Nill unveils 23 Dinos football recruits: 18 Alberta, 1 USA, 1 MAN, 1 ONT, 1 BC, 1 QC

University of Calgary Dinos football coach Blake Nill unveiled his 2011 recruiting class Friday as the team prepares for its annual spring camp this weekend at McMahon Stadium.

A total of 23 fresh-faced recruits were introduced, and Nill called it a deep class with plenty of talent in a variety of positions.

“I think overall, out of five this would be a four to a 4.5 recruiting class,” said Nill, who enters his sixth season as head coach of the Dinos this fall. “We have some outstanding players and some kids who will be able to play right away.”

After three straight Canada West titles and back-to-back Vanier Cup appearances, 2011 will be a transition year of sorts for Nill’s program as his 2007 recruiting class gets set for the Canadian Football League draft on Sunday, May 8. The Dinos have four players ranked in the top 15 for the draft, and Nill said his priority was to restock at those positions.

“Our biggest concern is backfilling the potential loss to the CFL,” said Nill. “Especially at the skill positions, I think we were able to do that.”

With All-Canadians Anthony Parker and Nathan Coehoorn likely to move up to the CFL ranks, Nill brought in several receivers – led by Jake Harty (top picture) of the Calgary Colts.

Harty, who Nill called ‘the best non-CIS player in Alberta last year,’ averaged 17.2 yards per catch with the Colts last season, hauling in 24 catches for 412 yards and three touchdowns. A graduate of Henry Wise Wood High School, Harty will be a key contributor for the Dinos in the 2011 season.

The other major recruit at the receiver position is import Killian Okongo of Snelville, Ga., who starred for Lithonia High School.

“Killian is an outstanding young man and an outstanding player,” said Nill. “Those two guys in particular I think will come in and play right away. We’re also looking at a few more kids this weekend who haven’t committed yet but are leaning towards it, and they could be difference-makers also.”

Two of Harty’s Colts teammates, OL Andrew Driusso and LB Zack McNeill, will also move up to the CIS level this year, while defensive back Mike Dubisson of the St. Leonard Cougars (Montreal) rounds out the recruits from the junior ranks.

The Dinos will improve at the linebacker position with the addition of Tom Black, son of former Winnipeg Blue Bomber offensive lineman Dave Black, now the coach at Winnipeg’s Oak Park High School. The younger Black heads back north after spending two seasons at Oregon State University in the Pac-10 conference

Also on the defence, Nill emerged as the winner in the recruiting race for one of the province’s most highly touted linebackers, St. Albert’s Tanner Doll. He is the son of former Alberta Golden Bear Garrett Doll, who was drafted by the Calgary Stampeders in the second round, 11th overall in the 1985 CFL draft. Doll headlines a total of 12 players who were selected for the Alberta Senior Bowl that elected to join the Dinos in 2011.

One of those Senior Bowl selections was linebacker Anthony Anderson out of Medicine Hat High School, who is also a provincial wrestling champion and could be a two-sport athlete at the University of Calgary.

With the graduation of two-time Hec Crighton winner Erik Glavic, CIS rookie of the year Eric Dzwilewski is pegged to move into the starting quarterback’s role this fall. Nill brought in a pair of local products, Jimmy Underdahl (Notre Dame HS) and Andrew Buckley (Rundle College) to help address the void in that position.

Buckley is the son for former Dino Richard Buckley, who played tight end for the team in the late 1970s and is now a surgeon, while Underdahl leads a trio of Notre Dame players – the most of any Calgary high school – into the Dinos fold along with defensive lineman Dan Lamola and offensive lineman Sean McEwan.

The son of another former Dino, Paul Carson, has also signed on. Matt Carson is a defensive lineman out of Kelowna Secondary School. His father was an offensive lineman and later the offensive line coach for the Dinos.

Spring Camp runs through the weekend at McMahon Stadium, culminating in the annual Red-White Scrimmage on Sunday, beginning at 2:30 p.m. All sessions are open to the public.

2011 DINOS FOOTBALL RECRUITING CLASS

*denotes 2011 Alberta Senior Bowl selection

Pos Player Hometown Last team
QB *Andrew Buckley Calgary, Alta. Rundle College
QB *Jimmy Underdahl Calgary, Alta. Notre Dame HS

RB *Denzel Morrison Calgary, Alta. Bishop O’Byrne HS

R *Kyle Brick Calgary, Alta. Bishop McNally HS
R *Cody Chipman Cardston, Alta. Cardston HS
R Jake Harty Calgary, Alta. Calgary Colts (Henry Wise Wood HS)
R Killian Okongo Snelville, Ga., USA Lithonia HS
R Kris Stretton Okotoks, Alta. Foothills Composite HS

OL Andrew Driusso Calgary, Alta. Calgary Colts (Notre Dame HS)
OL *Jordan Filipelli Edmonton, Alta. Salisbury HS
OL *Sean McEwen Calgary, Alta. Notre Dame HS
OL Jacob Morgan Calgary, Alta. Centennial HS
OL Ryan Preuter Calgary, Alta. John G. Diefenbaker HS

DL Matthew Carson Kelowna, B.C. Kelowna SS
DL *Dan Lamola Calgary, Alta. Notre Dame HS

LB *Anthony Anderson Medicine Hat, Alta. Medicine Hat HS
LB Tom Black Winnipeg, Man. Oregon State Univ. (Oak Park HS)
LB *Tanner Doll St. Albert, Alta. St. Albert Catholic HS
LB Zack McNeill Calgary, Alta. Calgary Colts (Lord Beaverbrook HS)
LB *Braden Schram Manning, Alta. Paul Rowe HS

DB Mike Dubisson Montreal, Que. St. Leonard Cougars
DB Anie-Ebeit Edem Brampton, Ont. McGill Univ. (Champlain College)
DB *Michael Schmidt Calgary, Alta. Western Canada HS