Bulldogs land big local recruit in Memorial High running back Jordan Hornbeak
Fresno State landed a big local recruit Saturday with a commitment from San Joaquin Memorial High running back Jordan Hornbeak, a 3-star recruit who had a bunch of scholarship offers from Pac-12 programs.
That didn’t make for an easy decision, but Hornbeak said he landed on the right one.
“There were a couple of schools when it came down to it toward the end, but I sat down with my family and one of my coaches from Memorial,” said Hornbeak, who had Pac-12 offers from Cal, Colorado, Oregon State, UCLA, Utah, Washington and Washington State.
“We sat down and talked about it and we were all in agreement it was Fresno State, and that’s what it was. I wanted the opportunity to play early and obviously Fresno State gave me that. The other thing was I think I’ve gathered such a following in the Valley. Just gathering up that following, it was very confirming to know I would have that in my back pocket if I were to stay home.”
Hornbeak, who rushed for nearly 1,700 yards last season in helping lead Memorial to a 12-2 record, will hit Fresno State at a good time to make an impression.
Ronnie Rivers, who led the Bulldogs in rushing last season with 899 yards and was tied for first in the Mountain West Conference with 13 rushing touchdowns, is going into his senior season in 2020 and there are two other seniors in the group in Saevion Johnson and Zion Echols.
Jordan Mims, who missed last season with a lower leg injury, will be a redshirt junior this season. Wyoming transfer Jevon Bigelow, a Central High product, will be a redshirt sophomore.
The care and feeding of that group also stood out to Hornbeak, a versatile player who can be used in one- and two-back sets and catch the football out of the backfield.
Rivers last season led Mountain West running backs in receptions and was the Bulldogs’ second-leading receiver, his 43 receptions just four behind wideout Zane Pope and 11 ahead of tight end Jared Rice.
In 2018, Rivers (26) and Mims (21) combined to catch 47 passes, which would have ranked third on the team in a season the pass game was dominated by KeeSean Johnson, now with the Arizona Cardinals.
Fresno State also is not shy about riding a hot back, as Rivers was a year ago. He rushed the football 177 times and when the Bulldogs were in a close game, winning or losing by seven points or less, he had 154 touches (124 rushing, 30 receiving) and the rest of the running backs group had 60.
“I think one thing that coach (Kalen) DeBoer and coach (Ryan) Grubb really know how to do is use the back in very unique ways,” said Hornbeak, who also had offers from Mountain West programs Boise State, Nevada, New Mexico, San Jose State and UNLV.
“I don’t think everybody does what they do, and I’m a guy who is very versatile. I’m not a one-trick pony. I can do everything and everything that you ask me to do. With all that combined, it was also very assuring.”
Memorial coach Anthony Goston sees big things for Hornbeak at Fresno State.
“He’s a guy that can definitely carry the load,” he said. “He’s that guy you can hand the ball off 20-25 times a game. They’re getting a true running back.”
Hornbeak joins a 2021 recruiting class that includes safety Julian Neal (6-4, 195) from San Francisco Mission High, defensive tackles Julius Lewis (6-6, 290) from Modesto Central Catholic and David Gusta (6-3, 250) from San Bernardino Cajon and running back Malik Brooks (6-1, 200) from Las Vegas Desert Pines.
This story was originally published July 11, 2020 at 3:41 PM.