Boise State introduces 2011 recruiting class

Chris Petersen announced the 22 member Boise State recruiting class at a press conference this afternoon. His sixth recruiting class includes 18 high school seniors, one junior college transfer and three postgraduates who signed with Boise State last season.

Petersen is as excited about this group of athletes as he's ever been. It is a well rounded group that covers virtually every part of the field. The Broncos were able to keep four Boise-area standouts at home as well as dipping into California, their frequent recruiting hotbed, for 10 others. Petersen's staff also continued their strong Texas recruiting by signing four HS players as well as their lone JC recruit, Dextrell Simmons.

The rest of the northwest was represented by one player each from Oregon, Washington and British Columbia. While not as diverse geographically as some other Bronco classes have been, Boise State was able to address every position on the field and added solid depth to both sides of the line and in the secondary.

For Coach Petersen, recruiting is getting more and more difficult even as the stature of the program rises. It is a long, tenuous process that makes things difficult for the players, their coaches, the families and the Bronco staff as well. Petersen preaches to each of their players to be "1000% committed" before they announce their commitment. In many cases, the player is still recruited by other schools but opts out of visits and keeps their profile lower on the national scene due to their iron-clad word of commitment to the Broncos.

While some fans are skeptical that the Broncos can continue the process of bringing in "2 and 3 star athletes" and maintaining their level of success, Petersen isn't worried.

For us the formula is simple: It's about getting great kids that are good football players, that we can develop, that will fit into our culture. It's really that easy.

Click the links for a brief profile of each recruit.

The offensive recruits for Boise State include quarterback Jimmy Laughrea as well as running back Jay Ajayi. Both were the lone recruits at their positions for Coach Petersen and staff which shows how much they believe in the talents of the pair. Laughrea was the first commit of the cycle for Boise State back in May and he, along with many others, overcome several schools coming at them to try and pull them away from the Broncos.

A pair of wide receivers were also part of the 2011 class including Rocky Mountain HS (Meridian, ID) star Dallas Burroughs, the brother of current Bronco Mitch Burroughs. Troy Ware was a prominent member of the class of 2010 but delayed his enrollment as a grayshirt to work on his strength and speed.

Tight end Hayden Plinke from Hillsboro, OR is a likely grayshirt candidate for this season and the other incoming tight end, Holden Huff, was a grayshirt from the 2010 class. Huff should be very familiar with the quarterback recruit as he was a high school teammate of Laughrea's at Rocklin HS in Rocklin, CA.

The offensive line was given a boost by three versatile players in Rees Odhiambo, a Kenyan native who moved to Texas 10 years ago, Marcus Henry and Adam Sheffield. All three are candidates to play multiple positions on the offensive line for the Broncos.

The defensive line, which is as strong as it has ever been at Boise State, got significant reinforcements as well. Speedy Samuel Ukwuachu from Texas is a slim but quick pass rusher who will need to add some weight to prepare for the grind of college football. A pair of California linemen, Robert Ash and Jeff Worthy, were both highly recruited athletes that turned down interest from multiple Pac-12 schools. Tyler Horn from Meridian is the other projected defensive lineman in the class, the third and final grayshirt holdover from a year ago.

The Broncos inked two linebackers including Blake Renaud from powerhouse De La Salle HS in Concord, CA. Local standout Dillon Lukehart from Eagle, ID is the other linebacker in this class. Lukehart was 1st Team All-State on both sides of the football as he starred as a running back for the Mustangs as well.

The secondary is also being reinforced with six commitments including Dextrell Simmons, a junior college teammate of Heisman winner Cam Newton at Blinn College. Corey Bell from Boise will likely join Simmons as heirs to the nickel back position vacated by Winston Venable. Darian Thompson from Lancaster, CA and signing day addition Lee Hightower from Los Angeles both have the size and speed to play either at safety or cornerback.

The Broncos continued their solid recruiting in Canada by locking down safety prospect Taylor Loffler. Loffler is an under-the-radar recruit who tore his ACL during his senior season but the Bronco coaches did not waiver in their interest. The final member of the defense is Texas cornerback Eric Agbaroji who has tremendous size and speed and was another who may have been overlooked by many of the big programs in the midwest.

Kicking specialist Jake Van Ginkel rounds out the class and he will compete immediately for the placekicking job vacated by Kyle Brotzman. Van Ginkel was also a standout punter in high school and may have the opportunity to do both at Boise State.

The 22 new members of the Bronco family are excited and ready to go. The three grayshirts and Simmons have all enrolled and are ready to participate in spring practices. The possibility exists that the Broncos could add additional members to the class as they are allowed to sign up to 25 recruits in each cycle and it is a near certainty that Plinke will grayshirt. That would open another scholarship for this season as Plinke would count towards next year's class.

While many of the recruits were overlooked by recruiting services, it is clear that the Bronco coaches are happy with the class. It may take a couple of seasons before we really understand how good this group can be but they appear to have a lot of talent and a lot of motivation.

Welcome to Boise State!

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