San Diego State's historic 2021 football season, along with a new stadium opening up next year, helped them lay the foundation for another solid recruiting class. The Aztecs locked up 14 players during the early signing period, all of them currently in high school.
That's an interesting note because while SDSU was building its program over the last several years they would bring in several Community College transfers. The Aztecs may now be at the point where there's enough talent in the system that they can take the time to develop players over the long term.
It's no secret that San Diego is a fertile recruiting ground and Brady Hoke's staff landed several local products. The one that might make the most immediate impact is Lucky Sutton, a running back from Cathedral Catholic HS. Sutton led all of California with 2,628 rushing yards and finished 2nd in the state with 40 total touchdowns.
Sutton was at his best against the toughest competition. In the state semi-final and championship games he ran for an absurd 683 yards and scored eight touchdowns. Yes, he did that in just two playoff games!
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One of Sutton's blockers is coming to SDSU with him. 6'5", 305-pound CCHS offensive lineman Rambo Mageo also committed to the Aztecs. The third San Diego County product staying in town is not a surprise. Eastlake HS linebacker Trey White verbally committed in October. He had offers to several Mountain West Conference schools, a Pac-12 school in Arizona, and a couple of FCS schools with decent academic credentials in Columbia and Pennsylvania.
Several players in this class were courted by the Ivy League. Logan Tanner, a tight end from St. Pius X in Houston, TX, had offers from Harvard and Yale and Jacoby Kelly, a wide receiver from Loyola HS in Compton, CA, also had an offer from Yale.
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Perhaps the most impressive recruit in the early class is offensive lineman Laakea Kapoi. The 6'4", 305-pounder from Saint Louis School in Makakilo, HI, had offers from 19 schools, including most of the Mountain West, half of the Pac-12, and the #2 team in the country, the Michigan Wolverines.
Here's the whole list of 14 players to sign with the Aztecs so far:
Players can continue to solidify their commitments into February so there should be more players headed to Montezuma Mesa.
