Locks nabs 21 recruits

UNM head football coach Mike Locksley was smiling like a child on Christmas morning.

But Wednesday was the second best day of the year for the 40-year-old, whose birthday just so happens to fall on Christmas day: It was National Signing Day, and Locksley announced the addition of 21 players to this year’s signing class, headlined by five signees from Maryland.

Locksley said his coaching staff played a significant role in bringing the recruits to UNM.

“I’ve said many times,” Locksley said. “It’s like Christmas in February for college programs and recruiting is the lifeline of any program.”

For the last three years, Locksley’s been limited to offering 20 scholarships per year because of academic fraud infractions committed by former head coach Rocky Long’s staff.

That didn’t stop the third-year head coach from reloading in preparation for next season. Seven of the UNM football team’s 21 recruits are already enrolled, among them offensive linemen Austin Weatherford and Korian Chambers and defensive backs Crusoe Gongbay and DeVonta Tabannah.

The Lobos are also still — technically — in the running for blue-chip recruit Cyrus Kouandjio, the nation’s top-rated offensive lineman. He had UNM in his top-three schools along with Alabama and Auburn. Kouandijo chose Auburn on Wednesday morning but reconsidered and, as of late Wednesday night, had not declared.

Only two players from the state of New Mexico signed with UNM.
Dustin Walton, a 6-foot-3-inch quarterback from Raton, was the only quarterback in the Lobos’ 2011 recruiting class. A two-year starter at the position for Raton High School, Walton is an athletic quarterback with a personality to lead. He passed for more than 8,000 yards and 89 touchdowns at Raton.

Walton participated in camps at big-time college schools. He attended a high school football camp in Alabama and met Alabama head football coach Nick Saban. He said he choose UNM because it’s situated close to home.

“It’s only three hours away,” he said. “But the coaches we have here and coaches that are coming here, they know what they’re doing. They’re great recruiters, and they have shown that this year with all of the guys coming in.”
If Walton ever gets a chance to start and win games for UNM, he’ll need a target. His coaching staff might have found him one. Donnie Duncan, from Cerritos, Calif., could be one of Walton’s go-to guys. He was ranked the No. 64 athlete by ESPN and No. 72 by Rivals coming out of Alexander Hamilton High School in Los Angeles.

Although primarily a wide receiver, Duncan was a utility player at Hamilton. He played quarterback, defensive back and was a kick returner for four years.

Duncan chose UNM over mid-major powerhouse Boise State. He said he hasn’t played football in more than a year but is itching to get back onto the field.

“It just felt comfortable to be here,” Duncan said. “Boise, they just wanted me to play defense, and here they said I could play what I wanted to play, and that was receiver. I just had a change of heart and decided to come here last minute.”

Locksley hopes this recruiting class will address some of the problems the Lobos faced the last two seasons. UNM is 2-22 under Locksley, each time finishing with identical 1-11 records. He said that the signees will have an immediate impact at UNM.
“We feel that we’ve put our best foot forward in an effort to move the program in the direction that we would like to see it go,” Locksley said.

2011 UNIVERSITY OF NEW MEXICO FOOTBALL SIGNEES
Daniel Adams, WR, Washington, D.C., Northwestern HS
Destry Berry, DB, Suwanee, Ga., Erie CC
Zach Boerboom, TE, Cape Girardeau, Mo., Central Senior HS
Harvelio Buie, LB, Seffner, Fla., Armwood HS
Korian Chambers, OL, Memphis, Tenn., Arizona Western JC
Zach Dancel, ATH, Ellicott City, Md., Good Counsel HS
Donnie Duncan, WR, Cerritos, Calif., Alexander Hamilton HS
Crusoe Gongbay, RB, Rockville, Md., Rockville HS
Desmond Hollin, DL, Miami, Fla., Southridge HS
Anthony Kennedy, OL, Albuquerque, N.M., Volcano Vista HS
Deshon Marman, DB, San Francisco, Calif., City College of San Francisco
Jamal Merritt, DB, Silver Springs, Md. Sherwood HS
Tevin Newman, LB, Tampa, Fla., Robinson HS
Jamal Price, OL, Pomfret, Md., McDonough HS
Dillon Romine, OL, Bradenton, Fla., Braden River HS
Devonta Tabannah, DB, Oxon Hill, Md., Potomac HS
Fatu Ulale, DL, Torrance, Calif., Cerritos College
Dustin Walton, QB, Raton, N.M., Raton HS
Austin Weatherford, OL, Maypearl, Texas, Maypearl HS
Zoey Williams, DB, Sugar Land, Texas, Dulles HS