CEDAR
CITY, Utah, Dec. 16 - Southern Utah University has received
commitments from four transfer
athletes to play football for the Thunderbirds next year. Three of the four are
junior college transfers, while the fourth will join the team after spending a
season at Brigham Young University.
Quarterback
Brad Sorensen will join the team after spending last season as a redshirt at
BYU. Joining Sorensen will be junior offensive linemen Devin Tavana and Brandon
Beddes from Snow College, as well as wide receiver Justin Brown, who spent last
season at Mesa Community College in Arizona.
Sorensen,
a 6-foot-4, 224-pound sophomore from Grand Terrace, Calif., spent one season at
San Bernardino Valley College prior to transferring to BYU. At SBVC Sorensen
earned first-team all-conference honors after passing for over 2,300 yards and
20 touchdowns as a true freshman. He was also a two-time first-team all-league
and all-county selection at Colton (Calif.) High School, where he passed for
2,200 yards and 25 TDs as a senior when he completed 75 percent of his passes.
Tavana,
a 6-3, 330-pound center from Kalaheo, Hawai'i, earned first-team NCJAA
All-American honors as well as first-team all-Western States Football League
recognition last season. Along the way Tavana helped the Badgers to a 10-2
record and a Top of the Mountains Bowl win last season. Tavana also earned
first-team all-WSFL recognition his junior season when he helped the Badgers to
a perfect 11-0 regular season mark.
Beddes,
a 6-4, 300-pound tackle from American Fork, Utah (American Fork HS), was a two
year teammate of Tavana who also had a big hand in the Badgers' success the
last two seasons.
Brown
is a 6-3, 205-pounder from Ogden, Utah, who prepped at Layton Hills Christian
High School. Last year as a true freshman he appeared in six games, catching 21
passes for 290 yards and two touchdowns. He also excelled on special teams, returning one
kickoff for a touchdown.
"We
feel really good about signing four players on the first day of the signing
period," SUU Coach Ed Lamb said. "The intent, obviously, was to shore up our
offense. We feel like we've got some good offensive linemen and some good
quarterbacks in the program but we wanted to try to get some transfers with game
experience to come in and compete for positions and we feel like they'll
compete right away. We also wanted to get some experience and size at receiver.
Our two top receivers, Tysson Poots and Fesi Sitake, will both be seniors next
year, and that's where we think Justin will fit in."
Lamb
indicated the Thunderbirds are still planning on signing at least one more
player before the signing period ends.
-- SUU --
