Feb. 1, 2006

2006 Football Signing Day | Signing Day Press Conference Quotes

SAN DIEGO - San Diego State head football coach Chuck Long announced the signing Wednesday of 18 student-athletes - 15 high school seniors and three community college transfers - to National Letters of Intent.

Of the 18 players, 11 are on the defensive side of the ball, 10 play on either the offensive or defensive line and 12 call California home. Six of the 15 prep players are ranked among the nation's top 150 players at their position.

"I am very pleased with the incoming class at San Diego State," said Long, who was named the Aztecs' head coach on Dec. 17. "Our coaches have done a great job of putting together an excellent class. We feel like we have addressed all of our needs at every position. Our highest priority was at offensive and defense line and we feel like we have accomplished that."

San Diego State addressed some needs on the line by signing seven players slated to play on the defensive line (includes defensive ends) and three players projected to play on the offensive line. All three junior college players the Aztecs signed in Long's first recruiting class will play on the line (two offensive linemen, one defensive lineman).

On the defensive line, the Aztecs inked five prep players and a community college transfer. San Diego native Brian Stanbra (Univ. of San Diego High/Grossmont College) joins prep athletes Ryan Chohany (San Diego, Calif./Rancho Bernardo High), Eric Ikonne (Dallas, Texas/Newman Smith High), Ernie Lawson (Vallejo, Calif./St. Patrick-St. Vincent High), Jacob Manuel (Camarillo, Calif./Rio Mesa High) and B.J. Williams (Aurora, Colo./Eaglecrest High) as defensive line signees.

On the offensive line, SDSU signed two junior college transfers - Dan Hathaway (San Diego, Calif./Grossmont High/Grossmont College) and Peter Manuma (Long Beach, Calif./Poly High/Long Beach City College). They are joined by prep signee Whitley Fehoko (Honolulu, Hawaii/Farrington High). Jimmie Carmack (Palos Verdes Estates, Calif./Palos Verdes High) played on both sides of the ball in high school and could play either offense or defense for the Aztecs.

San Diego State signed two linebackers in Andrew Preston (Centennial, Colo./Arapahoe High) and Marcus Yarbrough (San Diego, Calif./Eastlake High) and added three defensive backs - Martrell Fantroy (Las Vegas, Nev./Bishop Gorman High), Raymond Patterson (San Diego, Calif./Crawford High) and Rico Thomas (Oakland, Calif./McClymonds High). Patterson also is listed at the wide receiver position.

The Aztecs inked three skill players in the 2006 class - quarterback Kelsey Sokoloski (Englewood, Colo./Cherry Creek High) and running backs Davon Brown (Torrance, Calif./Torrance South High) and Brandon Sullivan (Poway, Calif./Poway High).

The state of California is well represented among the incoming class with a dozen players coming from the Golden State. Other states represented in the class are Colorado, Hawaii, Nevada and Texas.

"We are excited about the prospects we have locally and we know they are excited as well," Long said. "Our first priority is to recruit San Diego County and we want to do that well. We started there and want to make sure we keep local prospects here and will continue to do that. From there, we will branch out to the rest of California and some neighboring states, including Hawaii."