CSU footbll picks up 2 verbal commitments

CSU’s football team picked up verbal commitments over the weekend from two defensive backs who hope to come in and play right away for the Rams.

Dominique Williams, a cornerback from Knoxville, Tennessee, with 4.41-second speed in the 40-yard dash, and Houston Haynes, a safety at Los Angeles Pierce College, both said they’ll sign with Colorado State University on Wednesday, the first day of the NCAA’s early signing period.

Both plan to enroll for the spring semester and participate in offseason workouts and spring practices with the Rams in hopes of playing next fall.

CSU’s two starting safeties and one of the top backups this season are seniors, as is one of the starting cornerbacks.

Williams, a 5-foot-11, 183-pounder, was originally recruited by CSU cornerbacks coach Terry Fair while Fair was at Tennessee. Williams wound up signing with Eastern Kentucky but did not meet the NCAA’s initial eligibility requirements, so he spent the fall taking classes to improve his ACT score, retook the test and is good to go, with a full four years of eligibility remaining.

He visited CSU over the weekend and said he liked what the school had to offer.

“I can’t wait,” Williams said. “I wanted to stay up there after my official recruiting trip.”

Williams scored eight touchdowns on punt or kickoff returns and 27 touchdowns in all his senior year in high school while averaging 119.7 all-purpose yards a game. He ran for 403 yards and seven touchdowns on 26 carries, caught 30 passes for 682 yards and 12 TDs, and had 187 yards on eight kickoff returns and 478 yards on 22 punt returns.

As a defender, he was in on 21 tackles, broke up 13 passes and recovered two fumbles.

Haynes, a 6-4, 200-pounder from Palmdale, California, originally committed to UTEP but decided CSU was a better fit and offered more of an opportunity to play right away.

“Being a junior-college guy and being able to come in and compete for a spot immediately as a mid-year transfer is important,” Haynes said Monday. “I don’t have four years like everybody else has to make a name for myself.”

Haynes said he really liked how “genuine” CSU coach Mike Bobo and his assistants came across on a recent recruiting visit. They’re all “family-oriented” men “who are all led by their faith in God, and that’s really important to me, being able to see how important their faith is to them.”

Haynes was in on 19 tackles in seven games this fall at Pierce, where coach Jason Sabolic said he rotates players frequently to let as possible get some game action on video to help get them to the next level. Haynes intercepted one pass and broke up two others.

“He’s got great length and loves to throw his body around in the secondary,” Sabolic said. “He’s a big, physical presence in the defensive secondary. He’s really got a tremendous football IQ.

“… He’s a great, great kid, a great find. He’s going to definitely benefit the university, there’s not a doubt in my mind.”

NCAA rules prohibit college coaches from discussing specific recruits until they sign, but Williams and Haynes both posted photos of themselves with CSU coach Mike Bobo that were taken on their recruiting visits with their announcements on Twitter.

And Bobo tweeted Sunday: “RamFam16 got even better in the secondary this week! Two new members of the #NoFlyZone!

The latest commitments bring the number of known pledges for CSU’s 2016 recruiting class to 17.

Follow reporter Kelly Lyell at twitter.com/KellyLyell and facebook.com/KellyLyell.news.

CSU's 2016 recruiting class

(known verbal commitments)