Todd Graham and the Sun Devils are tight on scholarships at this point in the recruiting cycle, so Arizona State was happy to receive word that local linebacker recruit Santana Sterling has verbally committed as a grayshirt for the 2014 season.
Sterling, a 2-star recruit according to Rivals.com, announced his commitment on Twitter on Wednesday and he becomes just the third commitment (Quinn Bailey, Tyler Whiley) the Sun Devils' have received for the class of 2014 to hail from the state of Arizona.
Thanks to everyone who has been there to support me. I would like to announce that I'm committed to ARIZONA STATE UNIVERSITY! #ForksUp 😈
— FRENCH SANTANA (@SantanaTheGOAT) January 8, 2014
The 6-foot-2, 225-pound inside linebacker attends Hamilton High School in Chandler, Ariz. and was teammates with 4-star Arizona State offensive line target Casey Tucker. Tucker has narrowed his choices to Stanford and Arizona State and will visit both schools soon.
The Sun Devils offered Sterling in October of 2013 as a grayshirt which means that Sterling will not be on scholarship for the 2014 season. Sterling will have an opportunity to practice with the team next year and he will have an athletic scholarship moving forward in the program after that.
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Highly touted JUCO wide receiver Eric Lauderdale has narrowed his college choices to just four schools and Arizona State made the list. Lauderdale is the 18th best junior college recruit according to Rivals.com and the top uncommitted wide receiver.
Lauderdale will choose between Arizona State, Oregon, Florida and Nebraska and he tweeted on Thursday that he will make his decision after he visits Oregon on Jan. 24.
After my Oregon visit I'm committing.
— Eric Lauderdale (@e_lauderdale) January 9, 2014
The 6-foot-2, 200-pound receiver runs a 4.45 in the 40-yard dash according to Rivals and he has already made official visits to both Nebraska and Florida. Arizona State will have a final chance to impress Lauderdale on Jan. 17 which comes a week before he travels up to Eugene.
If Lauderdale does commit to Arizona State, he would serve as an excellent compliment to Jaelen Strong who also transferred in from junior college in Southern California. Strong attended Pierce Community College while Lauderdale played at Saddleback Community College in Mission Viejo.
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Just one week after becoming the first 5-star recruit to commit to a Pac-12 school for the class of 2014, cornerback Jalen Tabor de-committed from the University of Arizona.
I can confirm that Jalen Tabor is enrolling at #Florida now instead of #Arizona
— Andrew Spivey (@AndrewSpiveyGC) January 9, 2014
Tabor announced his commitment at the Under Armour All-American game last week and chose Arizona over Alabama. His commitment came as a bit of a surprise, but it vaulted the Wildcats up the recruiting rankings and pushed Arizona ahead of Arizona State.
With Tabor's de-commitment, the Wildcats dropped back below the 18th ranked Sun Devils in Rivals.com recruiting rankings.
Jalen Tabor's decommit from UofA drops them in Rivals' class rankings from 16th to 21st. #ASU holds steady at 18th overall
— Brad Denny (@BDenny29) January 9, 2014
Even with a 5-star in its class, Arizona was still ranked below Arizona State in Scout.com's team recruiting rankings. After Tabor's de-commitment, the Sun Devils remain 12th and the Wildcats now sit 15th.