CHSAANow

Category: Recruiting

  • Arvada West’s Dallas Walton commits to CU basketball

    Dallas Walton, a 7-foot forward from Arvada West, committed to the University of Colorado’s men’s basketball program on Tuesday night.

    Walton announced his commitment on Instagram, saying:

    Truly blessed through this whole process. From the comeback from injuries to the countless hours spent trying to get to this point. Well I have more hours of work to put in because I have committed to continue my academic and basketball career at the University of Colorado….Looks like I’ll be turning it up at CU next year!

    Walton missed his junior season after suffering two ACL injuries on his left knee.

    Now back for his senior season, Walton is averaging 16.6 points, 10.2 rebounds and 2.8 blocks per game. Arvada West is so far 14-7 this season.

    According to his Rivals.com profile, Walton also had offers from Denver, Wyoming, Brown and Middle Tennessee State.

    Walton is CU’s lone in-state signee from the 2016 class, but he follows a recent line of local graduates to head to Tad Boyle’s program. Included: Denver East grad Dominique Collier, Sierra’s Wesley Gordon, Lewis-Palmer’s Josh Scott, and Sterling’s Xavier Talton. Legend graduate Derrick White also transferred to join the Buffs last April.

    In addition, Rock Canyon’s Mitch Lombard, Kent Denver’s Josh Repine and Highland Ranch’s Brett Brady are walk-ons. In total, Colorado products account for half of CU’s 16-man roster this season.

  • Valor Christian’s Dylan McCaffrey commits to Michigan

    (Kai Casey/CHSAANow.com)
    Valor Christian’s Dylan McCaffrey committed to Michigan on Monday. (Kai Casey/CHSAANow.com)

    Dylan McCaffrey, the star quarterback who led Valor Christian to a title last fall, committed to the University of Michigan on Monday evening.

    McCaffrey, a 2017 graduate, announced his decision on Twitter:

    A starter since his sophomore year, McCaffrey has led Valor Christian to the Class 5A state title game each of the past two seasons. In December, he helped the Eagles win 5A with a victory over Pomona.

    McCaffrey, who is listed as 6-foot-4, 185 pounds, threw for exactly 2,800 yards and had 27 touchdowns against just four interceptions as a junior. He also rushed for 592 yards and 13 more scores.

    After the season, he was named the 5A player of the year by CHSAANow.com, and was named a junior All-American by MaxPreps.

    That followed up a sophomore year in which McCaffrey threw for 2,378 yards and 22 touchdowns against six interceptions.

    McCaffrey is a consensus four-star recruit according to each of the major services, and is a top-50 national recruit according to ESPN, Scout and 247Sports. ESPN lists McCaffrey as 2017’s 25th-best recruit.

    He has been offered by at least 15 schools, and drew interest from major programs nationally. Included: LSU, Missouri, Nebraska, Penn State, UCLA and Washington. Colorado and Colorado State were also among his offers.

    Ultimately, McCaffrey picked Michigan, who offered him a scholarship almost exactly one year ago. There, he’ll join former Fairview star Carlo Kemp, a 2016 grad who enrolled early this semester.

    A two-sport athlete, McCaffrey is averaging 10.3 points and 4.3 rebounds for Valor’s second-ranked boys basketball team this season. He has played both varsity football and basketball since his freshman year.

    McCaffrey is the younger brother of Max and Christian, who both starred at Valor. Christian was a Heisman Trophy finalist at Stanford this past season. In November, Dylan McCaffrey wrote that his brothers interest in the game helped draw him to football.

    “I wanted to be like my older brothers,” McCaffrey wrote in a series called “Why I Play” from the Valor Sports Network. “They were the guys that I looked up to.”

    But he also said that a football documentary about the New England Patriots’ run to the Super Bowl in 2001 — when Tom Brady stepped in at quarterback — further provided a spark for him to play. Brady played at Michigan in the late 1990s.

    “After watching this,” McCaffrey wrote, “I got a feel for the joy that this sport brings to a lot of people, and I decided to try and chase this joy myself. I signed up the next football season.”

    McCaffrey’s younger brother, Luke, is a freshman at Valor this year and made the varsity football and boys basketball teams.

    McCaffrey is the second member of the 2017 football class to announce his college plans. Pomona lineman Jake Moretti pledged to Ohio State last July.

    McCaffrey’s junior season highlights are below.

  • Photos: Class of 2016’s National Signing Day around the state

    National Signing Day for the Class of 2016 is here. Photos from the day’s events around the state are below.

    Find Class of 2016 commitments listed here.

    To submit photos from your event, use this form.

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  • Pomona football’s Elijah Leyva commits to Colorado State

    Valor Christian Pomona football
    Elijah Leyva of Pomona. (Lance Wendt/LanceWendt.com)

    Pomona’s Elijah Leyva, who helped lead the Panthers to the Class 5A state title game, announced via Twitter that he will continue his football career with Colorado State University.

    The senior linebacker was a force for the Panthers on defense, totaling 54 tackles and 10 sacks during the 2015 season.

    He also caught four passes for 60 yards and a touchdown on offense.

    The Panthers stumbled a bit out of the gates this season, dropping two of their first three games of the year. But they rebounded nicely and fought their way through the 5A playoffs before falling to Valor Christian in the state title game.

    Leyva is the latest commit for the class of 2016. He will officially sign his letter of intent on national signing day, Feb. 3.

  • Fairview’s Kailash Graham-Bell commits to Penn football

    Chaparral Fairview football
    Kailash Graham-Bell (84) has committed to Penn. (Kai Casey/CHSAANow.com)

    Kailash Graham-Bell, a senior defensive end/tight end at Fairview, committed to Penn’s football program on Tuesday, Knights coach Tom McCartney said.

    Graham-Bell also had interest from Columbia, Yale, Dartmouth and San Diego.

    “He’s had a busy December,” McCartney said, noting that Graham-Bell took visits to Penn, Columbia, Yale and Dartmouth.

    Ultimately, the allure of the Ivy League academics at Penn was what drew Graham-Bell, McCartney said — especially its business school, his intended area of study.

    “He liked all of the schools, but Penn just stood out,” McCartney said.

    Penn is coming off a 7-3 season in which it tied for the Ive League championship. The Quakers play in Division I’s FCS subdivision.

    Graham-Bell, who is listed at 6-foot-6 and 230 pounds, had five sacks, 35 tackles, two forced fumbles, and blocked a field goal last season for the Knights. He also caught four passes for 36 yards on offense.

    Graham-Bell also plays basketball, and averaged 2.6 points and 4.1 rebounds per game last season for Fairview.

    He joins teammate Carlo Kemp in announcing his college football choice. Kemp is headed to Michigan. A complete list of 2016 football commits is here.

    Find Graham-Bell’s senior season highlights below.

  • Overland’s Alijah Halliburton to play football for Wyoming

    Cherry Creek Overland football
    Overland’s Alijah Halliburton (21) committed to the University of Wyoming. (Jack Eberhard/JacksActionShots.com)

    Overland multi-sport athlete Alijah Halliburton announced on Twitter Sunday that he has committed to the University of Wyoming to play football.

    In his senior season with the Trailblazers, Halliburton totaled 125 tackles, including five for a loss and two sacks. He averaged 12.5 tackles per game.

    He also picked off one pass and returned one punt for a touchdown, his sole score of the year.

    Halliburton is also a key contributor on the Overland basketball team. In the team’s season-opening win over George Washington, he scored 19 points while pulling down seven rebounds. In the spring, he competes on the track and field team.

    He is the latest football commit for the Class of 2016.

  • Overland’s De’Ron Davis commits to Indiana for boys basketball

    Overland ThunderRidge boys basketball
    Overland senior De’Ron Davis. (Kai Casey/CHSAANow.com)

    Overland’s De’Ron Davis, the state’s consensus top boys basketball prospect in the 2016 class, committed to Indiana in a ceremony at his school on Thursday afternoon.

    Davis’ announcement was streamed live by 9News.

    “First off, (Indiana coach) Tom Crean, he’s been there for so long. He’s been there since my eighth grade year,” Davis said on the 9News stream. “So I have a real good connection with him.

    “But just when I took my visit, the family atmosphere I’ve seen at Indiana and how they compete everyday in practice, getting each other better. That really stuck out to me, and led to my decision.”

    Overland ThunderRidge boys basketball
    (Kevin Keyser/KeyserImages.com)

    Davis, a forward who is listed at 6-foot-10, 240 pounds, picked Indiana over his other finalist, Mississippi State. He helped lead Overland to the Class 5A boys basketball championship last March. With him back, the Trailblazers are expected to be a favorite to repeat.

    Davis has averaged double digits in scoring all three seasons he’s played for Overland. Last season, he averaged 16.3 points, 11.3 rebounds and 5.1 blocks per game.

    The senior is already fourth on the career list for blocks with 320, and if he stays near his pace from last season — 139 — he will break the record of 409. Davis will also likely climb into the top-10 on the career list for rebounds this season.

    Davis racked up all kinds of offers during his nation-wide recruitment, but it ultimately came down to Indiana and Mississippi State. Also included in his offers were national programs like UCLA, Connecticut and Arizona.

    He was a four-star prospect according to ESPN.com, 247Sports.com, Rivals.com and Scout.com. All four services list him as a top-50 national prospect in the 2016 class.

    Davis plays club basketball for the Colorado Hawks.

    The early signing period for the 2016 class opened on Wednesday. Davis is the latest boys basketball player to announce his college choice.

  • Mountain Vista’s Molly McCabe to commits to South Dakota School of Mines for girls basketball

    ThunderRidge Mountain Vista girls basketball
    (Matt Mathewes/MVPSportsPics.com)

    Mountain Vista’s Molly McCabe announced her commitment to play basketball at the South Dakota School of Mines Tuesday night.

    Mountain Vista’s athletic department confirmed the commitment to CHSAANow.com via email.

    McCabe was a key contributor to a Golden Eagles offense that helped the team reach the Sweet 16 of the 2015 Class 5A state tournament.

    She averaged 14.2 points per game and 8.3 rebounds per game during the 2014-15 season. Hardrockers coach Ryan Larsen was drawn to McCabe in part because she was a multi-sport athlete who has spent time in the Mountain Vista volleyball and soccer programs.

    Because the Hardrockers play in the RMAC, she will have the chance to travel back to Colorado and play in front of her friends and family.

    Her commitment has been updated to the 2016 class of the CHSAANow.com recruiting database.

  • Legacy’s Matt Lynch one of state’s top quarterbacks as a senior

    Legacy Horizon football
    Legacy quarterback Matt Lynch (5). (Pam Wagner/CHSAANow.com)

    [dropcap]S[/dropcap]tanding at a solid 6-foot-5 and weighing in at 200 pounds, Matt Lynch, the senior star quarterback for the Legacy, has been very impressive so far this season.

    Through six games, he’s led the Lightning to a 4-2 start behind 1,054 passing yards and 17 total touchdowns.

    Three times this season, Lynch, a UCLA commit, has thrown for more than 220 yards. In a win over Rocky Mountain, he showed his versatility, accounting for 225 yards of total offense, including 103 on the ground, and three total scores.

    It’s that type of production — not to mention a junior season of 1,982 yards of total offense and 22 total touchdowns — that caught the eye of colleges. He’s a four-star prospect according to ESPN.com, and Rivals.com, Scout.com and 247Sports.com all list him as a three-star recruit.

    (Ariana Freeman/CHSAANow.com)
    Matt Lynch. (Ariana Freeman/CHSAANow.com)

    Lynch committed to Colorado State prior to his junior season, but decommitted after a coaching change. He pledged to UCLA this past May, and actually just took his official visit there earlier this month.

    And while those numbers are eye-popping, Lynch knows he has things to work on in preparation for the next level — including working on his deep ball and reading his receivers better.

    Still, he’s focused on his senior year.

    “Right now, I’m all Legacy High School,” he said. “Once I’m done with high school, college will come, graduating early. It’s coming fast; I’m just trying to soak it all in.”

    Wayne Voorhees, Legacy’s coach, said he’s seen growth in his quarterback this season.

    “He’s really starting to come into his game,” Voorhees said. “He’s making the checks when we need him to, and if any pass protection breaks down he’s still able to get the pass off and throw underneath.”

    Following a 34-15 win over Poudre last Friday, Legacy has now won two games in a row. Its two losses have come by a combined four points.

    There remains work to be done. For instance, Legacy led 27-0 at halftime last Friday, but allowed Poudre to make a game of it.

    “We need to work on playing all four quarters and converting on our drives,” Lynch said.

    “We need to work on playing for a full 48 minutes, not allowing teams to catch back up getting back in to the game,” Voorhees added. “I think we took a big step forward (against Poudre) but we have to keep that going to get ready for Fossil Ridge.”

    For Legacy, and Lynch, three crucial games remain: Friday at Fossil Ridge, Oct. 23 at home against Monarch, and then a date at Fairview to close the regular season.

    After that, it’s the playoffs — and a chance at a defining senior season for Lynch.

    (Pam Wagner)
    (Pam Wagner)

  • Sand Creek’s Liah Davis commits to Colorado State women’s basketball

    Valor Christian Sand Creek girls basketball
    Sand Creek’s Liah Davis (34). (Kai Casey/CHSAANow.com)

    Liah Davis, one of the top girls basketball players in the 2016 class in Colorado, has committed to Colorado State.

    Davis’ pledge was reported by her club team, Colorado Premier, on Instagram.

    https://instagram.com/p/80WPxtNvQ5/

    Davis had initially committed to New Mexico this past summer, but decomitted in late September.

    She averaged 15.6 points, 11.5 rebounds and 2.8 blocks per game last season. Included were six scoring outputs of 20 or more points. She scored in double figures in all but two of the 27 games she played in, and recorded 17 double-doubles.

    Davis helped Sand Creek reach the Class 4A title game last season. She was named second-team all-state in 4A.

    On Tuesday, Davis’ Sand Creek teammate, Oliana Squires, committed to Montana State. Find more 2016 girls basketball commitments in our database.