Recruiting Update from Boulder

Colorado received a commitment yesterday from 4* Running Back Ray Polk from Phoenix, Arizona. Polk is 6'0", about 200 lbs, runs a 4.47 x 40 and is the 11th ranked RB in the country according to Rivals.com. This is a huge signing for us. With Polk, Sumler, Lockridge, and PT Gates (the top Juco RB in the nation last year) enrolling in January, we are loaded with young talent at the RB position. And don't forget we are still heavily in the mix for the top RB recruit (and according to some the top overall recruit) in the nation Darrell Scott. Scott will be visiting for the Nebraska game November 23rd, and many believe that he is currently ours to lose. We've got some pretty big recruits in town this weekend for the KU game. The biggest name being LB prospect Lynn Kotoa from Salt Lake City, UT. Katoa is ranked as the #2 Inside LB prospect in the nation and #59 overall. According to this report from the Salt Lake Tribune, CU may have a shot at a commitment from Katoa this weekend: Colorado Covets Cottonwood's Katoa When it comes to pursuing the most highly recruited prep football player in Utah this season, Colorado coach Dan Hawkins apparently isn't going to take a backseat to the big dogs of the Big 12, Oklahoma and Texas. Hawkins recently made a trip to Utah to visit with Cottonwood linebacker Lynn Katoa and watch him play against East, several sources have told The Recruiting Trail. A month ago, Katoa said he had narrowed his choices to Oklahoma and Texas, after having visited both campuses. But last week he said Colorado is in the picture as well now, along with LSU and, possibly, USC, Miami, Wisconsin and Texas A&M. Katoa is scheduled to visit Boulder on Saturday to watch the Buffaloes play host to Kansas. From the way he has talked about Hawkins the past few weeks, I wouldn't be surprised if he makes a commitment while he's there. The recruit mentions the desire to play right away in college every time he talks about recruiting, and Colorado supposedly is using at least one walk-on at linebacker, sometimes two. "Coach Hawkins is a great coach and I believe he is a coach that will win a championship," Katoa told the Salt Lake Tribune earlier this week for a story that will be published Friday. Cottonwood plays Olympus on Thursday, and Katoa will leave for Colorado on Friday. He has a trip scheduled to LSU on Thanksgiving morning, and has also talked recently about wanting to visit Miami. Katoa would be an enormous signing for the Buffs if we can land him. Especially if we can get Jon Major as well. With our complete lack of depth at LB right now, and with Jordan Dizon headed to the bigs next season, we need people to play right away next year. And two of the top LB's in the nation would sure help. In addition to Katoa, 3* WR prospect Chance Blackmon from Tatum, TX will be visiting this weekend also. Blackmon has already committed to CU once this year only to de-commit later when other schools began to show some interest. Now Blackmon has said his final 3 choices are CU, Mizzou, and Florida (although Florida has yet to offer a scholarship to Blackmon). At 6'3" Blackmon definitely has the size that you want at WR, but I'd be pretty surprised if he didn't end up at Missouri. We also have 3* Athlete DeVonte Christopher in town this weekend. Christopher has played QB in HS, but the Buffs will most likely want him to be a defensive back. Christopher has said he'd like to play QB in college, but most of the big schools looking at him want him to play other positions. With all these prospects that have been visiting lately, it's time for us to get some commitments. We currently have 8 commitments for our 2008 class, with one likely to de-commit any day now (WR Corey Surrency). By comparison, Nebraska currently has 24 commitments for their 2008 class. Getting players like Polk (and hopefully Katoa this weekend) to sign with us will hopefully open up the flood-gates to get some of these other fellas to sign. Speaking of Nebraska, Mullen OT Bryce Givens has been starting to look around at other schools since committing to Nebraska back in April. With all of the turmoil surrounding the football staff at NU, Givens has said he'll most likely take a couple more visits including one to Boulder. It would be pretty sweet to swipe a 4* recruit away from Nebraska, especially a local kid like Givens.