Illinois States 2001 Football Signees
Brennan Berg 6-3 200 Wide Receiver Jackson, Tenn. (Univ. School of Jackson)
Did not play this past fall, but was a high recruited player out of high school ... last season on the prep level was 2000 ... already enrolled at Illinois State ... as a senior, he caught 52 receptions for 1,252 yards and 20 touchdowns ... all-state as a senior and on West Tennessees All-Century team ... Regional offensive player of the year ... selected to play in Tennessee-Kentucky game ... for his career, he had 76 receptions for 1,755 yards (23.1 per catch) and 27 touchdowns ... coached in high school by Mickey Marley ... National Honor Society (president as a senior and vice-president as a junior).
Wes Burgess 6-4 285 Off. Line Fresno, Calif. (Clovis/Hancock CC)
A transfer from Hancock Junior College in Santa Marie, Calif., Burgess will have two years of eligibility remaining ... already enrolled at ISU, he will participate in spring drills with the Redbirds... Hancock was 17-5 in Burgess two seasons and made consecutive bowl appearances ... in his sophomore season, Hancock won the Western State Conference and finished the year with a 9-2 record ... helped Clovis claim a pair of conference championships while also helping the track and field team to a league title as a senior.
Dennis Butler 5-10 185 Def. Back Chicago, Ill. (Simeon/Los Angeles Valley CC)
Will participate in spring drills with the Redbirds after enrolling at ISU at the semester break ... intercepted six passes and returned one punt and one kickoff for touchdowns as a sophomore ... had three interceptions and returned three kickoffs for touchdowns in his freshman campaign at LA Valley ... earned all-conference honors both his freshman and sophomore seasons ... earned a spot on the Chicago Sun-Times All-City Team as a running back his senior year, after scoring 25 touchdowns in his final year at Simeon ... also a standout on the baseball squad at Simeon, Butler hit .570 with 10 home runs and 52 stolen bases in his senior season.
Josh Chrestman 6-4 220 Linebacker Sandwich, Ill. (Sandwich)
Had a team-best 114 tackles as a middle linebacker at Sandwich and was named the teams Most Valuable Player leading tackler on the team both his junior and senior years earned Interstate Eight Conference all-star honors in football both seasons also played guard on offense at Sandwich a Class 3A all-state selection and Aurora Beacon-News all-area team pick a two-time all-conference selection in wrestling, helping squad to a 28-3 record his junior year as a sophomore, finished fourth in state at 215 lbs high school coach was Tom Unruh ... pronunciation: CREST man.
Stafford Davis 6-1 270 Offensive Line Orange Park, Fla. (Clay)
Named first-team all-county, first-team all-district, and second-team all-area also earned honorable mention all-state honors as team finished district runners-up wrestled his junior season, helping the team to a first place finish in the region and fifth place state finish high school coach was James Teter.
Jonathan Friend 6-2 225 Def. End Orange, Texas (Little Cyprus/Blinn JC)
Sat out the 2000 season and will have two years of eligibility remaining as a sophomore at Blinn, he had 45 tackles, 12 tackles for loss, nine sacks, 12 QB hurries and two passes broken up for a 9-2 team that won the Mineral Water Bowl teams defense ranked No. 1 in the nation as a freshman, he earned all-conference honors after compiling 35 tackles, three tackles for loss, 11 sacks and four passes broken up for a 5-4 team three-year starter in high school as a senior, he had 89 tackles, 32 tackles for loss, 12 sacks, 19 QB hurries and six passes broken up for an 11-3 team that was a state quarter-finalist second-team all-stater, who was named to the First Super Gold Team by the Beaumont Enterprise and to the Super team by the Port Arthur News coached in JC by Everett Todd and by David Williams in high school actually signed with the Redbirds last season but did not qualify.
Nolan Gatewood 6-6 210 Wide Receiver Puyallup, Wash. (Puyallup/Santa Rosa JC)
Transferred to ISU from Santa Rosa Junior College for the spring semester and has three years of eligibility remaining as a freshman, Gatewood caught 16 passes for 317 yards and two touchdowns at Santa Rose team captured its conference championship and finished the year with a national ranking of 24th also ran track at Santa Rosa, posting a 10.6 in the 100 meters and a time of 21.7 in the 200 in high school, Gatewood had 15 grabs for 345 yards and a pair of touchdowns in his senior year was an all-state sprinter in high school, winning conference titles in the 100 meters and 4 x 100 relay and a district crown in the 4 x 100.
Chris Govan 6-0 185 Defensive Back Milwaukee, Wis. (Vincent)
Made 56 tackles his senior season, including, nine for loss named all-conference both junior and senior seasons helping team to consecutive conference championships made two interceptions and forced three fumbles as a senior recovered two fumbles and broke up four passes a member of the track team, Govan was part of the 4 x 100 meter relay state championship team high school coach was Adam Walker.
Greg Helle 6-1 224 Linebacker Tacoma, Wash. (Puyallup/Santa Rosa JC)
Available to participate in spring drills with two seasons of eligibility after transferring from Santa Rose a two-time all-state junior college selection in Calif., Helle also earned second-team all-America honors as a sophomore totaled 151 tackles including an impressive 23 for a loss had a single-game high against Los Medanos with 22 tackles had 142 tackles his senior season in high school and was named both the teams most valuable player and the conferences defensive MVP Pronunciation Guide - HELL ee.
Ryan Hoffman 6-2 180 Punter/Place-Kicker Stevens Point, Wis. (Area)
Broke the Wisconsin Valley Conference record twice in his senior season with a 48-yard field goal and a 50-yard field goal was 8 of 12 on field goal attempts in his senior year and punted 34 times for an average of 43.2 yards nailed 19 of 19 extra point attempts in his final season and hit 54 of 57 attempts in his two years named all-state punter by the Milwaukee Journal and all-state kicker by Wisconsin Preps, he was a unanimous all-conference choice at both punter and kicker also ran track for two years clocked a 4.62 40-meter time high school coach was Pete McAdams.
Samuel Idlett 6-3 240 Defensive Line Atlanta, Ga. (Douglass)
Had 50 tackles and four sacks as a senior ... registered 20 tackles and two sacks as a junior and 21 tackles and one sack as a sophomore ... helped Douglass to an 8-2 mark this season and a 9-1 record last season ... coached in high school by Butch Climmons.
Kendall Kelley 6-3 236 Defensive End Dallas, Tex. (Carter)
Pass rush specialist ... all-district selection ... junior team was 8-2 and senior club was 6-5 ... also took recruiting visits to Michigan State and Northwestern ...honor roll student ... high school was was Bret Alexander.
Stephen Kolodziej 6-6 213 Quarterback Schaumburg, Ill. (Schaumburg)
Led Schaumburg to the Class 6A state championship game as a junior threw for 1,928 yards and 17 touchdowns, while completing 57 percent of his passes as a senior totaled 2,400 yards passing and 15 touchdowns his junior season a three-year starter he led Schaumburg to a 20-4 record and had 4,300 passing yards his last two years earned all-area honors both junior and senior seasons and team claimed conference championship both years team captain, as a senior, earned all-conference and all-region honors last fall high school coach was Tom Cerasani ... Pronunciation Guide - CALL uh jay
Joe Koren 6-4 235 Linebacker Joliet, Ill. (Catholic)
Helped Joliet Catholic to a perfect 28-0 record and consecutive Class 4A state championships as a junior and senior registered 126 tackles and six sacks his senior year had 62 solo tackles and 16 tackles for a loss to go along with two interceptions, three fumble recoveries and three blocked kicks high school coach was Dan Sharp.
Drew Laurenti 6-2 195 Linebacker Kankakee, Ill. (Bishop McNamara)
A three-year starter at Bishop McNamara, Laurenti helped his high school to a 29-8 record in his three seasons as a starter had four interceptions, six sacks and 115 tackles in his senior season also had 25 receptions for 560 yards and a caught a school-record 12 touchdowns brother Jon is currently on the ISU roster while brother Ryan played at Northern Illinois the team captain his senior year, earned All-Kankakee Area and all-state honors also named to the Chicago Sun-Times Top 100 An all-Catholic League selection in both football and basketball his senior year, he played hoops all four years and started his senior season Helped Bishop McNamara to three straight playoff appearances including a state runner-up finish in Class 4A as a sophomore high school coach was Rich Zinanni also ran track at Bishop McNamara three seasons.
Jim Mancuso 6-0 200 Outside Linebacker Wisconsin Rapids, Wis. (Lincoln)
Joins former teammates Jeremy Melville and Steve Statz at ISU honorable mention all-conference as a senior a three-year high school starter, Mancuso led his team with five interceptions as a senior and with four as a junior team captain in football and baseball played for coach Jim Benick at Lincoln also started three years on the baseball squad earned all-district honors and was second-team all-conference in baseball as a junior... Pronunciation Guide - MAN coo so.
William Rolle 5-10 185 Outside Linebacker Immokolee, Fla. (Immokolee)
From the same high school that produced current Redbirds Jeffrey and Walter James ... his senior year team went 10-0 ... also wrestled in and is currently 16-0 ... high school coach was John Weber. More stats available later today.
Otis Spates 6-1 185 Defensive Back Riverdale, Ga. (North Clayton)
Split time at both wide receiver and defensive back his senior year made 35 tackles with two interceptions his final season at North Clayton broke up 26 passes and blocked three kicks his senior year and was an honorable mention all-region pick at defensive back caught six passes for 330 yards defended 19 passes his junior year to go along with 20 tackles and one interception was a three-year starter on both the baseball and football teams high school coach was Donald Shockley.
Mike Stegeman 6-5 280 Off. Line Chatham, Ill. (Glenwood)
A versatile player, Stegeman played defensive end, defensive tackle, linebacker and offensive line in his senior year as a sophomore starter he helped Glenwood to a 14-0 record and a Class 4A state championship named all-state by the Illinois Football Coaches Association, the Chicago Tribune, and the Champaign News-Gazette also named to the CBS Sportsline All-America team earned all-conference honors both his junior and senior years high school coach was Dan Rourke ... Pronunciation Guide - STEG eh man.
T.J. Watts 5-7 160 Running Back Dunellon, Fla. (Dunnellon)
In five games as a senior, rushed for 602 yards on 61 carries brother of current ISU running back Willie Watts, who was honorable mention All-American by Football Gazette and led the Redbirds in rushing in 2000 with 1,088 yards rushed for 10 touchdowns and was second-team all-area all-state honorable mention as a junior, rushed for 540 yards on 55 carries to lead the team in yards per carry at 9.8 scored six touchdowns his junior campaign and was named third-team all-area that season helped Dunellon to an 8-2 record and its first playoff appearance in 14 years also played baseball his sophomore and junior years, helping the team to a 43-21 record in two years high school coach was Perry Brown.
Sesamir Yearby 6-3 185 Safety/Receiver Quincy, Ill. (Quincy)
All-Western Big Six selection and an all-state pick at free safety... returned three kickoffs for touchdowns as a senior ... as a junior, he returned two punts and a kickoff for touchdowns and averaged 32.7 yards on punt returns ... honorable mention all-leaguer as a junior ... two-year starter at Quincy ... also a track and field athlete who qualified for the state track and field meet three times ... high school football coach was Butch Kuras.
Samuel Yeargin 5-11 170 Defensive Back Lauderhill, Fla. (Dillard)
All-County as a senior when he had 76 tackles with five interceptions and 10 pass break-ups ... team qualified for the state finals and posted a record of 13-2 ... named to the Dade/Broward County All-Star game ... invited to play in the Down Under Bowl in Australia ... won Top 10% of Class Award ... won the top 10% of Class ward ... American Technology Honor Society ... high school coach was Joe Redmond.
Kevin Zouzounis 6-4 205 Quarterback Burlingame, Calif. (Junipero/City Coll. SF)
Will have two years of eligibility remaining after transferring to ISU for the spring semester and will participate in spring drills with the Redbirds ... as a sophomore, Zouzounis threw for nearly 2,000 (1,984) while completing 61.2% (112-of-183) of his passes ... also threw for 17 touchdowns and just three interceptions ... combined to torch Sacramento City College and Chabot for a total of 999 yards on 54-of-87 passing (62.1%) ... threw for a school record 511 yards vs. Chabot with four touchdowns and no interceptions in a game in which San Francisco set a California junior college record with 786 total yards ... helped lead San Francisco to back-to-back 12-0 seasons, and was named junior college national champs by JC Gridwire this past season all-conference performer as a sophomore and received state player of the week honors five times started three games as a freshman, throwing for mare than 300 yards in each game received all-league honors three times in football in high school led his baseball squad to a state championship and a No. 24 national ranking while setting the school mark for home runs ... Pronunciation Guide - zuh ZOO nis.
