Fresno State lands five more commitments in advance of signing day

It appears Fresno State football coaches made another impression to more recruits this past weekend – with five players committing to the Bulldogs in advance of the Feb. 1 national signing day.

Offensive linemen Syrus Tuitele of Pleasant Valley-Chico, Pesa Tupa of San Mateo College and Marc David Bien-Aimé of Montmorency College-Laval, Quebec along with defensive backs Wylan Free of Lynwood High and Zane Pope of Moorpark High gave oral commitments to the Bulldogs.

Coaches cannot comment on prospective student-athletes until a national letter of intent has been signed and validated. Fresno State will host recruits again this weekend.

Last week, tight end Christian Williams of Fullerton College, running back Jordan Mims of Menlo-Atherton, outside linebacker Richard Cage Jr. of Roosevelt-Eastvale and offensive linemen Zelan Tupuola of JSerra Catholic-San Juan Capistrano and Dontae Bull of Belmont Secondary-Victoria, British Columbia, committed.

Here’s a closer look at the players committing over the weekend:

▪ Tuitele stands at 6-foot-6 and 295 pounds and helped Pleasant Valley to a Division 4 AA state championship. He played in 13 of 14 games and started at the varsity level for four years.

▪ Tupa, listed at 6-5 and 330, guided San Mateo to a 7-4 record and 5-0 in the Bay 6 Conference. The East Palo Alto native played two seasons for the Bulldogs.

▪ Bien-Aimé is 6-5 and 340 pounds and played guard and defensive tackle for Montmorency College.

▪ Free, who is listed at 6-1 and 165 pounds, committed to USC before decommitting in December. He also received offers from Boise State, Hawaii and Utah State.

▪ Pope played free safety and wide receiver for Moorpark High. He is 6-1 and 180 pounds and helped Moorpark to a 7-4 record this past season.

Bien-Aimé said he hadn’t heard about Fresno State until Jeff Tedford was hired. He committed to the Bulldogs because “the coaches, the vision of the future and what it holds.”

“Fresno has a great wining tradition,” Bien-Aimé said. “It’s a program that was playing at a championship caliber not too long ago. Won back-to-back championships and will get back to winning very soon.”

Free said he was impressed with his visit and enjoyed getting to know coaches and other recruits.

“The coaches showed interest,” he said. “They treated me like I’m a player on the team. Glad to have a great coaching staff behind me. It means a lot honestly (to play for Tedford). He’s been a great coach with other teams and I just want to join the legacy.”

▪ Burroughs High offensive lineman Jesse Chamberlain decommitted from Fresno State on Monday and gave an oral commitment to San Jose State.

This story was originally published January 24, 2017 at 4:43 PM with the headline "Fresno State lands five more commitments in advance of signing day."