Wednesday, May. 14, 2008

Steve Cameron: Hill says, 'We're always recruiting Merced'

FRESNO -- Let's get right to the squabble.

Is there some sort of problem between Merced High and Fresno State?

If not, then why aren't the Bulldogs recruiting any Merced football players -- particularly those three seniors-to-be who are getting scholarship offers from all over the country?

The athletes are Bernard Bolden, Nathan Mayfield and Kenny Cooper. Full-ride deals for one or more have come from Cal, Arizona, Washington State, Arizona, San Diego State, Colorado and Nebraska.

Colorado, Washington State and Arizona have made offers to the full trio.

Without running down the complete list here, it's enough to say that Bolden has offers from seven schools, Mayfield five and Cooper four.

And that none of the offers -- to anyone -- has come from Fresno State.

So what's up?

Well, Pat Hill will tell you -- quite forcefully, in fact -- that nothing's amiss at all, and in fact, he and his staff intend to check out Merced players as they always do, and then...

Vigorously recruit whatever Merced athletes they believe would help the Fresno State program.

Assistant coach Jeff Grady will be on the Merced campus sometime in the next couple of weeks, using up the one day allowed for coaches to visit during the spring.

NCAA rules prohibit Hill from speaking about any possible recruits by name, but a source close to the Fresno State program said that Grady will be looking hard at Bolden and Mayfield most of all -- and then Cooper along with Stephon Mathis.

You surely don't need a reminder that Mathis' older brother, Wendell, was a star running back for the Dogs and then moved on to the NFL.

"Pat is looking to recruit a couple of cornerbacks, and a fast outside linebacker in this class," the source said. "He's seen plenty of Bolden and Mayfield and likes them both -- a lot."

INTERESTINGLY, Bolden, Mayfield and Mathis currently are planning to attend Fresno State's skills camp June 7-8.

And that news brought back a remarkable prediction -- namely, that one or maybe two of the Merced players could be offered scholarships right at the camp.

Again, Hill isn't allowed to be specific, but he did say that he's made offers at previous camps.

"It's a great way to meet the young men, to get to know them and get a feel for the type of people they are -- which is how I recruit," Hill said. "You can't just look at a bunch of tapes from junior seasons and throw around a bunch of offers without knowing the people.

"But when you get that opportunity, as you do at the camp, then sometimes you can match the talent you've seen on tape -- and on the field -- with the person you meet.

"That can clinch it right there, because you know you've got the kind of person you want, a guy who will go all the way for you in your program."

Speaking of programs, let's get back to Merced -- and the feeling that players have been overlooked.

"We heard earlier that Fresno State was going to have a coach come by, but then it was cancelled," said coach Rob Scheidt -- who finds himself in the middle of some strange rumors in this relationship.

"It's kind of odd, because they're so close to us and yet it feels like they don't pay much attention. Sometimes they don't return calls, and yet I'd like to think I still have a decent relationship with coach Hill.

"The simple truth, though, is that we've had quite a few decent athletes over the past few years and Fresno State hasn't seriously recruited any of them."

EVEN WENDELL Mathis wasn't offered a scholarship out of high school, at least not by the Dogs.

"UCLA was the only place," Scheidt said. "It was strange because Pat Hill spent almost an entire game we attended telling me that Wendell should attend Fresno State -- and then they didn't offer him.

"He only got to Fresno as a transfer when it didn't work out at UCLA."

Last year, Fresno State remained on the sidelines as several big schools battled it out for receiver Jarrett Sparks.

And so far this year, Hill and his staff have been quiet as all these offers have been tossed at three Merced players.

In the interest of full disclosure, there is a rumor about why all this is happening.

The short version is that Hill, a stubborn guy by his own admission, has fallen out with Cal coach Jeff Tedford -- former Fresno State player and Hill assistant.

SCHEIDT LAUGHED hearing that story and suggested that some parts probably were true.

From there, you see Scheidt become close to Tedford, taking his team to Cal's camp every summer and even adopting a chunk of the Cal offense.

So the story around town is that Scheidt has become persona non grata with Hill -- because of his close association with Tedford.

See, that tale comes with the added suspicion that perhaps Scheidt is pushing his most talented players towards Cal.

And if you follow those bread crumbs, Hill theoretically would be showing his displeasure by ignoring possible Merced recruits.

That's what you hear on the street and at the games.

"I know there maybe have been some issues between coach Tedford and coach Hill," Scheidt said, "but I certainly hope I'm not part of it.

"We try to get information and tapes out on our kids to all the schools that are interested -- including Fresno State. Personally, I hope they'll come and visit our players."

HILL CLAIMS that they have, and they will.

Oh, and that the entire story about a problem with Tedford or Scheidt is utter bunk.

"First of all, we've always recruited Merced High and all the schools around there," Hill said. "Until this year, when they changed the rules to keep the head coaches on campus during spring, I've been to Merced personally every year since I took the job at Fresno State.

"We look at all the players in the area ever year. At Merced last year, I spent a lot of time working to see about eligibility issues with Dion Bland -- because we wanted to get him.

"There was talk because we didn't really go after (Jarrett) Sparks, but we didn't need a big receiver. We already had four or five big wideouts. That was simply about need. He's a good football player, but not so fantastic that we thought we should ignore our needs to fight it out for him.

"There is no problem at all with Rob Scheidt. He's done a great job at Merced, and when he was mentioned for Clovis West, I thought it would be a good fit.

"And I don't know where or how people get these stories about different people -- like Jeff (Tedford). We've been friends a long time.

"We have one issue, which is that I wish he'd schedule us because right now I think we could beat Cal -- but he won't play us. But we still get along fine. We talk on the phone, and we've visited each other.

"That story about Jeff and Rob Scheidt is just crazy."

OK, THEN why haven't there been any recruits from Merced?

"Sometimes it just works out that way," Hill said. "It can go in cycles. Next year we're going to need a big receiver, and if Sparks had been around then, we'd have fought for him.

"Maybe we'll get somebody out of this class at Merced. It'll happen soon because they have so much talent.

"But a couple things really bother me about how these stories get twisted. People use Merced or some other school as an example and say we don't recruit hard enough near home.

"Well, out of 100 guys on last year's roster, 64 of them came from an area between Sacramento and Bakersfield. We'll always try to recruit the Valley.

"Our quarterback (Tom Brandstater) is from Turlock, and so is one of our regular running backs (Anthony Harding of Pitman).

"We got out and recruited Logan Mankins from Mariposa and Bernard Berrian from Atwater, now they're both millionaires in the NFL.

"I've been to every little town in the San Joaquin Valley myself."

The other issue rankling Hill is the business of these "early offers" -- like the ones that have hit Merced like a blizzard this spring.

"Schools like Arizona State make about 200 offers," Hill said. "They've got 16 or 18 scholarships like anybody else. They just throw those offers out there and then take back most of them.

"I've never done that and I never will. It's not fair to the schools or to the players. I'm not going to toss out offers for the fun of it.

"I want to settle on players we really want, watch them, meet them, see if they're interested and if they'd be a good fit.

"Maybe that's cost us a few players who sign really quickly because they get stars in their eyes. But we've also gotten a lot of really good players who are smart enough to slow down, look at the schools, understand the process and pick the best place for them to play football and get an education.

"I feel comfortable with that approach and so do the players who come to Fresno State. It's worked pretty well."

Spoken like a man whose team is ranked 21st in the ESPN preseason poll.

"We don't have anything to apologize for," Hill said, "but it's really important that people understand how much we care about -- and how hard we recruit -- the San Joaquin Valley. And how much we're always looking at Merced.

"That's practically our backyard. We'd love to get some players from Merced -- the sooner, the better."

Steve Cameron is sports editor of the Sun-Star. He can be reached via e-mail at scameron@mercedsunstar.com.