The Fresno State football program boosted its roster on Wednesday’s National Signing Day event as it inked 14 players to National Letters of Intent to a 2015 class that consists of 17 members.
Areas where head coach Tim DeRuyter and his staff had wanted to address with this year’s class were the offensive line and secondary.
“We added depth in a couple of areas, particularly our offensive line, DeRuyter said. “We brought five new young men in that I think all can really be significant contributors. They bring tremendous size and tenacity.
“We’ve also helped ourselves in the secondary by bringing in four defensive backs. Those guys play at an extremely high level. They’re all very competitive and possess good length. Overall, they’re just really good football players.”
Fresno State signed a trio of players from the Central Valley, including Edison High School’s A.J. Greeley.
“We’re excited about the three young men from right here in the Valley who are coming onboard,” DeRuyter said. “We offered [Greeley] early, he’s been committed, and he stayed with us. He’s an outstanding talent and an explosive player that could’ve played in a Power 5 conference.”
The 5-foot-11, 180-pound defensive back earned All-America honors as a senior while helping lead the Edison Tigers to a 12-2 record. The former Tiger had offers from various Pac-12 schools but ultimately decided to stay locally and play for his hometown Bulldogs.
Other Bulldogs from the Valley include Jared Rice, a 6-foot-5, 215-pound tight end out of Modesto’s Central Catholic High School. There, he earned all-state honors his senior year and helped lead the Raiders to three straight championships from his sophomore to senior year.
The final Valley product is 6-foot-6, 330-pound offensive lineman Isaiah Trevino from Kingsburg.
“From just up the road in Modesto we signed Jared Rice, who they think is an extremely athletic tight end, plays with tenacity and has great length. Down in Kingsburg, we signed Isaiah Trevino. This guy is massive and he’s going to be a tremendous football player. So we’re excited about all three of these guys. They had committed and stuck with us even though they had multiple offers.”
There are a few guys already on campus like prized quarterback recruit Chason Virgil and Alan Wright, both players from the state of Texas.
Just like Greeley, Virgil received attention from Power 5 schools, but at the end of the day decided to come to Fresno State because he felt he had the best opportunity here to compete for a the starting quarterback role.
Fresno State also added a special teamer to its class, signing a kicker from Riverside Community College in Jimmy Camacho. At RCC, Camacho connected on 21-of-26 field goal attempts and was 3-of-4 from 50-plus yards and made all 46 of his point after attempts. Last year as a freshman, the 5-foot-10 160-pound kicker earned junior college All-American honors.
“Cody [Kroening] did a tremendous job as a walk-on coming in, but he’s still not quite where we want him to be when it comes to leg strength,” DeRuyter said. “With Jimmy coming in, he’s proved himself not only in high schoo,l but playing at the junior college level.
“He has a big-time leg. I think he kicked 90 percent of his kickoffs out of the end zone. He’s also kicked 50 plus in games, and to have that kind of potential really helps.”
Senior Bulldog lineman Jacob Vasquez was also added to the signing class. Vasquez made the team last year as a walk-on and through his efforts earned a scholarship for the 2015 season.