Andersen Announces 2012 Utah State Football Signing Class

Utah State [University] football head coach Gary Andersen announced the 15-member 2012 Aggie football signing class Wednesday [Feb 1], the first day of the signing period for football players.

This is Andersen's fourth Aggie signing class as head coach of the USU program. Andersen announced the 2012 signing class at a press conference Wednesday afternoon as well as unveiling the class to the public at a sold-out Big Blue Scholarship Fund Signing Day Reception Wednesday night at the Spetman Auditorium at the Jim and Carol Laub Athletics-Academics Complex.

"We would like to welcome the 15 young men that signed with us today to our family, it is great to have them with us," Andersen said. "It was a great day overall, I think that the cycle went well for us overall in bringing quality young men into the program. We still have four more to go, so this recruiting class is not done, we have two more on offense and two more on defense."

Of the 15 players in the signing class announced by Andersen, five are juniors, one is a sophomore and nine are freshmen. There are eight states represented by the signees' hometowns, led by Utah with four, with two each from California, Florida and Georgia, as well as one each from Arizona, Texas, Wisconsin and Washington, D.C.

"We have developed ourselves as a program where we ask our young men when they are on trips to understand who we are and enjoy their experience and their time in Logan, but also it is a job interview for those kids,” Andersen said. “The thing that is most impressive for these 15 that we actually got and signed today is how prepared and how excited they were to wrap their arms around Cache Valley, Utah State University and what Logan as a city is truly about. I think our coaches did a tremendous job of prepping them and again understanding that this is who we are, this is what we are about and you need to be prepared to be very happy that you are in this environment. You are very lucky to be in this environment and those 15 kids were unbelievably excited about the opportunities that they had to move forward in life socially, academically and athletically and they knew that this atmosphere was best for them."

Of the 15 signees, 11 are on the offensive side of the football, including five offensive linemen and four wide receivers, along with one running back and one quarterback. Four of the 15 are defensive players with two cornerbacks, one linebacker and one safety/linebacker.

In addition to the 15 players who either signed at mid-year or on Wednesday, Andersen also announced that three players will be returning from LDS church missions, including defensive lineman Eric Berntson, quarterback Jeff Manning and linebacker Travis Parrish who return to the Aggies' squad and will be in action during spring drills.

"It is great to have the three missionaries back, Eric (Berntson) has come back and done a nice job,” Andersen said. “He is in the weight room working hard for us. Jeff (Manning) is back in the weight room doing a nice job, working hard for us and Travis Parrish is the third young man that has come back and done a tremendous job. It is great to have those three Utah return missionaries back in our program. We are excited about those young men."

The Aggies' head coach also announced that five former walk-ons have been awarded scholarships, including safety McKade Brady, linebacker Jefferson Court, defensive lineman B.J. Larsen, tight end Brad Theurer and linebacker Zach Vigil.

"Five of the former walk-on young men have earned scholarships for us, they are important to this program and Utah kids are very important,” Andersen said. “We are 50-plus kids in the program from the state of Utah and the five men, McKade Brady, Jefferson Court, B.J. Larsen, Brad Theurer and Zach Vigil are all young men who came in here as walk-ons and are now our scholarship players. Congratulations to them and their families, they have worked very hard and they deserve it and they deserve to be recognized for that."

Utah State posted a historic season with a 7-6 record, its first seven-win season since 1993, capping its season with the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl, losing to Ohio in a 24-23 thriller. Five of USU's losses were by one score or less, and 10 of the Aggies' games were decided by one score this season which are the most in the nation.

Fans are invited to join Utah State football at its end of the season banquet Friday, Feb. 17, at 5 p.m. at the Riverwoods Conference Center at Spring Hill Suites in Logan. Cost of the event is $27.50 per person.

The night starts at 5 p.m. with a reception, followed by dinner at 5:30 p.m. Head coach Gary Andersen will address the audience, show some season highlights and present team awards.

Anyone interested in attending the banquet should contact Mark Andersen in the USU Football office at (435) 797-1870 or register online.

*Note, pre-registration is required, walk-ups will not be accepted on the night of the banquet.

Utah State football season ticket renewals and new sales for the 2012 season are available at 2011's prices until May 1. Renewals are available online 24 hours a day at www.UtahStateAggies.com and clicking on the "buy/renew tickets" under the "tickets" drop down menu. Fans interested in new sales should contact the USU Ticket Office at the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum or by phone by calling 1-888-USTATE-1 or (435) 797-0305.

Fans can follow the Aggie football program at Twitter or on the USU football blog. Aggie fans can also follow the Utah State athletic program at Twitter or on Facebook at Utah State University Athletics.

2012 Aggie Football Signing Day Central

Name	Pos.	Ht.	Wt.	Class	Exp	Hometown (Last School)
Andrew Chen	OT	6-3	245	FR	HS	West Hills, Calif. (Chaminade College Prep)
Tavarreon Dickerson	RB	5-9	170	FR	HS	Arlington, Texas (Arlington HS)
Marquan Ellison	CB	5-11	170	FR	HS	Milwaukee, Wisc. (Bradley Tech HS)
Devonta Glover-Wright	CB	6-0	170	JR	TR	Mableton, Ga. (Campbell HS/Eastern Arizona CC)
Delroy Hamilton	LB	6-1	210	FR	HS	Hallandale Beach, Fla. (Hallandale HS)
Jordon Jenkins	WR	5-11	200	JR	TR	St. Louis, Mo. (Vashon HS/Coffeyville CC)
Dwayne Lorick	WR	6-5	230	JR	TR	Washington, D.C. (Anacostia HS/West Hills College Coalinga JC)
Logan Malohifo'ou	OL	6-6	245	FR	HS	West Jordan, Utah (Copper Hills HS)
Bruce "Jojo" Natson	WR	5-7	145	FR	HS	Oakland Park, Fla. (Boyd Anderson HS)
DJ Nelson	QB	5-9	180	FR	HS	Logan, Utah (Logan HS)
Jake Simonich	OL	6-5	255	FR	HS	Danville, Calif. (San Roman Valley HS)
Bill Vavau	OL	6-4	330	JR	TR	Salt Lake City, Utah (Jordan HS/Snow College)
Nick Vigil	S/LB	6-2	200	FR	HS	Plain City, Utah (Fremont HS)
Patrick Ward	OT	6-4	270	JR	TR	Phoenix, Ariz. (South Mountain HS/Glendale CC)
Alex Wheat, Jr.	WR	6-5	210	SO	TR	Alpharetta, Ga. (Alpharetta HS/Palomar JC)

Returning LDS Missionaries

Name	Pos.	Ht.	Wt.	Class	Exp	Hometown (Last School)
Eric Berntson	DL	6-6	230	FR	HS	Smithfield, Utah (Sky View HS)
Jeff Manning	QB	6-5	180	FR	HS	Logan, Utah (Logan HS)
Travis Parrish	LB	6-3	195	FR	HS	Bountiful, Utah (Bountiful HS)

Former Walk-Ons Now On Scholarship

Name	Pos.	Ht.	Wt.	Class	Exp	Hometown (Last School)
McKade Brady	S	5-11	183	SR	2L	Cove, Utah (Sky View HS/BYU)
Jefferson Court	LB	6-2	220	SO	SQ	Alta, Utah (Alta HS/BYU)
B.J. Larsen	DL	6-5	265	SO	1L	Logan, Utah (Logan HS)
Brad Theurer	TE	6-3	233	JR	2L	Logan, Utah (Logan HS)
Zach Vigil	LB	6-2	222	JR	1L	Clearfield, Utah (Clearfield HS)