Fresno State recruiting class hits No. 1 in Mountain West, but will it go even higher?
Fresno State, with the addition of Power Five and junior college transfers to its 2022 football recruiting class, moved up to No. 1 in the Mountain West Conference in the 247 Sports rankings and the Bulldogs likely are not done.
Brandon Huffman, the national recruiting editor for 247 Sports, predicted coach Jeff Tedford would be very productive working the transfer portal as the Bulldogs prepare for 2022 and a run at a Mountain West Conference championship and New Years’ Six bowl game.
“What we’ve seen in recent years, the (Group of Five) school that has the best quarterback is the team that is positioned best,” Huffman said. “Back in 2019, it was Brady White at Memphis. He got them to the New Year’s Six. Obviously, Desmond Ridder the past two years, a potential first-round pick, got Cincinnati to the New Years’ Six …
“I feel that’s the gateway to get to that New Year’s Six – you have to be one of those G5 schools that has a really good quarterback.”
Fresno State has Jake Haener, who last season passed for 315.1 yards per game, eighth best in the nation. The Bulldogs also have a number of super seniors (players using their fifth year of eligibility granted because of the COVID pandemic) and seniors returning including running back Jordan Mims, wideouts Jalen Cropper and Ty Jones, defensive end David Perales, linebacker Levelle Bailey and safety Evan Williams.
Tedford and Fresno State have to take their best shot, and they have a history of adding players through the summer and even into fall camp, pushing their scholarships into the next class.
“They’re not done,” Huffman said. “I was talking to a Pac-12 coach last week and we were talking about that very thing. People think the portal is kind of done right now, but we haven’t even hit the second big wave.”
The first big wave came after the season and when the semesters and the quarters ended. The next wave will come after spring practices, and with a number of coaching changes in this year’s cycle including at Pac-12 programs USC, Oregon, Washington and Washington State, there may be a glut of players in search of fresh starts in new programs.
A second wave to come through transfer portal
“I have a feeling that’s going to be a theme across the country,” Huffman said. “I hate calling it free agency because I think everybody is using it as cliche, but there will be schools filling spots from the portal all the way up until June and maybe July.
“There may be spots that a school like Fresno State will say, ‘Hey, we still need one more guy there, or we still need one more difference-maker there,’ and it’s worth going for broke this year.”
Fresno State added FBS transfers in offensive lineman Jacob Isaia from Michigan State and defensive lineman Joshua Pakola from Stanford, as well as offensive lineman Jacob Spomer from Diablo Valley College.
Its 2022 recruiting class already includes linebacker Raymond Scott (USC), wideout Nikko Remigio (Cal) and cornerback Cameron Lockridge (Hawaii), who are participating in spring practices.
“If you look at the guys they’ve got coming in via the portal, they’re West Coast guys and they know what they want. They’re treating this as a business decision,” Huffman said. “Raymond Scott, he played early on at USC, but he played I think for three defensive coordinators, the coach that recruited him wasn’t there, and he’s a good kid.
“Nikko Remigio comes from Mater Dei – won a state, won a national championship. These are kids you want to build your portal class on. This is everything for them. They don’t care about photo shoots and jerseys and all that, they care about getting out there and playing ball.”
This story was originally published April 10, 2022 at 5:00 AM.