Since I haven’t posted in over a month, I hope everyone has been following along on Rowdyville, Twitter, Coker Chronicles and all the other excellent sites out there, but in case you haven’t, I’ve put together recap of all that’s happened in the past month or so, which you can see after the jump. I also recently updated the RowdyReport.com 2012 Recruiting Board, so if you haven’t checked it out yet, you might want to have it open as you read through the recap.
Recruiting
We’ll start the recruiting recap with JUCO National Signing Day (December 21), the day on which junior college recruits are first allowed to sign their National Letters of Intent. UTSA signed four JUCO recruits this year, including Tucker Carter (QB – Trinity Valley CC), Brandon Guerrero (LB – Fullerton CC), Cody Berry (DB – Pierce CC), and Brian King (DB – Hutchinson CC). Jared from Coker Chronicles put together a nice breakdown of each JUCO signee.
In a story that’s been developing since late November, it’s becoming more and more likely that RB Marcus Wright will be transferring from Georgia Tech to play out his final season at UTSA. According to Dan McCarney of the San Antonio Express-News, Wright was still contemplating whether or not to transfer back in December, but the latest update quotes a source who believes that there is a “high probability” that he will be transferring to UTSA.
The 2012 recruiting cycle will be coming to an end soon, which naturally means that it’s already time to start talking about 2013. The San Antonio Express-News is reporting that SA Christian HS wide receiver Corey Robinson, the son of legendary Spurs center David Robinson, has received interest from UTSA, along with Texas and Kansas. I already have leads on a few other 2013 recruits, so I’ll be unveiling the 2013 recruiting board within the next month or so.
UTSA added two new commitments to the board in early January: Aldine offensive lineman Zach Hester and Trimble Tech athlete Jordan Gray, who graduated in 2011 and reportedly was offered a gray shirt by UTSA, which allows him to enroll this year. He also gained over 40 pounds during his year off, which could get him a look on the defensive line in addition to his previous position of tight end. The Roadrunners then gained their 12th commitment about a week later from New Braunfels linebacker Charles Wort, the younger brother of Oklahoma linebacker Tom Wort.
Amidst all the commitments recently, the Express-News reported that yet another UTSA commit was in trouble with the law. DB Erick Kinney was arrested at MacArthur High School on January 17 for possession of marijuana. It has yet to be seen if his scholarship offer will be withdrawn by UTSA and we likely won’t find out until NSD. After the suspension of Chris Johnson for marijuana and the indictment of Troy Williams on charges of sexual assault, we will wait to see how the UTSA staff will handle Kinney’s situation.
On a more positive note, this brings us to this past weekend, which marked the second-to-last weekend that recruits could take official visits before National Signing Day. Apparently the staff was able to make a good impression on the visitors, as we’ve seen a flurry of commitments over the past week. The first two players to commit this weekend were Blinn College teammates OL Armando Alverez and DB Marcus Poullard, who made their commitments known via Twitter.
On Sunday morning, UTSA wide receiver Kenny Harrison tweeted that Clarksville defensive back H.B. Rosser had made his commitment to UTSA after his visit. Later that day, Dan McCarney reported that Wagner safety Derrick Kindred committed to UTSA, but was still planning a visit to Baylor during the final weekend before NSD. In an update on Tuesday, Kindred reinforced his commitment by cancelling his trip to Baylor. The two latest commitments from the weekend are Stratford defensive end Jarvis Pruitt and Friendswood tight end Trevor Stevens, as reported by InsideRunnerSports and Dan McCarney.
Scheduling
Brent Thibodeaux from BobcatReport.com, the Rivals.com affiliate for Texas State, tweeted that the highly anticipated 2012 UTSA/TXST matchup would be played over Thanksgiving weekend in the Alamodome. Dan McCarney of the Express-News then reported that the game would possibly be carried on the ESPN family of networks, and that ESPN would have the final say on when the game would be played.
InsideRunnerSports.com reported that Texas A&M was interested in having UTSA visit College Station for a matchup in 2012, but were unable to make the deal because A&M already has McNeese State on their schedule and only one FCS school counts for bowl eligibility each year. With the multiple ties that UTSA has with A&M, a game somewhere down the line certainly seems plausible.
UTSA has finalized the date for the 2012 Spring Game, which will be played on Sunday, April 15 at 2:00 pm in the Alamodome, according to the 2012 football schedule.
New Look
After the final UTSA football game in the 2011 season, renovation began on the locker rooms in the Alamodome, and the first phase was completed just before the Alamo Bowl in December. Check out this article from Jennifer Hiller of the Express-News for all the details and photos.
Coker Chronicles unveiled some photos of a new white helmet and Roadrunner logo gloves that we might be seeing as soon as 2012. According to Dan McCarney, the white helmet was just a concept piece and may or may not actually be used sometime in the future.
Other News
In non-football news, former UTSA standout basketball player Devin Gibson signed with the Fraport Skyliners in the German Bundesliga. I have been writing weekly updates on his performances on the Rowdyville message boards for anyone interested in following along.
A week ago, the Express-News reported that UTSA and the city are in negotiations to extend the Alamodome lease, possibly for up to 25 years. It appears as though any plans to build a football stadium at the Park West campus have been put on hold for the foreseeable future.
