Ron Snyder, The Examiner
2008-02-07 08:00:00.0
Current rank: Not ranked

BALTIMORE -

Navy doesn’t recruit football players. It evaluates them.

That’s the philosophy Navy coach Ken Niumatalolo said his program takes when trying to convince football players to take a chance by coming to Annapolis. The first-year coach expects to have about 60 commitments from players as far away as Honolulu and as close as Pasadena by the time plebe summer begins in June.

Unlike other schools, Navy does not receive national letters of intent from its football recruits since the school does not give scholarships, and the service academy does not release an official list of freshmen players until they enroll in spring. The Baltimore Examiner, however, has confirmed at least 29 have committed to Navy, including five from Maryland.

“We’re excited about the kids we’re getting,” said Niumatalolo, who took over as head coach for the Georgia Tech-bound Paul Johnson in December. “We’ve got some guys who we think can help us now and others who we project will be contributors in the near future.”

Niumatalolo said, much like Johnson before him, he is looking for players with speed and the versatility needed to play several positions. It’s the same approach Johnson used to build a program that has gone to a bowl game and won the Commander-in-Chief’s Trophy in each of the past five seasons. Navy finished 8-5 after losing in the Poinsettia Bowl in December.

Navy’s class, however, is not highly regarded by national recruiting analysts, as the Midshipmen’s incoming class was ranked 105th by Scout.com and 113th by Rivals out of 135 schools.

“A lot of the guys we look at are late bloomers,” Niumatalolo said. “Many schools may think they are an inch too short or a pound too light to play Division I football. But, we see players who have the chance to succeed if put in the right position.”

Among those Navy recruits from Maryland is Evan Campbell, a 6-5, 235-pound lineman from Chesapeake High in Anne Arundel County. The other known Baltimore-area recruit is River Hill linebacker Jonathan Hill. The 6-foot-1, 230-pound Clarksville resident had 80 tackles and four sacks for the 2A state champion Hawks.

River Hill coach Brian Van Deusen said he expects Hill to make a smooth transition to the regimented military life as a Midshipman, who each will have to serve in the Navy for five years upon graduation. Hill is expected to be among about 20 recruits who enroll at Navy this fall; the rest will arrive in Annapolis if they successfully complete a year at the Naval Academy Preparatory school in Newport, R.I.

“Jon is a perfect example of what a student-athlete is supposed to be,” Van Deusen said. “He is a hard worker with the leadership skills and dedication necessary to be successful at the Naval Academy.”

Name, Pos, City, Height, Weight

Bruce Andrews, WR, Kailua, Hawaii,6-0, 190

Hal Bowron, WR, Birmingham, Ala., 6-1, 192

Jarren Brown, SB, Upper Marlboro, Md., 5-8, 188

Syril Gaines, QB, Midlothian, Va., 6-2, 215

Chris Hill, SB, Lansing, Kan., 5-9, 195

Ricky Kyles, DB, Bristow, Va., 6-2, 180

Gordon Law, QB, Berwick, Pa., 6-0, 180

Kriss Proctor, QB, Big Bear, Calif., 6-1, 160

Jarred Shannon, DB, Gainesville, Fla., 6-1, 195

Cooper Shockley, SB, Westlake Village,

Calif., 5-10, 180

Kameron Smith, QB, Garner, N.C., 6-0, 175

Eric Stein, LB, Carpinteria, Calif., 6-1, 210

David Sumrall, OL, Murfreesboro, Tenn., 6-5, 240

Jon Teague, K/P, Hickory, N.C., 6-2, 180

Jabaree Tuani-McKissack, DL, Madison, Tenn., 6-0, 220

Evan Campbell, OL, Pasadena, Md. 6-5, 235

Jonathan Hill, LB, Clarksville, Md., 6-1, 230

Ashby Christian, SB, Bowie, Md 5-10, 210

Kevin Eckel, FB, Haverford, Pa., 6-1, 199

Demetrous Garrett, SB, Nashville, Tenn., 5-7, 165

Terna Ityokumbul, FB, Boalsburg, Pa., 6-0, 225

Mookie Lewis, DB, Conroe, Texas, 5-10, 168

Adrian Marcus, SB, Maylene, Ala., 5-10, 202

De’Von Richardson, DB, Bowie, Md. 6-0, 190

Matthew Shibata, WR, 6-0, 185, Honolulu, Hawaii

Steve Spada, OL, Riverdale, N.J., 6-3, 260

Collin Sturdivant, DL, High Point, N.C., 6-3, 235

Brandon Turner, WR, Renton, Wash., 6-3, 185

David Zapata, SB, Cameron, N.Y., 5-7, 170

*This list was compiled by the Examiner and various Internet recruiting services. This is not a complete list of Navy football recruits.