Colorado University Athletics
Brooks: Numbers Low, Intrigue High In Buffs' Class Of 2016
February 03, 2016 | Football, B.G. Brooks
2016 SIGNING DAY AT A GLANCE
Alpha/Omega: Wednesday's first signed NLI came in at 5:40 a.m. MST from WR Derrion Rakestraw, Woodstock, Ga. . . . The last signed NLI came in at 9:55 a.m. MST from LB Akil Jones, San Jose, Calif.
Numbers: 18 signees announced, including one already enrolled – WR Kabion Ento
Positions: 3 DBs, 5 WRs, 3 LBs, 4 OLs, 2 QBs, 1 RB
State-by-state: 4 California, 2 Texas, 2 Florida, 2 Colorado, 2 Georgia, 1 Oregon, 1 Utah, 1 Washington, 1 New Jersey, 1 Arkansas, 1 Louisiana
Two instate signees: OL Hunter Vaughn (Parker, Legend), OL/DE Terriek Roberts (Denver South)
JC signees: WR Kabion Ento, East Central (Miss.) CC; LB Drew Lewis, Coffeeville (Kan.), initially signed with Washington in 2014 and redshirted (three to play three); WR Juwann Winfree, Coffeeville (Kan.), initially signed/played with Maryland in 2014 (three to play two)
Graduate signee: QB Davis Webb, Texas Tech (one to play one) . . . his short list also included Auburn, Florida
Additional QB signee: Sam Noyer, Beaverton, Ore. . . . was first 2016 CU commit (June 2) . . . older brother Matt is an offensive intern at Oregon, working with QBs
(Four) star gazing: 4-star RB Beau Bisharat (Sacramento), 4-star WR Juwann Winfree (Coffeeville, Kan.)
What's in a (nick)name: Coach Mike MacIntyre wasted no time in applying nicknames to a quartet of signees. Until further notice, call WR Juwann Winfree “Touchdown Maker;” QB Davis Webb “The Texas Cannon” with an “exceptional NFL arm;” WR/PR/KOR Ronnie Blackmon “Mr. Excitement,” and WR Kabion Ento “KB.”
BOULDER – In terms of numbers, Mike MacIntyre's fourth University of Colorado recruiting class is his smallest. In terms of intrigue and what the Class of 2016 might mean to his football program, it could be a chart topper.
On Wednesday, the college sport's annual National Letter of Intent Day, MacIntyre introduced signee-by-signee his 18-member recruiting class. His previous three classes numbered 22 (2013), 25 (2014) and 19 (2015), with this class as geographically far-flung (11 states) as any since 2010.
MacIntyre went alphabetically through his player intros – but in the interest of fan interest he could have gone straight to the lower end of the alphabet. The W's, as in quarterback Davis Webb.
A graduate transfer-to-be from Texas Tech, Webb will arrive on the CU campus in June, and he could touch down as the Buffaloes' immediate starter. Predictably, MacIntyre is walking a fine line on that subject, telling Wednesday's NLI Day gathering at the Dal Ward Athletics Center that most everything hinges on the recovery of incumbent starter Sefo Liufau, whose Lisfranc (midfoot) injury could keep the senior-to-be questionable until August camp opens.
In his coaching career, MacIntyre said he has been around six players who suffered the injury – which he later in the news conference called “serious, serious, serious.” Rest assured that Webb, who passed for 5,557 yards and 46 touchdowns with a 61.4 percent completion ratio at Texas Tech, doesn't plan on spending his final year of eligibility as a backup.
Should he need it, Liufau, a three-year starter, has a redshirt season available – which MacIntyre was asked about. His response, predicated on Liufau's status come August: “My job is to get the best quarterback I can to lead the team in September. I'm excited about what Davis Webb brings to the table; he can lead the team and be a starter . . . I think bringing in Davis Webb is a key for us to make sure we ensure success this year.”
Success is paramount for MacIntyre, whose three-year record is 10-27 (2-25, Pac-12).
If Webb, the offensive MVP in the 2013 Holiday Bowl as a Red Raiders freshman, ultimately becomes CU's starter he'll have a pair of new JUCO receivers to target, as well as an experienced stable of returnees.
But size was lacking among those returnees, with Bryce Bobo (6-2) and walk-on Robert Orban (6-6) standing tallest among the group. The pair of JUCO signees – Kabion Ento, who already is enrolled, and Juwann Winfree – are both 6-3.
CU's other JUCO get is inside linebacker Drew Lewis, a former University of Washington signee whom MacIntyre said “will be on the field this year.” Lewis's father, Will, is director of scouting for the Kansas City Chiefs. The Buffs had an “in” with Lewis; administrative staffer Mike Murphy worked with Will Lewis in Seattle – and it paid off in helping sign the 6-2, 225-pound Drew Lewis.
MacIntyre said the Buffs, who will be sans record-setting receiver Nelson Spruce in 2016, “always need quick, smaller guys (at WR) . . . we were hunting bigger guys. If you're just hunting a receiver then all of a sudden you can end up with a lot of smaller guys. We decided to go after the bigger guys this year.”
That philosophy, noted MacIntyre, was passed along by one of his former bosses – Bill Parcells.
Ento, an all-state high jumper (6-9) in Arkansas, showed in junior college that he can “high-point” the football. Winfree can, too – and he's already done it at the FBS level, catching 11 passes for 158 yards and two TDs as a true freshman at Maryland in 2014.
MacIntyre hopes what this class lacks in numbers it will make up for in skill and play-making ability. He said he and his staff “went after play-makers,” prospects who were swift enough to make plays in space both offensively and defensively.
“Overall, our staff did a great job, they worked extremely hard,” MacIntyre said. He added that Athletic Director Rick George and Lance Carl, associate athletic director/business development, played vital roles on recruiting weekends and in other facets of the process.
One of the Class of 2016's biggest sighs of relief came after the down-to-the-wire signing of running back Beau Bisharat, who had initially committed to Stanford but changed his mind and informed the Buffs on Tuesday night he would sign the next morning.
MacIntyre cited running backs coach Klayton Adams for his dogged recruitment of Bisharat, who will be bigger than most of the current Buffs backs: “Klayton had been recruiting him for a long time, and that was an exciting finish . . . he wanted to play running back and that's where we want him. He's a big dude now (6-2, 210).”
Although the Buffs visited 11 states to fill this recruiting class, new CU recruiting coordinator Darrin Chiaverini wants to focus on California and Texas. MacIntyre added Arizona to that mix, but noted with CU being “a national brand school,” the Buffs' recruiters would continue to work their national contacts if they believed they could be rewarded.
In this class, for example, secondary coach Joe Tumpkin worked Louisiana and signed corner Ca'Ron Baham, from former Buffs QB Kordell Stewart's high school – John Ehret in Marrero, La. The school also produced former CU players Dalton Simmons, Mike Phillips and Thaddaeus Washington.
Tumpkin also picked off a pair of Florida recruits from the same high school – receivers Johnny Huntley III and Tony Julmisse of South Plantation. And corners coach Charles Clark went to Georgia (Woodstock) to lure receiver Derrion Rakestraw, who ironically was coached by Clark's high school coach.
In keeping with the move toward big receivers, Huntley is 6-3, Julmisse is 6-1, and Rakestraw is 6-2.
MacIntyre said in signing the five Southern players – Louisiana, Georgia, Florida – they were sold on playing in the Pac-12. Another major selling point was CU's new facilities – the Champions Center and newly opened indoor practice facility. In his previous two classes, prospects were asked to believe in a vision; this class could see literal concrete proof of a commitment to football.
“Getting the new facilities was big for us,” MacIntyre said, noting that he watched jaws drop as recruits and their parents toured the new facilities, an academic center that has tripled in size, the Sports Performance Center, the indoor practice facility, a “laundry loop” that returns clean clothes in 24 hours, and the rest of the Champion Center's amenities.
He cited recruits being wowed by the recovery pools, TVs in the locker room, the weight room, a preponderance of Gatorade machines . . . “And 99.9 percent of them loved the cafeteria.”
Contact: BG.Brooks@Colorado.EDU
