Grootegoed, McGuire Help Put USC Recruiting Class in Top 10

On a day that can determine the futures of college football programs, coaches Paul Hackett of USC and Bob Toledo of UCLA expressed optimism Wednesday with their recruiting classes on the first day of the national signing period.

It takes months--and sometimes years--before coaches can gauge new recruits, but Hackett said Wednesday he was “thrilled” with the Trojans’ 20 incoming players.

“I’m just bubbling over,” he said.

Hackett came away with a top-10 recruiting class, headed by the No. 1 prep player in Southern California, safety Matt Grootegoed of Mater Dei.

Grootegoed, The Times’ Glenn Davis Award winner and Orange County player of the year, wavered between USC and UCLA before choosing the Trojans last week. He made 138 tackles and intercepted six passes last season and helped the Monarchs win or share three Southern Section Division I championships.

“He’s the ideal ballplayer,” Hackett said. “He does everything. This was a guy we had to get.”

USC came on strong in the final weeks of recruiting and completed its late surge with the signing of receiver Keary Colbert of Hueneme. Colbert is one of the state’s fastest receivers and complements the trio of swift receivers the Trojans signed last year--Kareem Kelly, Marcell Allmond and Steve Stevenson.

USC’s training table, where players line up for buffet-style meals, will need to expand after the signing of eight linemen. It fulfills a promise Hackett made when he was hired two years ago to strengthen the team’s lines.

Offensive lineman Joe McGuire, a 6-foot-6, 280-pounder from Servite, is a Parade magazine All-American and was Orange County Lineman of the Year. USC also acquired two top defensive linemen in Nathan Goodson (6-5, 270) of Temescal Canyon and Kenechi Udeze (6-3, 320) of Verbum Dei.

Tight end Alex Holmes (6-2, 295) of Harvard-Westlake improves USC’s depth at that position.

Toledo’s focus was on filling specific needs. The Bruins had 18 scholarships and ended up signing 14 players.

None of the recruits is more important than free safety Ben Emanuel from Friendswood, Texas. Emanuel (6-3, 185), who has 4.5-second speed over 40 yards, gives the Bruins hope of restoring their tradition of outstanding safeties established by Eric Turner, James Washington and Kenny Easley.

Among the other prominent Bruin recruits:

* Fullback Patrick Norton of Newhall Hart was The Times’ San Fernando Valley player of the year. He’s 6-1, has grown to 280 pounds and is known for his fierce blocking.

Another top recruit is

* Punter Chris Kluwe of Los Alamitos averaged 45.5 yards per punt, made a 60-yard field goal and scored 1490 on his Scholastic Assessment Test. “I saw him punting from one end to the other and thought he was Ray Guy,” Toledo said.

* Linebacker Brandon Chillar of Carlsbad made 12 sacks and was considered the top defensive player in San Diego County.

“We wanted to really target a certain number of people and go after them,” Toledo said. “I easily could have signed 18 in a heartbeat.”

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Ray Mietkiewicz of Marina, a Times’ Orange County first-team selection, waited until Wednesday to announce his college decision, signing with Texas-El Paso. Mietkiewicz, a fullback, rushed for 1,871 yards in 11 games and averaged 7.9 per carry.

Other all-county players committing and signing Wednesday were Mater Dei’s all-county defensive back/running back Junior Palacios (Pittsburgh) and lineman Dan Owens (Pennsylvania) and Santa Ana Valley linebacker Eliu Fatu (Fresno State).

Troy defensive lineman Ray Mike signed with St. Mary’s and Santa Margarita linebacker Matt Szkalak with Cal Poly San Luis Obispo.

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Wednesday was also the first day of the national signing period for field hockey, soccer, water polo and women’s volleyball.

* April Ross, the Newport Harbor volleyball standout recently honored as the state’s player of the year, signed with USC. She had announced her choice in August.

* Cliff McKinley, a forward on Fountain Valley’s soccer team, signed with UCLA about 90 minutes after he scored a goal in the Barons’ victory over Marina.

“It’s a load off my back,” said McKinley, who committed on Monday. “It’s been so long, such a long waiting period. I’m just happy that I’m going to my No. 1 choice.”

* Capistrano Valley soccer player Lindsay Greco signed with UCLA at the end of the day, at a dinner party with her family.

* Long Beach Wilson’s Tony Azevedo, the two-time Southern Section Division I water polo player of the year and a member of the U.S. National Team, announced he will attend Stanford.

Staff writers Martin Henderson and Gary Klein contributed to this story.

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Football Signings

SIGNED WITH USC

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Name Pos. Ht. Wt. School Carlos Acosta OL 6-3 270 Moorpark CC Doyal Butler TE 6-3 245 Mesa (Ariz.) CC Chris Cash DB 5-11 170 Palomar CC Matt Cassel QB 6-5 215 Chatsworth Keary Colbert WR 6-1 185 Hueneme John Cousins LB 6-2 200 West L.A. CC Phillip Eaves OL 6-6 315 Riverside CC Nathan Goodson DL 6-5 270 Temescal Canyon Matt Grootegoed DB 5-11 205 Mater Dei Gregg Guenther TE 6-8 265 Taft Alex Holmes TE 6-2 295 Harvard-Westlake Chris Howard RB 5-11 180 Wilmington Banning Blair Jones OL 6-7 265 Newport Harbor Jason Leach DB 5-11 200 Bishop Amat Joe McGuire OL 6-5 280 Servite A.J. Single DL 6-3 255 Bonita Vista Kenechi Udeze DL 6-3 320 Verbum Dei Travis Watkins OL 6-3 295 La Mesa Helix Lee Webb FB 5-11 240 Crenshaw Jamaal Williams DL 6-4 260 San Diego St. Augustine

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SIGNED WITH UCLA

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Name Pos. Ht. Wt. School Craig Bragg WR 6-1 185 San Jose Bellarmine Ray Cassaday LB 6-1 220 Valencia Brandon Chillar LB 6-3 227 Carlsbad Eyoseph Efseaff OL 6-3 282 Porterville Monache Ben Emanuel DB 6-3 185 Friendswood (Texas) Clear Brook Chris Kluwe P 6-4 204 Los Alamitos Paul Mociler OL 6-5 300 St. John Bosco Patrick Norton FB 6-1 280 Hart Tab Perry WR 6-3 218 Milpitas John Ream OL 6-4 288 Las Vegas Chaparral Keith Short DB 5-9 162 Irvine Steve Vieira OL 6-6 279 Carlsbad Tim Warfield LB 6-2 235 Vista Manuel White RB 6-2 229 Valencia

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