2009 INDIANA STATE UNIVERSITY RECRUITING LIST

[isutom]

Indiana State University 2009 Football Recruiting List

Quarterbacks

Marcus Etnier 6-0 210 Bloomington/Bloomington South

Matt King 6-1 190 Rockville

Running backs

Anthony Elias (also LB) 5-10 225 Greenwood/Center Grove

Luke Harris (also LB) 5-11 200 Whiteland

Bryan Stefanik 6-0 205 Beaver Falls, Pa./Blackhawk

Wide receivers

Elias Brown (also DB) 5-11 160 Terre Haute South

Lawrence Lacotti 5-10 175 San Jose, Calif./San Jose CC

Tyler Ricker (also DB) 6-3 180 Poseyville/North Posey

Tanner Riley (also RB) 5-10 175 Greenwood/Center Grove

Leonard Riston (also RB) 5-11 180 Cincinnati/Withrow

Tight ends

Garrick Dikos 6-3 210 Mishawaka/Penn

Luke Ecimovic 6-3 255 Ambridge, Pa.

Michael Mardis 6-3 220 Terre Haute South

Tyler Stafford (also DE) 6-3 240 Fortville/Mount Vernon

Brent Weinzapfel 6-2 225 Evansville/Mater Dei

Offensive line

Taylor Brothwell 6-3 280 Santa Claus/Heritage Hills

Brad Hasdorff 6-5 280 Cincinnati/Colerain

FN Lutz III 6-3 275 West Lafayette/Harrison

Defensive line

Tyler Boyd (DE) 6-2 240 Avon

Keith Deitel (DE) 6-3 220 Greenwood/Center Grove

Ben Obaseki (DE) 6-3 235 Washington, Ind.

Linebackers

Santino Davis 6-1 220 Gulfport, Miss/Gulf Coast CC

Brandon Foster 6-0 220 Haubstadt/Gibson Southern

Austen Wozniak 6-2 230 Houston/Hargrave Military

Defensive backs

Andrew Blackmon 6-1 185 Monroeville, Pa./Gateway

Jameel High 5-10 185 Kankakee, Ill./Bishop McNamara

Larry King (also WR) 6-3 205 South Bend/Riley

Kamerin Mitchell 6-2 200 Kankakee, Ill./Bishop McNamara

Dillon Painter 6-2 205 Fort Wayne/Snider

CJ Ullysse 5-10 180 Miami/Cypress Bay

Athletes

Darien Donald (QB/RB) 5-11 175 Cahokia, Ill.

Demory Lawshe (QB) 6-1 190 Indianapolis/Lawrence North

Cory Phillips (DB/QB/WR) 6-1 195 Hammond/Morton

Kicker

Wade Bush 6-2 175 Terre Haute North

[TexasTerror]

Welcome to the board isutom! Look forward to more Indiana State news!

[isutom]

TT, glad to be here. I do an Indiana State Football Alumni newsletter for former players and coaches. As a former football SID at Indiana State, I've kind of taken it on my own to help get the word out.

[SteelCurtain]

Welcome to the board isutom! Look forward to more Indiana State news!

Like actually winning a football game!!!!!!!xwhistlex

[PantherRob82]

thanks for the info.

[isutom]

thank you steel for the kind greetings and for stating the obvious.

[RabidRabbit]

SO CLOSE with your two Mizzou teams.

If you don't get a win next year, the year after may be promising.

What's your take on adding the two xDSU's to the Mo Valley?

[mmiller_34]

Wow, that is one huge commitment list. 34 total if I counted right. - If I remember right, Indiana State had plenty of freshman and sophomores playing last year. This team is very young and in 2 or 3 years should be able to compete well.

[isutom]

i think the addition of the two dakota teams makes the missouri valley conference one of, if not the toughest, fcs conferences in the nation. from top to bottom, it's a battle every week.

as for indiana state itself, yes, they have struggled mightily the last few years. but the good thing is that the sycamores have a head coach with a vision of where he wants to take the program. that hasn't been in the case in the past.

also, for the first time in a long time, it appears as if indiana state has shown a committment to the program by the new university president and by the athletic director. plans are on the table to build a new on-campus multi-purpose stadium. until that plan comes into fruition, plans have been made to do some work at the current facility (new turf, new locker room for isu, some upgrades to the press box).

that's a big plus since previous university and athletic administrations have allowed the football program to become the poor stepchild of the athletic department. the recruiting budget was stripped, the area that coaches were allowed to recruit were narrowed and the overall budget was paired down.

in recent months, despite the long losing streak, the new university and athletic administration have given the football program a new, larger and state-of-the-art office complex on campus.

when trent miles took over the program, he began a process of changing the character and culture of the program. that meant weeding out the bad actors and the people who didn't want to toe the line in terms of being good students, good character people and people who just didn't want to be there.

in doing so, though, that meant making a decision to go with a younger roster (mostly freshmen and sophomores) and allow his first team to take their lumps. it was a "learn on the job" situation or a "sink or swim" scenario.

and i do think that those observers who follow the missouri valley conference on a weekly basis saw a distinct improvement in the level of play as the 2008 season progressed. no, there were no wins. but there were certainly some very close calls. i think that i counted at least five games last fall that, had one or two plays had been made down the stretch, the sycamores could have won.

there hasn't been quite as much roster turnover so far this offseason. the kids in last year's recruiting class have stayed and are busy working and trying to get better. the isu coaches believe this year's recruiting class is as good or perhaps better in some areas than last year's.

but, as they say, the bottom line is to win. how many games will the sycamores win in 2009? that's anybody's guess. but i think that people in the league will continue to see an improved product.

[SteelCurtain]

thank you steel for the kind greetings and for stating the obvious.


xrolleyesx Yes, I was having a little fun with you...I hope you guys can actually win some games. That would help the conference ranking bigtime.

And as fans you deserve something to cheer about!!!

[PantherRob82]

ISUTOM- You should add something Sycamore to your profile so people know which ISU you support. :)

[isutom]

panther...yeah....but to me, there's only one isu in the missouri valley conference....lol......

[igo4uni]

nice to see an Indiana State poster on this fine board.

[isutom]

igo...i'll do what i can...i just found this site....so i hope to keep adding some things every now and then....

[SteelCurtain]

igo...i'll do what i can...i just found this site....so i hope to keep adding some things every now and then....


Welcome!!!! I do think your coach is on the right path. You started a lot of freshman last year and they did gain a lot of expierence. Some nice players to.

Best of luck and like I said welcome to the boardxprost2xxprost2xxprost2x

[isutom]

By Todd Golden

Terre Haute Tribune-Star


The Indiana State football team might have lost 26 consecutive games, but any question of the commitment the university has to Sycamore football ends the minute you make the descent down the stairs to the program’s new offices.

Office? That’s not close to an apt description. Bunker is more like it — a bunker in the best sense of the word because ISU football now has more room to breathe than it dared dream in its former digs at ISU Arena.

With renovations on-going on ISU’s campus, the basement of the Student Services Building, formerly occupied by the Student Counseling Center, was vacant. With administrative support, ISU football moved into the space and has amenities taken for granted in many programs, but that were not possible in its former digs.

There are meeting and film rooms for each unit, offices for each coach, a kitchen area, a large entryway/lounge that is due for new lighting and new carpet.

It’s all first-class, or soon will be. Symbolically, it means the world to ISU coach Trent Miles.

“I invite the public to come visit. It’s a great facility. We don’t have to reserve classrooms to meet in. The Jay Barrett Foundation has donated $10,000 worth of upgrades. The carpet will be replaced with a carpet with our symbol inlaid. They’re putting in glass trophy cases, we have leather furniture, a flat-screen TV. We’re going to name it the Nancy and Jay Barrett Football Lounge,” Miles said.

Now that the Sycamores have a home the foundation of building a winning program continues. This is Miles’ first full recruiting season he’s had a chance to compile. He was hired as ISU’s coach in December 2007 right in the middle of recruiting for this year’s freshman class. Despite the late-start, ISU brought in over 40 freshmen. There won’t be that many this time, but it will still be a large class and the emphasis is still on getting strong up the middle as well as building numbers in general.

“As far as recruiting, it’s gone great. Last year we had the seventh-ranked class in I-AA, we’re trying to beat it this year. I don’t know if we will, but we’re trying,” Miles said. “We’ve got more kids wanting to come than we have scholarships available, which is a great problem to have. Our philosophy is trying to load up with lineman and continue to build through the offensive and defensive lines. Then we address all our other needs.”

Ownership of an 0-12 record and the nation’s longest losing streak hasn’t slowed the Sycamores down much.

“Coming off an oh-for-the-season, you wonder, what are going to do about recruiting? But I’ve found it’s just like anything else, if you just go out and work at it, you’ll find the right guys, the ones who want to come,” Miles said.

In the short term, one of those needs would seemingly be quarterback, as ISU’s passing game struggled mightily in 2008. Ryan Roberts did yeoman’s work moving from linebacker to quarterback mid-season and he’ll work through the entire offseason behind center. Early season starter Chuck Dowdell has left the program, but contrary to rumor, Calvin Schmidtke is still in the fold as well as Matt Seliger and Travis Johnson. Rockville recruit Matt King is among the newcomers who factor in.

ISU has three recruits enrolled and signed. Wide receiver Larry LaCotti was signed from San Jose City College, he was a San Jose Mercury-News first-teamer at Oak Grove (Calif.) High School. Linebacker Santino Davis, a 5-11, 225 pounder from Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College has signed along with linebacker/defensive end Austen Wozniak, a highly-touted 6-3, 235-pounder from Cypress, Texas, by way of Hargrave Military Academy in Virginia. Wozniak is the son of former Indiana State offensive lineman John Wozniak.

National signing day is Feb. 4.

Besides recruiting, Miles has three open coaching spots to fill. Offensive coordinator Bill Diedrick, offensive line coach Ted Unbehagen and defensive backs coach Edmund Jones have all left the program.

Diedrick, who has been connected with Miles since both were at Notre Dame, was the fourth offensive coordinator in five seasons for ISU.

“It got to the point financially, with his wife living on the west coast, it was just tough for him to continue for a long period of time, but he set the foundation for us,” Miles said. “I already have guys in mind I want to hire, but I’m not going to touch it until recruiting is over. We’ve got recruiting handled right now.”

Miles is also happy with the program’s morale. Besides Dowdell, defensive back Darius Middlebrooks is the only other starter to leave the program at present.

“We should have won a minimum of two games. We were good enough and in a position to win them, but didn’t get it done, but we saw progress from a young defensive line, young linebackers, DBs like Alex Sewall and Larry Carter,” Miles said. “They learned to compete, and its done wonders for their confidence.

They saw the progress in practice, they saw it on film, I think that’s what helped them as the season went along. The most gratifying thing was the opponent’s coaches who said, ‘We know, we hope everything works out the right way and that people understand there and are patient.’ They saw first game to the last game, they know the progress that was made.”

Miles said he learned a lot too. Sometimes fiery, Miles does not suffer losing well, and it sometimes showed in a trying season.

“I need to be a little more patient. I need to be more patient with kids, it doesn’t happen overnight. I expect to win every game I play or coach, and I’ll never change on that, but I need to be more patient of my expectations, step back and breathe a little bit,” he said. “There are times you need to let them breathe a bit too. Let them recoup and they’ll be OK. You have to let the coaches coach too. I want my hands in everything, but you have to be more of a CEO.”

In the meantime, Miles can kick back in his large office and know the university has sent a signal that football is important to ISU’s athletic culture with its investment in football’s new offices.

“It’s where it needs to be, it’s getting up to par with what we’re going against in the conference. It shows that the university -- [ISU Director of Athletics] Ron Prettyman, [ISU President] Dr. [Daniel] Bradley, [ISU Vice President of Student Affairs] Dr. [Tom] Ramey -- they’re saying there is an importance on football. It shows the student-athletes that are here their efforts are not for nothing,” Miles added.

[MplsBison]

i think the addition of the two dakota teams makes the missouri valley conference one of, if not the toughest, fcs conferences in the nation. from top to bottom, it's a battle every week.

as for indiana state itself, yes, they have struggled mightily the last few years. but the good thing is that the sycamores have a head coach with a vision of where he wants to take the program. that hasn't been in the case in the past.

also, for the first time in a long time, it appears as if indiana state has shown a committment to the program by the new university president and by the athletic director. plans are on the table to build a new on-campus multi-purpose stadium. until that plan comes into fruition, plans have been made to do some work at the current facility (new turf, new locker room for isu, some upgrades to the press box).

that's a big plus since previous university and athletic administrations have allowed the football program to become the poor stepchild of the athletic department. the recruiting budget was stripped, the area that coaches were allowed to recruit were narrowed and the overall budget was paired down.

in recent months, despite the long losing streak, the new university and athletic administration have given the football program a new, larger and state-of-the-art office complex on campus.

when trent miles took over the program, he began a process of changing the character and culture of the program. that meant weeding out the bad actors and the people who didn't want to toe the line in terms of being good students, good character people and people who just didn't want to be there.

in doing so, though, that meant making a decision to go with a younger roster (mostly freshmen and sophomores) and allow his first team to take their lumps. it was a "learn on the job" situation or a "sink or swim" scenario.

and i do think that those observers who follow the missouri valley conference on a weekly basis saw a distinct improvement in the level of play as the 2008 season progressed. no, there were no wins. but there were certainly some very close calls. i think that i counted at least five games last fall that, had one or two plays had been made down the stretch, the sycamores could have won.

there hasn't been quite as much roster turnover so far this offseason. the kids in last year's recruiting class have stayed and are busy working and trying to get better. the isu coaches believe this year's recruiting class is as good or perhaps better in some areas than last year's.

but, as they say, the bottom line is to win. how many games will the sycamores win in 2009? that's anybody's guess. but i think that people in the league will continue to see an improved product.


Where would the new stadium be built?

Is it just talk at this point in time or is there anything more concrete that you can point at to say that there is actually some possibility of it happening?

[isutom]

as of now, it's in the planning stages in regards to a new stadium for indiana state. as i stated before, it would be a multi-purpose stadium for football, track, women's soccer and other events, including some physical education classes. it would be located either directly on campus or directly off campus. the university has been buying up property to the west and north of the current campus setup in order to branch out.

the new university president has come out strongly for it. he gave a speech on campus last fall and got a standing ovation from both staff and students present when he mentioned the building of a new on-campus stadium facility.

and the athletic director, who has only been at isu for a couple of years, has made the building of a new multi-purpose stadium one of primary objectives.

finding the money to do it will be the sticking point. it will have to come from donations and businesses. they have said that they will not use tax money to build it. there has been some interest from former players to start contributing to a fund to build the new stadium.

[PantherRob82]

Do what you can to axe the track, tom!!!!