Fresno State gets commitment from fourth out-of-state recruit for 2021
Fresno State picked up another commitment for its 2021 recruiting class on Tuesday, landing defensive back Charlotin Charles from national prep powerhouse Bishop Gorman in Las Vegas.
Charles (6 feet, 195 pounds) had a Pac-12 scholarship offer from Arizona and several from Mountain West programs including Hawaii, Nevada, New Mexico and Utah State.
He is the fourth out-of-state commit for coach Kalen DeBoer and his staff, who have been active this season in areas Fresno State has not recently, using contacts across the West to expand the Bulldogs’ recruiting reach.
“They definitely are spreading their wings a little bit,” said Greg Biggins, a national recruiting analyst for 247Sports.
“Sometimes there’s a danger in doing that – you don’t want to spend too much time in areas that you don’t actually have a chance to get kids,” Biggins said. “But it has been a pretty effective approach. They’re not spending time on guys who they don’t have a chance to get. They’re figuring out who they like and who likes them. They’re being very strategic about it.”
Fresno State also has commitments from tight end Tre Watson (6-5, 222) from Cleveland High in Rio Rancho, N.M., offensive tackle Braylen Nelson (6-5, 310) from Vista Peak High in Aurora, Colo., and running back Malik Brooks (6-2, 205) from Desert Pines High in Las Vegas.
In state, the Bulldogs have commitments from San Joaquin Memorial running back Jordan Hornbeak (6-0, 190), Lawndale duo offensive lineman Rolan Fullwood (6-5, 305) and running back Johnathan Arceneaux (6-0, 185), quarterback Jaylen Henderson (6-3, 205) from Chaminade-West Hills, safety Julian Neal (6-4, 195) from Mission-San Francisco and defensive tackle Julius Lewis (6-5, 280) from Central Catholic-Modesto.
They also have scholarship offers out to prep players in Arizona, Hawaii, Oregon, Texas and Washington, among other states.
Finding success out of state
Fresno State under coach Jeff Tedford started to turn the Bulldogs’ out-of-state recruiting prospects, signing offensive linemen Dontae Bull and Marc-David Bien-Amie out of Canada in 2017, Tedford’s first recruiting class.
They were followed by center Tyrone Sampson (Michigan) in 2018 and offensive lineman Bula Schmidt (Washington), linebacker Kyvin Carroll (Arkansas) and running back Peyton Dixon (Nevada) in 2019.
Bull started 10 games last season, Schmidt played in seven with four starts as a true freshman and Sampson played in 10 games with three starts. Bien-Amie has been set back by injuries in his Bulldogs’ career, and Carroll took a redshirt season in 2020 in his first year in the program.
Dixon transferred after suffering a knee injury in his first fall camp.
Before that, Fresno State did not have a great history with out-of-state recruits – from 2013 to ‘16, it recruited 24 high school players from out of state and only seven either finished their careers or are still at Fresno State.
But in that stretch the Bulldogs also have hit some home runs, and Charles, Watson, Nelson and Brooks could be next in that line.
Staff connections across the country helped land linebacker Jeff Allison out of Georgia in 2016, and he went on to start 28 games in a row, was the defensive player of the year in the Mountain West in 2018 and was No. 10 on the Bulldogs’ all-time tackles list when he left school a year early to make a run at the NFL Draft.
Two recent Texas products shined, also: Cornerback Jaron Bryant, who started 38 career games, was in that 2016 recruiting class and linebacker James Bailey, a 2015 recruit, started 43 career games including the last 40 in a row.