Wednesday, February 4, 2015

UMC Football Adds 28 Players to 2015 Signing Class

CROOKSTON, Minn. - The University of Minnesota Crookston football team announced the signing of 28 student-athletes to National Letters of Intent or Offers of Admission to join the Golden Eagle program. The signing class is the second under Head Coach Mike Fritze. The Golden Eagle coaching staff looked to put an added emphasis on players from the region, and accomplished just that signing 17 players from the Midwest region (including Minnesota, North Dakota, Wisconsin, Illinois and Manitoba). The 17 regional players matches UMC's total from last year's recruiting class for the Region.

"Our main focus coming into this recruiting cycle was to get players from the region who we thought were good fits for the program and who will be committed to the program," said Head Coach Mike Fritze. "It all starts in the state of Minnesota and we were able to bring in 11 quality players from the state who we think are going to be great building blocks for this program."

In addition, the Golden Eagles brought in four players from Texas, four from California, one from Virginia and one from Hawai'i.

"Our focus in out of region recruiting was to get players that our coaching staff had developed good relationships with or players who had ties to current players in our program," Fritze said. "We are very excited about the group of players we were able to add outside of the region, as well."

The Golden Eagles signed 14 offensive players, 13 defensive players and one special teams player. UMC's most highly recruited position were wide receiver and linebacker, bringing in five at each position. They also put an emphasis on the trenches bringing in four offensive linemen and four defensive linemen. The Golden Eagles also brought in four defensive backs and two tight ends and also brought in one quarterback, two running backs and a long snapper.

UMC brought in 20 high school players who signed National Letters of Intent, four transfers who signed NLI's, one player who signed an Institutional Letter of Intent and three players who were mid-year transfers.

The student-athletes listed today as having signed National Letters of Intent or Offers of Admission to play at University of Minnesota, Crookston have been verified by the UMC Compliance Office once they sign the National Letter of Intent and financial aid agreement or once the student-athlete has accepted an Offer of Admission from UMC.

The Golden Eagles are looking to rebound from an 0-11 season in Fritze's second season with the Golden Eagles. UMC returns five starters on offense and six on defense as Fritze heads into his third season as head coach for the Golden Eagles. The Golden Eagles will be led by All-NSIC Honorable Mention selection Drew Selvestra (Sr., DL, Eagan, Minn.), who had a breakout season with 88 tackles, 4.5 sacks and 8.5 tackles for loss. Offensively, sophomore wide receiver Adam Connette (Corona, Calif.) returns after amassing 28 receiving yards and five touchdowns as a freshman.

For more information, visit the Golden Eagle Athletics website at www.goldeneaglesports.com.

Follow the Golden Eagles on Facebook at Golden Eagle Sports and on Twitter at @UMCAthletics.

The University of Minnesota, Crookston is an NCAA Division II Institution and a member of the Northern
Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC). The Golden Eagle Equestrian team is a member of the Intercollegiate Horse Show Association (IHSA).

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2015 UMC Football Signing Class
High School Signees (20)

Aeric Berner/DB/5-10 166/Aniwa, Wis./Antigo H.S.
Sully Breckheimer/LB/5-9 200/Luverne, N.D./Hope H.S.
Kolby Castillo/OL/6-1 280/Aiea, Hawai'i/Aiea H.S.
Richard Cobble/TE/6-4 199/Bemidji, Minn./Bemidji H.S.
Blake Coffman/DB/5-11 170/Wheaton, Minn./Wheaton-Herman-Norcross H.S.
Abram Cook II/DL/5-10 294/Surprise, Ariz./Valley Vista H.S.
Will Cross/LB/5-11 210/Turtle Lake, Wis./Turtle Lake H.S.
Shane Curtis/RB/5-11 195/Stewartville, Minn./Stewartville H.S.
Conner Finnestad/LB/6-0 211/Chula Vista, Calif./Mater Dei H.S.
Zach Greenberg/LS/5-10 190/Winnipeg, Manitoba/Grant Park H.S.
Depriece Isenberg/WR/5-6 142/Bloomington, Minn./Bloomington Kennedy H.S.
Trevor Long/DB/5-11 165/Brooklyn Park, Minn./Champlin Park H.S.
Garrett Mead/DL/6-0 220/Santee, Calif./West Hills H.S.
Devante Nutall/TE/6-3 240/Plymouth, Minn./Wayzata H.S.
Chris Polk/LB/5-11 190/Milwaukee, Wis./Wisconsin Lutheran H.S.
Brent Reed/DL/5-11 285/Arlington, Texas/Kennedale H.S.
Duke Smith/OL/5-11 327/Roanoke, Texas/Byron Nelson H.S.
Jared Smith/OL/6-0 308/Hurst, Texas/L.D. Bell H.S.
Taylor Spier/QB/6-2 207/Buffalo, Minn./Bufffalo H.S.
Rodney Stewart/WR/6-0 180/Fort Worth, Texas/North Crowley H.S.
Institutional Letter of Intent (1)
Chris Devine/RB/5-9 206/East Grand Forks, Minn./Sacred Heart H.S.
 Transfers (4)
Connor Kunkel/WR/6-1 207/Kenneth, Minn./Minnesota West Community and Technical College
Jerrod Miller/DL/6-0 297/Carol Stream, Ill./Rochester Community and Technical College
Eric Rodriguez/OL/6-5 351/Woodlake, Calif./Merced College
Josh Zitzmann/WR/6-2 210/Farmington, Minn./Rochester Community and Technical College
Mid-Year Transfers (3)
Sam Moriarty/WR/6-0 220/Cold Spring, Minn./Central Lakes C.C.
Major Rogers/LB/5-10 225/Sterling, Va./Lackawanna College
Anthony Talford/DB/6-0 200/Fresno, Calif./College of the Sequoias

State Breakdown
Minnesota (11)
Texas (4)
California (4)
Wisconsin (3)
North Dakota (1)
Illinois (1)
Virginia (1)
Manitoba (1)

Position Breakdown
QB - 1
RB - 2
WR - 5
TE - 2
OL - 4
DL -4
LB - 5
DB - 4
ST - 1

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