Signing Day 2016: College futures set for South Sound’s top student-athletes

It’s all those extra hours spent lifting weights, running and studying. That’s the student-athletes’ end of the bargain.

And it’s what gets coaches such as Bethel High School’s Mark Iddins fired up about the other end — sending film and pitching their athletes to college coaches.

Iddins then got to witness three of his football players secure their football and academic futures on Wednesday’s Signing Day — Ezra Cleveland to Boise State, Elijah McLeod to Central Washington and Bryce Missey as a preferred walk-on at Washington State to compete for a scholarship and a spot on the depth chart at quarterback.

“I can’t get you a scholarship, but I’ll make sure your film gets seen at the level it should be seen at,” said Iddins, the former Kamiak and Montana State quarterback.

“If they are showing up every day in the summer and lifting and stuff, then we should go to bat for them, too. I spend hours on hours trying to get these kids picked up. So it’s always exciting when this happens.”

Federal Way had more players sign letters of intent to play college football (five) than it had wins this past season (two). And had two who signed with Pac-12 programs — Andrzej Hughes-Murray (Oregon State) and D’Jimon Jones (Washington State) hope to compete for immediate playing time.

Auburn Mountainview never had a football player sign with an FBS school. Yet two of its players signed Wednesday — Gavin Robertson with Arizona, and Vaughn Daggs with Idaho — and a third, Gresch Jensen, signed with Montana (FCS).

“What an exciting chapter of their lives they just walked into,” said Tahoma athletic director and football coach Tony Davis, who coordinated the signing day for 10 Tahoma student-athletes. That included Amandre Williams, who signed to play football for Washington, and Mia Corbin, who will head to Cal for women’s soccer.

“This doesn’t get old at all,” Federal Way football coach John Meagher said. “It’s one of, if not my favorite, days of the year because these kids are realizing their dreams. The parents are beaming, there is so much pride. And for a lot of kids, this is their big break.”

Robertson really wasn’t sure what it meant to be Auburn Mountainview’s only student-athlete to sign with a Pac-12 program.

He missed the final five games of the Lions’ season, including their 3A state playoff loss to eventual state champion Eastside Catholic, because of a broken bone in his leg. And that after breaking his thumb in a jamboree before the season.

But his letter of intent ensured that his final football experience might not be a view from the sideline.

“It’s cool, it’s cool,” said Robertson, who hopes to compete for starting safety. “I’m happy.

“I made it happen by working hard and just training with Gresch and Vaughn and that chemistry we had. It helped me out. I’m hoping I can play my freshman year and just make a big impact and just work to be the best I can be.”

Auburn Mountainview coach Jared Gervais was just trying to figure out how the fax machine worked.

“It’s great just to say ‘We’ve done that before. We’ve sent kids to play in the Pac-12,’ ” Gervais said. “Every once in a while you’ll hear that ‘Oh, but this program sends kids to Pac-12 schools.’

“We send out emails, but at the end of the day, the Arizona coaches watched his film and said, ‘We like him. … He’s fast. He hits hard. I want him to come play football for us.’ ”

Then there’s Amandre Williams. He’s the third student from Tahoma to sign with a Pac-12 school — following Omare Lowe (Washington) and Kevin Kooyman (Washington State).

And he’ll have to give up playing quarterback to do so. Williams led the 4A South Puget Sound League in passing yards each of the past two years, but insisted UW quarterback Jake Browning won’t have to worry about his job security.

Williams said he’ll start out at outside linebacker. Something he’s never played outside of camps. Williams was The News Tribune’s All-Area defensive lineman.

“Unfortunately, no more quarterback,” Williams said. “But it’s whatever. I’m looking forward to playing football.

“I think today it finally hit me to know that my college is going to be paid for and I’m going to be able to play college football for such a great place like UW.”

And that’s what Wednesday really came down to.

“I’ve always wanted to go to a Pac-12 school — that’s been my dream for however many years I’ve been playing soccer,” Corbin said. “Missing birthdays, missing weekends and hanging out with my friends so I can practice soccer was to get me here. It’s paid off.

“I knew it would and it did.”

This story was originally published February 3, 2016 at 11:41 AM with the headline "Signing Day 2016: College futures set for South Sound’s top student-athletes."