SIGNING DAY NOTEBOOK : Lean Season Yields Only 14 O.C. Players to Division I Football

Although Orange County teams won six of 10 Southern Section division football titles last season, their success wasn’t reflected Wednesday on national signing day.

Scouts have said that Orange County’s college recruiting class this season was one of the weakest in the last seven years.

Two years ago, 35 county players signed with Division I schools. Only 14 signed Wednesday.

“There was nothing wrong with this year’s group,” said Dick Lascola of the Scouting Evaluation Assn. in Fallbrook. “The numbers just weren’t there. It’s that way for the whole Southern California area this year.

“These things always come in cycles. For the last several years we’ve had outstanding classes, but sometimes you hit a downturn. At the end of last year, everyone knew this would be a down year for both the high schools and the junior colleges.”

Noticeably absent in the county’s recruiting race this year were Nebraska, Stanford, Colorado, Washington and California.

Two years ago, each of those schools signed at least two county players, with Nebraska landing three. Colorado and California were the only schools even considered by county players this year.

Mission Viejo defensive lineman Matt Keneley, who signed with USC, was probably the best of an average crop of county recruits this season.

Linemen were most in demand, with Keneley, El Toro’s Chris Miller (USC), Loara’s Bryant Jackson (Oregon), Los Alamitos’ Matt Hauk (Utah State) and Irvine’s Curt Cannon (Brigham Young) drawing most of the attention.

“Orange County always had good linemen in the past, and this year is no exception,” Lascola said. “There just isn’t enough of them.”

Rule changes: College recruiters are upset about a new NCAA rule that prohibits them from collecting signatures on signing day.

Instead of going to a player’s home or school to get the signature, as they did in the past, recruiters now must mail the letters of intent.

The rule, passed by a majority of Division I-A schools at the 1991 NCAA convention, took effect this season.

Also, a signing won’t be official until school officials have signed the letter. Many schools asked prospects to fax their letters. Others used overnight mail.

“I’m sure some coaches will tell the kids to sign the letter early, and then post-date it and send it in,” Lascola said. “If they get caught doing it, they’ll be in serious trouble. I would say signing day is a good day to invest in Federal Express.”

Long-term investment: Irvine’s Cannon signed with Brigham Young, but he won’t play a down for the Cougars until the fall of 1994.

Cannon will sit out the next two seasons while on a mission. His scholarship will take effect when he returns in 1994.

“I turn 19 in February, and I’ll be eligible to go,” he said. “They’ll hold the scholarship for me while I’m away.”

Men of the Mormon faith are encouraged to go on missions when they turn 19, and student-athletes are no exception. BYU basketball player Shawn Bradley is currently on a mission in Australia.

Cannon said he hasn’t been notified yet as to where he will go. He added that the two-year layoff won’t hurt his play.

Staying together: Twins Korey and Kevin Alexander of Valencia High School signed with Utah State, turning down offers from University of the Pacific and Fresno State.

The Alexanders played offense and defense for Valencia’s Southern Section Division VI championship team last season--Kevin at wide receiver and defensive back, and Korey at slotback and defensive back. Kevin will be a defensive back in college, Korey will play wide receiver.

Kevin said he and Korey chose Utah State because they could play right away.

“It’s wide open,” Kevin said. “Everyone comes in and earns their position, and it’s not that way at some of the other schools.”

Volleyball: Although it wasn’t an outstanding year for football recruiting, it was another consistent year for girls’ volleyball signings.

Sixteen county players have signed or are expected to sign, which is comparable to past recruiting classes.

Among the top players are Newport Harbor’s Maureen McLaren (Stanford) and Tara Kroesch (Pepperdine), El Toro’s Lesli Steinert (Kansas), Capistrano Valley’s Allyson Carpenter (Cal State Long Beach) and Tobi Roquemore (Rice), El Toro’s Jaime Smith (Wisconsin) and Tustin’s Christine Garner (Arizona State).

About face: Garner, the Sea View League’s co-MVP with McLaren, had originally committed to Washington State but changed her mind and signed with Arizona State Wednesday.

Garner, a 6-foot middle blocker, refused to give a reason why she changed her mind.

“It just didn’t work out with Washington State,” she said.

Not a bad year for San Diego State: the Aztecs are coming off one of their best seasons, playing in the Freedom Bowl, and Wednesday they signed two of the county’s top recruits--Mater Dei quarterback Billy Blanton and Garden Grove tight end Adrian Ioja.

Blanton, listed at 6-2 and 195 pounds, was San Diego State’s prize recruit, choosing the Aztecs over Colorado. He broke county records this season for passing yards (3,545) and touchdowns (36) and won the Glenn Davis Award as Southern California’s best player.

“Billy is not a 6-3 or 6-4-type of quarterback,” San Diego State Coach Al Luginbill said. “but we didn’t see any of those. He is very accurate with a strong arm, and he throws the deep ball well. What he does is win.”

Blanton said he will probably redshirt as a freshman, then back up starter David Lowery, a junior from Trabuco Hills, the following season. Lowery took over the starting spot this season from Cree Morris.

“Having gone through a quarterback controversy at San Diego State last season, I have an appreciation that I’ve never had before about the quarterback position in this town,” Luginbill said. “Before, with San Diego State and the Chargers, I think the community here was spoiled at that position.

“When you are competing at quarterback for San Diego State, you’re under total scrutiny. People have high expectations. Billy’s eyes lit up when I talked about that. As a coach, you like to see that.

“He played on a football team with little speed but got the ball into the end zone.”

Recruiting Notes

Dana Hills middle linebacker David Erikson is still scheduling visits. He has visited Army and Navy and expects to visit Air Force soon. Erikson, who has a 4.0 grade-point average, also is considering Dartmouth and Columbia. . . . Mater Dei linebacker-receiver David Knuff, the Southern Section Division I player of the year, is favoring Nevada, and could sign in the next few days, Monarch Coach Bruce Rollinson said.

Canyon’s Yannis Pappas was a two-time All-Century League offensive lineman, but he will play tight end for New Mexico State next season. Canyon Coach Loren Shumer suggested to New Mexico State coaches that Pappas, 6-3 and 230 pounds, would make a good tight end. “He has great hands and he definitely can block,” Shumer said.

Times staff writer Scott Miller contributed to this report.

Local High Schools

FOOTBALL

Player School Pos. Hgt. Wgt. College Kevin Alexander Valencia WR 5-10 169 Utah State Korey Alexander Valencia DB 5-10 175 Utah State Billy Blanton Mater Dei QB 6-2 195 San Diego State Curt Cannon Irvine OL 6-5 235 Brigham Young Rob Cullinan Mission Viejo OL 6-5 270 Pacific Matt Hauk Los Alamitos DL 6-3 240 Utah State Adrian Ioja Garden Grove TE 6-3 228 San Diego State Bryant Jackson Loara OL 6-2 290 Oregon Todd Kehrli Corona del Mar QB 6-4 220 Louisville Matt Keneley Mission Viejo DL 6-6 275 USC Chris Miller El Toro DL 6-2 255 USC Gavin Molinar Buena Park OL 6-4 240 Pacific Nathan Morealle University PK 5-11 175 Utah State Yannis Pappas Canyon TE 6-3 230 New Mexico State

VOLLEYBALL

Player School Position Hgt. Lemia Astarabadi University Setter 5-10 Wendy Balut El Toro Outside hitter 5-10 Allyson Carpenter Capistrano Valley Outside hitter 6-0 Christine Garner Tustin Middle blocker 6-0 Julie Greer Esperanza Outside hitter 6-0 Marni Hichborn Colorado State Middle blocker 6-2 Nicole Hoffmann Foothill Middle blocker 6-0 Tara Kroesch Newport Harbor Outside hitter 6-0 Maureen McLaren Newport Harbor Middle blocker 6-1 Karissa Meith Irvine Middle blocker 6-1 Amy Moeller Mater Dei Outside hitter 6-0 Tobi Roquemore Capistrano Valley Outside hitter 5-11 Jaime Smith El Toro Outside hitter 5-8 Kristin Spataro Corona del Mar Setter 5-8 Lesli Steinert El Toro Setter 5-9 Amy Tamblyn Valencia Outside hitter 6-0

Player College Lemia Astarabadi Colorado State Wendy Balut Morehead State Allyson Carpenter Cal State Long Beach Christine Garner Arizona State Julie Greer Loyola Marymount Marni Hichborn Colorado State Nicole Hoffmann Colorado State Tara Kroesch Pepperdine Maureen McLaren Stanford Karissa Meith Oregon Amy Moeller Loyola Marymount Tobi Roquemore Rice Jaime Smith Wisconsin Kristin Spataro Committed/ Princeton Lesli Steinert Kansas Amy Tamblyn Chapman College

Note: Letters of intent unofficial until signed by school officials; “committed” refers to players whose signing has not been confirmed or who are attending schools that does not offer scholarships.