National Signing Day: Griz are “full”; Cats also land big class
The Montana Grizzlies officially added 19 future players on National Signing Day Wednesday, and the Montana State Bobcats added 20, and where they all fit in may not be clear for a while.
Montana coach and avid fisherman Bobby Hauck made it pretty clear Wednesday in an online press conference: The Griz have caught their limit.
“We’re full,” he said at one point, after speaking on how recruiting changed this year with COVID-19: no recruiting trips for he and his coaches, no on-campus visits for recruits.
“And with the NCAA giving every player on our roster a pause in eligibility, there weren’t a ton of opportunities to recruit kids,” Hauck said. “Our freshman class next year will be double-sized, because our current freshmen are freshmen next year as well.”
Montana signed 15 in-state players, including five from State AA champion Sentinel and one from Big Sky. By contrast MSU brought in nine in-state recruits, though Bobcats’ coach Rob Choate spoke glowingly of B.J. Robertson’s job bringing in Montana players.
“Let’s be honest,” Choate said Wednesday. “Dains and Gianforte are doggone lucky that BJ Robertson didn’t decide to jump into the political arena because one of them wouldn’t be in office right now.”
Four players from Billings and Eli Aby of State A champion Laurel signed with the Cats. Each Big Sky Conference power landed two kids from Bozeman (the recruiting lists can be found in Scoreboard).
“Fifteen out of 19 being from the state of Montana really fires me up,” Hauck said. “I think it speaks well for the coaching in this state but I also think it speaks to our commitment to Montana high school kids.”
The Grizzlies picked up their third-ever recruit from Red Lodge and first since 1964 in defensive lineman Corby Mann; meanwhile the Bobcats signed Mann’s Red Lodge teammate, tight end Elijah Reynolds.
Montana also signed a six-man player from Savage, in Sloan McPherson, and Hauck spoke highly of Havre recruit Kellen Detrick, who drew attention from Washington State and Nevada.
“A guy like Kellen, we hope he gets the same accolades as our last guy from Havre (Marc Mariani),” Hauck said. “That’d be a hell of a deal.”
Among the out-of-state signees is quarterback Daniel Britt out of Las Vegas.
Football Championship Subdivision schools have 63 full-ride scholarships that can be split, though no more than 85 players can receive athletic grants in aid. It makes for a tight squeeze.
“It’s too many,” Hauck admitted. “You can’t have 40 in one class and the next year have five. It’s not good for a program.”
There is a precedent for a big signing class: Larry Donovan brought in 42 players before his last season, in 1985. Half of those played key roles while incoming coach Don Read built a winner. But Read had to balance out the next few classes, which is the task the next 2-3 years for Hauck.
No Flathead Valley players were signed by either the Bobcats or Griz, though quite a few athletes are headed to Montana-Western of the NAIA Frontier Conference, including Glacier’s Rocco Beccari.
Browning’s Chucky Braverock also signed with the Bulldogs, along with two players from Libby - linebackers Ryker McElmurry and David Patterson - and one from Polson, lineman Trevor Lake.
Rocky Mountain College signed Polson cornerback J.C. Steele.
Bigfork’s Cormac Benn committed to Carroll College, but the Saints have yet to release their list of signees.