For the Valley’s Best Football Players, the Future Is Now : High schools: Top players must make their decision on what college to attend. They can sign letters of intent on Feb. 6.

Feb. 6 is clearly etched in the minds of San Gabriel Valley high school football players.

It is the first day prep players can sign national letters of intent with NCAA colleges.

While most prospects are still undecided about which college they will attend, there are two noteworthy exceptions.

Running back Tyrone Edwards of Nogales in La Puente has made an oral commitment to UC Berkeley and defensive lineman Mike Balian of Damien in La Verne has settled on Arizona State.

With the decision behind them, Edwards and Balian say they are resting a little easier these days.

“It’s just like a load was taken off my shoulders,” Edwards said. “It’s something I don’t have to think about anymore. I just have to worry about getting good grades and finishing my classes--and that hasn’t been a problem.”

For the most part, Balian said he is happy to have the intensive recruiting behind him.

“I’ll tell you, it’s a lot different feeling now that it’s over,” he said. “When you’re a sophomore or a junior, the recruiting pressure just builds and by the time you’re a senior you wonder, ‘How did it get like this?’ But now it’s different. The phone calls have stopped and I find that I suddenly have a lot of free time on my hands.

“There’s an empty space in your life. It was nice being sought after and receiving all of the attention. But you eventually have to pick one.”

In the case of the 6-foot-2, 185-pound Edwards, who rushed for 1,285 yards and 12 touchdowns in 166 carries last season, he said he knew early on that Berkeley was the right school for him.

“I decided about a month ago but I wasn’t too sure about it,” he said. “After I went to Cal on a trip I knew for sure. When I went to Cal I loved the environment there. The people were nice and I felt I could fit right in. Plus, I love their running game and they have a good academic program.

“I’m not taking anything away from the other programs but that was a big plus.”

He also said he liked Coach Bruce Snyder’s emphasis on his team’s rushing attack.

“I really like him as a coach,” Edwards said.

Edwards said he was recruited by more than 50 Division I programs including Arizona, Oregon, USC, UCLA, Nevada Las Vegas and Colorado State. After the trip to Berkeley, he also made visits to USC, Oregon and Arizona.

“I liked the trips to Arizona and Oregon,” he said. “I really felt comfortable with the Arizona and Oregon trips but after I came back I just decided that Cal was it.”

Although Edwards had the final word, he consulted with his mother and father. His mother went with him on all of the trips.

“I talked to them and they helped me put it all together in my mind,” he said. “But I made the decision myself. It was my own choice and they were comfortable with my decision.”

Edwards said it was the most difficult decision that he has ever made, although it never overwhelmed him.

“It was hard but I didn’t get too crazy or stressed out about it,” he said. “The hardest part was to tell the other schools where I was going. That was real hard for me at the time. It made me upset but it was a real pleasant feeling after I told them.”

For Balian, a 6-5 and 265 lineman who made The Times’ All-Valley team the past two seasons, the decision was made a little more recently.

One of the most sought-after defensive linemen on the West Coast, Balian had initially hoped to attend USC.

But after receiving initial interest from the Trojans, Balian was surprised when USC recruiters backed off.

“I was told my grades weren’t good enough to get in and I know that just wasn’t the case,” he said. “If they didn’t think I was good enough to go there they should have just told me. I’m big enough to take it. But I don’t want them to lie to me.”

So he settled on taking his recruiting trips to UC Berkeley, Arizona State, Colorado, Oregon and Utah.

But he wound up taking only two trips.

“I went to Berkeley and I thought that was nice but when I went to Arizona State I felt that was where I belonged,” Balian said.

Balian enjoyed his visit to Tempe, Ariz., so much that he made a commitment with the Sun Devils before he left.

“I went on the trip the weekend before last and the last day I was there I told them I’d take it (the scholarship) right now,” he said. “I told them I’d sign the paper in February.”

While he concedes that his mother probably would have preferred USC, he says he is impressed with Arizona State.

“It’s a very nice place and the people are real nice and I liked the dorms and all of the facilities,” Balian said. “It matched my needs exactly to what I wanted.”

He also appreciated the winning attitude of the players at Arizona State. It was something that he said was missing during a losing season at Damien last year.

“One of the players said to me, ‘Don’t come here unless you want to play football,’ ” Balian said. “They really want to win. Everyone there wants to win.

“You just know when people don’t want to win and I’ve been around enough people who don’t want to win. I don’t want to be around that type of team. It means a lot to me to find people like that because of what happened this year at Damien.”

Balian said, he was happy with the way he was treated throughout the recruiting process.

“They all treated me fair except for USC, but I realize it’s a dog-eat-dog world and I understand where they’re coming from,” he said. “But maybe they’ll see when I play against them.”

With the recruiting behind him, Edwards says the only calls he receives these days are from Berkeley.

“Right now they just call once in a while to see how I’m doing and how my classes are going,” he said.

Besides working on his studies, Edwards can also focus on track. Regarded as one of the top long jumpers in the state, he went 24-3 last season.

“I’ll probably compete in track there,” he said. “It depends on how my year goes. I feel if I go out for track I will focus on the long jump.”

For Balian, the free time has allowed him to place more emphasis on his classes.

“Right now I have a chance to get a straight 4.0 average and I’ve never done that before,” he said. “I want to nail it, so I’m really excited about it.”

He is also working out with weights about two hours a night.

“In the gym, I’m just trying to get as good as I can so by the time I get there I’m ready,” Balian said.

Like Edwards, he thinks he is ready for the next step in his football career.

“I think I’m ready for the challenge,” Balian said. “I’m not going in like Rambo, gung-ho and all, but with a lot of hard work I know I can make it.”

THE CREAM OF THE CROP

PLAYER SCHOOL POS. SIZE Mike Balian Damien NG 6-5, 265 Tyrone Edwards Nogales RB 6-2, 185 Matt Gilmour Temple City DE-LB 6-5, 220 Demetrice Martin Muir WR 5-10, 175 Johnny McWilliams Pomona WR 6-5, 215 Nathan Olsen San Marino DL 6-3, 225 Reggie Reser Muir CB 5-10, 175 Sedrick Thomas Muir ATH 6-1, 225

PLAYER COLLEGES Mike Balian Has made oral commitment to Arizona State Tyrone Edwards Has made oral commitment to UC Berkeley Matt Gilmour California, Washington, Colorado Demetrice Martin Michigan St., Colorado, Washington, South Carolina, Oklahoma Johnny McWilliams USC, Washington State, Colorado, Arizona State Nathan Olsen UC Berkeley, Arizona, Stanford, Colorado, Oregon Reggie Reser Michigan St., Colorado, Washington, South Carolina, Oklahoma Sedrick Thomas UCLA, Oregon State, UNLV, Pacific

OTHER PROSPECTS

Greg Ames San Marino OL 6-4, 235 Seth Braithwaite Pasadena OL 6-5, 260 Thad Culpepper Muir CB 5-9, 165 Tim Flynn Glendora DB 6-1, 190 Darius McJimpson Pomona LB-WB 6-0, 205 Jelani Pulliam Muir LB 6-1, 215 Neil Voskeritchian Arcadia K 5-9, 160 Eric Walcha San Marino QB 6-3, 190 Chang Weisberg Rosemead WR 6-1, 180 Bill Zernickow Glendora RB 6-1, 205 Zach Zertuche Bishop Amat QB 6-0, 193

Greg Ames New Mexico, San Diego State, Cal Poly SLO, Santa Clara Seth Braithwaite Oregon, CS Fullerton Thad Culpepper New Mexico, Colorado St., San Diego St., Oregon St., Hawaii Tim Flynn Army, Northern Arizona, UC Davis Darius McJimpson UNLV, Pacific Jelani Pulliam Pacific, UNLV, Hawaii, Nevada Neil Voskeritchian Stanford, UNLV Eric Walcha San Diego State, Harvard, Brown Chang Weisberg Hawaii, Northern Arizona, Oregon, St. Mary’s Bill Zernickow UNLV, New Mexico State, Northern Arizona Zach Zertuche New Mexico, Washington State, UNLV