Recruiting report: January 3

Right before the New Year, a few big commits were announced by some of the top players in Colorado. Perhaps the biggest one came from the Class of 2022. Palmer Ridge offensive lineman [player_tooltip player_id="22675" first="Connor" last="Jones"], a First Team All-State selection after helping the Bears reach the Class 4A state championship game, announced his plans to join the Michigan Wolverines with a verbal commitment. https://twitter.com/77ConnorJones/status/1342279279334211584 Jones is currently ranked the No. 5 offensive lineman recruit for the Class of 2022 by Prep Redzone Colorado in what is consider a strong position group for the class. He is built like an FBS lineman with a body frame at 6-foot-7 and 285 pounds. As the team’s starting left tackle, he did a good job protecting the blindside for his quarterback in pass protection, and he proved to be a force in the run game moving defensive ends well off the line of scrimmage. A teammate of his also announced plans to play at the next level. Tight end [player_tooltip player_id="22595" first="Cameron" last="Jones"], the No. 6 ranked tight end in the Class of 2021, announced that he will be heading up to Fort Collins to play for the Colorado State Rams earlier this week. https://twitter.com/cam_jones23/status/1344424882004611072 Jones had shared interest from other FBS and FCS schools before announcing his commitment to Colorado State. The 6-foot-3, 215-pound tight end caught 12 passes for 306 yards and scored six touchdowns in the explosive offense, and he was effective from his defensive end spot at well with 26 tackles, five sacks and an interception. He joins a long list of Colorado recruits choosing to play for the Rams in Fort Collins, one that includes his quarterback [player_tooltip player_id="22533" first="Luke" last="McAllister"]. The final FBS commit announced this week came from perhaps the best kicker in the Class of 2021. [player_tooltip player_id="40901" first="Matthew" last="Eich"] of Broomfield had offers across the board from the FBS, FCS and NCAA Division II levels to pick from. In the end, he decided to take a walk-on opportunity with Rice in Texas. https://twitter.com/mattheweich6/status/1342569262691405824 With his strong leg and clutch field goals made over the course of his career, Eich became a top kicker in the state of Colorado. He has shared videos of him making kicks from 50+ yards in practice via social media. <h2><strong>Quarterback commits to Division II program</strong></h2> One big commit for the NCAA Division II level came from Rampart quarterback [player_tooltip player_id="22596" first="Cale" last="Cormaney"], who announced his plans recently to play at Fort Hays State University in Kansas. https://twitter.com/CCormaney/status/1343980648978145281 Cormaney is a three-year starter and compiled 1,587 passing yards and 16 touchdowns through the air over the course of his career. He selected Fort Hays State over Division II schools CSU-Pueblo, Colorado School of Mines and Chadron State. There was some interest from San Diego in the FCS level and from Colorado State and Wyoming in the FBS level as well. <h2><strong>Other offers shared this week</strong></h2> [player_tooltip player_id="58932" first="Nunie" last="Tuitele"], the top defensive lineman prospect for the Class of 2022 per Prep Redzone Colorado has shared an offer to play at Navy, adding to his steadily growing list of FBS schools showing interest. The junior defensive end had 23 tackles, three sacks and an interception in 2020 season. Other schools that have offered him so far include Army, Nevada and Northern Colorado, and other schools showing interest include Colorado and Wyoming. Grandview wide receiver/tight end <strong>Noah Salazar</strong> added a new offer to Concordia University Chicago earlier this week. The senior caught seven passes for 55 yards in the 2020 fall season. Other interested schools include McPherson College, Finlandia University and Oberlin College. A player scheduled to hit the field in the 2021 spring football season is Westminster tight end <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="22633" first="Gilbert" last="Bujanda"] IV</strong>, and he announced this week an offer to play at the University of Jamestown. The offer comes after previous offers to another NAIA school in McPherson College and an NCAA Division III offer to Nebraska Wesleyan. Announcing his first offer to play at the next level was Dakota Ridge kicker <strong>Tilo Pena</strong>. His first offer comes from Independence CC in Kansas, the school that featured for Season 3 of Last Chance U on Netflix. He made 27 of 29 PATs and all four field goal attempts this fall, including one kick from 46 yards. If you receive an offer or make a commitment to play at the next level, regardless of classification, be sure to tag Prep Redzone Colorado on Twitter at @PrepRedzoneCO for our recruiting updates.