Football: Scouts agree Diamond Ranch’s Sermons can deliver

This article was originally on a blog post platform and may be missing photos, graphics or links. See About archive blog posts.

Before we go any further, I must give credit where credit is due: Jaime Cardenas, a former colleague of mine at The Times, did a great job of covering preps out in the San Gabriel Valley. In fact, he was way ahead of the curve when it came to keeping tabs on the recruiting status of Brandon Sermons, one of the top athletes in the region.

Come to think of it, I remember when Jaime reported that the 6-foot defensive back from Diamond Ranch had no more than a few scholarship offers offers on the table back in May. Plenty has changed since. The number of potential suitors quickly doubled, with Oregon State recently jumping on the bandwagon, according to these quotes.

Most Division I scouts agree he’s among the nation’s top 25 players at his position. And there’s no doubt that Sermons has established himself as one of the best cover corners in the Southland, ranking right up there with Notre Dame-bound Marlon Pollard from Cajon and UCLA-bound Sheldon Price from Bishop Amat.

Arizona State-bound Osahon Irabor from Upland, Lynwood’s Vachel Samuels and St. Bonaventure’s J.B. Dock are among the other notable defensive backs out West. Sermons, however, has the attention of everyone nowadays, though my boy Jaime informed all of us about him months ago.

-- Sean Ceglinsky