JUNE WEST COAST WINNERS DURING THE 2016 SATELLITE CAMP SEASON

Oregon ended June on a high note by getting Los Angeles-Salesian ATH Deommodore Lenior (playing cornerback) to verbally commit to the Ducks (photo by Lorenzo Reyna). 

The month of June has come to an end, which also means NCAA Football satellite camp season is coming to a close.

While there are some college coaches who have openly scoffed at the idea of June satellite camps, five Pac-12 universities made good use of this time of year, by managing to get some big name prospects from California to verbally commit early.

The committed prospect still has to sign, seal and deliver his name via fax machine to his university of his choice come Feb. 2017, but these names definitely bolstered their teams’ morale and recruiting rankings before July.

Time to sort out the schools that had a productive June camp season.

OREGON

The Ducks scored three major verbal commitments to close out the month, landing Los Angeles-Salesian athlete Deommodore Lenoir, Lancaster-Antelope Valley tight end Moses Robinson-Carr and San Diego-Madison linebacker Sampson Niu, boosting Oregon’s 2017 commitment total to eight.  

Lenior – who turned down offers from Alabama, LSU, Oklahoma, USC and UCLA for the Ducks – is considered the top addition at Eugene considering his versatility. He’s known to be a ball-hawking safety, a physical, speedy shutdown cornerback, a man coverage annihilator at wide receiver and a kick return ace for Salesian. Robinson-Carr brings size (6-foot-5, 255-pounds), smooth routes, hands and a punishing running ability on offense. Niu is a cat-quick gap shooter whose speed should fit nicely with the Ducks’ defense.

OREGON STATE

The Beavers have been trying to bolster their receiving core during this recruiting period and from June 21-22, Oregon State landed Kaleb Hayes (San Bernardino-San Gorgino) and Arex Flemings (Los Angeles Cathedral). Both are undersized at below 6-feet tall, with Flemings the smallest at 5-foot-6, but they provide enough speed and elusiveness to shine as a potential slot wideout for Oregon State – the same spot that turned Brandin Cooks into a first round draft pick with the New Orleans Saints recently.

Oh, Flemings’ highly-coveted teammate Jamire Calvin (33 reported offers) recently announced that Oregon State cracked his top eight.

COLORADO

The Buffaloes received three verbal agreements from these Cali prospects: receiver Maurice Bell (Murrieta Valley), outside linebacker Chase Newman (La Mirada) and the big one, quarterback Tyler Lytle (Anaheim-Servite).  

Bell had Michigan, Nebraska and Iowa offering him before choosing the Buffs. He’s known in “The MV” for his speed and deadly return game. Newman doubles as destructive run stuffer and reliable ball hawk at linebacker. The 6-foot-5, 205-pound Lytle was a highly-rated pro style quarterback by different scouting outlets and had programs like Cal, Washington State and Miami chasing after him before deciding on Colorado’s offer on June 21.

USC

The Trojans improved their trenches by landing not one powerful and athletic offensive lineman (Brett Neilon of Santa Margarita Catholic), but adding another in a 6-foot-6 tower at tackle (Andrew Vorhees of Kingsburg). Neilon is a drive block specialist in the O.C, while Vorhees specializes in picking up outside blitzes against the Fresno County competition.

Lastly, USC ended June by acquiring more size on the line, but this time at tight end (6-foot-5 Erik Krommenhoek of Danville-Monte Vista), who provides the muscle with blocking and beating linebackers for the ball inside the red zone. Some of the other teams that offered the trio include Arkansas, Auburn, Arizona, Oregon and UCLA.

ARIZONA

The Wildcats have been on a rampage this recruiting season with 19 hard commits already for the 2017 cycle, including five to close out the June recruiting period.

Arizona recently added Charter Oak-West Covina wide receiver Brian Casteel, La Mesa-Helix safety Scott Young, Long Beach Poly inside linebacker Josh Brown, Santa Ana-Mater Dei safety Xavier Bell and tall 6-foot-5 Mission Hills-Alemany wideout Warren Jackson this month. Casteel and Jackson are known for dominating against man coverage. Young and Bell provide more speed and depth to Arizona’s exotic 3-3-5 look. Brown provides hard-hitting angle pursuits and gives the “Desert Swarm” defense an extra takeaway ace.