Nolan Gatewood and Greg Helle, a pair of transfers from Santa Rosa Junior College (Calif.) are the first two signees of the new year for the Illinois State football program.
Both will be enrolled at ISU for the spring semester and will participate in off-season conditioning and spring practices.
Gatewood and Helle both attended Mendocino CC as freshmen, but followed a coach to Santa Rosa for their respective sophomore seasons. Gatewood has three years of eligibility remaining, while Helle has two.
Gatewood is a 6-foot-6, 210-pound receiver from Puyallup, Wash. As a JUCO freshman, he caught 16 passes for 317 yards and two touchdowns, while playing for a team that captured a conference championship and earned a No. 24 national ranking.
He also posted a 10.6 in the 100 meters and a 21.7 in the 200 while running for the Santa Rosa JC track team.
Nolan had an ankle injury in his sophomore season that camouflaged him a little bit, but we had film of him from his freshman season and the first few games of his sophomore year and we are aware of his ability, said ISU head coach
Denver Johnson.
It is unusual to find a receiver of his stature with such outstanding speed. We think he will add another dimension to our offense.
As a senior at Payallup High School, Gatewood had 15 catches for 345 yards and two touchdowns for a team that captured a second consecutive league title.
During his high school career, he was an all-state sprinter, who won a conference title in the 100 meters and the 4 x 100 relay and a district crown in the 4x100.
Helle is a 6-foot-1, 224-pound inside linebacker from Tacoma, Wash. He was a two-time all-state junior college selection in California, who also earned second-team all-America honors as a sophomore.
In his final junior college season, Helle notched 151 total tackles, including 23 for loss. His single-game tackle high was 22 against Los Medanos.
Helle also attended Payallup High School, where he was named the teams most valuable player and the conferences defensive MVP. As a senior, he had 142 tackles.
Greg is a talented and aggressive linebacker who will have an opportunity to fill an important role for us, Johnson said. We really like his approach to the game and the physical attributes he will bring to our team.
Johnson said the Redbirds will likely add several more mid-year transfers.
Things are going well in recruiting, the second-year ISU head coach said. Were excited about the prospects we have identified and were encouraged by the reception we have gotten. Were on our way to a good recruiting year.
Were interested in adding more players at the semester break simply because it gives those young men a full semester to learn our system.
