwiddie – 5’9, 175 lbs, Running Back, Hutchinson KS
16) Tom Barneson - 6’3, 200 lbs, Kicker, Eau Claire, WI
17) Sam Hahn – 6’6, 260 lbs, Offensive Tackle, De Witt, NE
18) Landon Lechler – 6’8, 240 lbs, Offensive Lineman, Beach, ND
19) Marcus Brantley – 5’10, 180 lbs, Safety, Mesa, AZ
20) Justin Arp – 6’5, 215 lbs, Defensive End/Tight End, Forman, ND
Those are the 20 names we have right now, on a sheet of paper or a computer screen they look really impressive and really huge. Lechler is 6’8, Pierce and Hahn are both mountains and the speed that NDSU has accumulated at wide receiver could be scary. A reminder I’ll have Craig Bohl LIVE at 6:20 on the Sports on Channel 6 also on WDAY.com and will be live tweeting @DomIzzoWDAY to add any changes to the list. Should be a fun day, hope everyone enjoys!
nothing like getting a kicker built like a linebacker
Ha, Dom! Plankers isn’t huge?
You are right, it will be interesting to see what language Bohl uses to describe this class. 2009? 2010? 2011? All three were much different.
But, they pass my eyeball test!
You never know for sure ’til they play but this class looks really good on paper! Great job by Coach Bohl and his assistants once again. Can’t wait ’til the first game with the new turf! Should be a lot of sellouts this season! Go Bison!
Go Bison. These guys really do look impressive!
I thought Arp from Sargent Central was going to UND? Boy, they really must be down up north, listing that they had a local ND recruit and then he goes to the rival school. Great job by the Bison, looks like they got the 4 in-state kids that they wanted and some talented other recruits from the midwest.
Red River really? If thats our comparison then shut down the program. I compare to UNI, Montana, Minnesota preferred walk ons. Period. We straight up beat those or rivalled them at least.
2010 class has set the bar high, but this one has fbs kids, more speed too. Good job coaches.
Jeff/Dom has done a great job, year or 2 ago they were reluctant to listen to “us fanatics, aka fans” about scopps, tips, bisonville, texts. Im sure glad theyve changed and.follow up on what they hear and make them and us happy. Thanks guys.
Now, back to the drive for a FBS conference thursday!
Ps. Quit with the moderation stuff, my iphone gets around it, call a truce, life is short, relax guys. People attack me, moderate them!
the job that Jeff and Dom do is fantastic. they have always listened to the true, sane fans. they have consistently made this blog better and better beyond expectations. all Bison fans are very fortunate to have so much effort put into this blog by Jeff, Dom, and their supporting cast. thanks Jeff and Dom!
remember who realist is people.
yes, remember folks, i’m one of the sane ones. my last post was made on the ‘talkin basketball’ blog entry, and brought about some great conversation from NDSU-Indiana State grad and several others that have way more knowledge of the conferences and basketball arena news than i do. thanks for those posts!
Why is jack micheals sitting at NDSU presser and asking questions…how embarassing.
Realist youre always taking back handed shots always.
Did Bohl say he didn’t sign a RB?
yep he did
Whats up with Dimwiddie? Bohl didnt give any hints that a guy is waiting to sign papers
What happened to RB Deveon Dinwiddie from Kansas and Tom Barneson, the kicker from Wisconsin?
Many rumors/conflicting reports floating around about Deveon. Kicker, not sure there.
He’ll be here.
Deveon Dinwiddie is coming to NDSU, his brother said so and he already signed a NLI at kansas state and very seldom does a player do that twice, plus he being a juco throws a wrench into it.
Relax, our RB stable is great. Ojuri, Crockett, Jones, even smith/lang could get carries.
OL, As I am sure you know, the O line is where we are losing a lot of talent. As you also know, the Bison offense rolls when its’ O line is dominating. I highly doubt, Fuchs went into Bohl’s office and told him how it is. I think the recruiting efforts and coaches in general, collectively saw what they needed and that is why you see these big fellas coming in. They could make an impact early similar to Billy Turner.
With the MVFC the way it is, I am a bit concerned about the kicker position. With one kicker on the roster, should something happen, we could be missing point opportunities we had with Jazzy. I am not like Skip Clueless (Bayless) who says kickers are non-athletes who let down the real athletes when they miss kicks, and I think the exact opposite. We need a good one and competition at that spot.
Preposterous!
Coach Bohl continues to impress, he has surrounded himself with assistant coaches that can both coach and recruit. Good job coach Bohl, great day for the bison.
Another year with the best class in the region. I wonder what other schools look at when they continue to see us reload like this. Picked up the best talent right out of the Big Sky’s backyard. Got the best out of ND and besides got FBS caliber kids out of Nebraska and Kansas. It has been noted a couple times how Coach Cooper is the best recruiter in Nebraska. Nice work coaches.
I would say we scooped out the talent right out of the Big Sky’s backyard. They recruit mostly out of the west coast Arizona, Nevada area. We got a good though.
I would say we didn’t really scoop out of the Big Sky’s back yard. I really hate typing!! LOL
The Bison usually add quite a few out of Wisconsin but they didn’t sign any this year? Jeff and Dom, do you have any idea why not?
They added 2 walk-ons from Wisconsin late Wednesday night, Kicker Tom Barneson out of Eau Claire and Running Back Eric Perkins from Kewaskum. I think Wisconsin is still an area they like but are trying new states like Arizona, Kansas and Nebraska now.
I love having no sconi’s!! no offense brock, your address is fargo now. Coach Polasak mentioned is was mainly D2 talent in wisc this year or FBS, however the kicker from wisc might walk on and RB Eric Perkins from Kewaskum, Wisconsin is walking on to ndsu
Wouldn’t any new “sconi’s” also change their address to Fargo? Do you ever think before you type?
, however the kicker from Wisc might walk on and RB Eric Perkins from Lukewarm, Wisconsin is walking on to Sundas I love having no sonic!! no offense Brock, your address is Fargo now. Coach Polanski mentioned is was mainly D2 talent in Wisc this year or FIBS