Boise State loses WR recruit; Shakir among nation’s top returners; DB gets sixth year
Boise State lost a wide receiver in its 2020 recruiting class Thursday when wide receiver Chance Luper announced on Twitter that his recruitment has been reopened.
Luper is a three-star recruit from Fort Worth Christian School in North Richland Hills, Texas. He verbally committed to the Broncos on Oct. 23 but joined defensive tackle Nick Booker-Brown in not signing on early signing day. Boise State inked 15 other recruits that day.
Luper’s father, Curtis, was the running backs coach and recruiting coordinator at Auburn from 2009 to 2012 and spent the past seven seasons at TCU, where he coached running backs and wide receivers and was named co-offensive coordinator in 2017.
On Dec. 20, Curtis Luper was hired as Missouri’s offensive coordinator. Chance Luper has 15 scholarship offers, according to 247Sports, including one from Missouri, which he announced receiving on early signing day (Dec. 18).
Luper is scheduled to visit Columbia, Missouri, on Jan. 24, and on Friday he announced on Twitter that he received a scholarship offer from Virginia, which is under the direction of former BYU coach Bronco Mendenhall.
Boise State has another three-star wide receiver from Texas in its 2020 class in Latrell Caples, and the Broncos signed a pair of tight ends in Russell Corrigan and Borah High product Austin Bolt, who was named the 2019 Gatorade Idaho Player of the Year.
Shakir earns early praise
New wide receivers coach Matt Miller and new offensive coordinator Eric Kiesau have an impressive wide receiver coming back in 2020. Junior Khalil Shakir ranked No. 12 on PFF College’s list of the top 25 wide receivers in the country in 2020, regardless of conference.
Shakir led the Broncos last season with 63 receptions, and he was second on the roster with 872 receiving yards and six touchdown receptions. He also rushed for three touchdowns and threw his first career touchdown pass.
Tyler gets another year
One of the Broncos’ most experienced defensive backs will have a sixth year with the program in 2020.
The NCAA already has approved safety Evan Tyler’s appeal for a sixth season, a program spokesman confirmed Thursday.
Tyler appeared in 12 games in 2019, mostly on special teams and in mop-up duty, and he recorded his first career interception in a 56-21 win at Utah State. After redshirting in 2015, he started the first three games the following season before tearing an ACL and missing the rest of the year. The next preseason, he tore the ACL in the same knee and missed the entire 2017 season.
With Kekoa Nawahine gone, Tyler will provide valuable depth at safety, where DeAndre Pierce likely will start again after returning from a knee injury. Tyreque Jones, Jordan Happle and true freshman JL Skinner all saw playing time last season and are in the mix to replace Nawahine.
As of Thursday, Boise State had not begun the process of appealing for a sixth year of eligibility for STUD Sam Whitney. The former three-star recruit out of California missed his redshirt senior season in 2019 thanks to a preseason injury. After starting five games in 2017, he also missed the rest of that year with an injury and played sparingly in 2018.
Alexander, Emmsley transfer
With the Broncos turning their attention to spring ball and the start of a new season, they updated their roster this week and five players are no longer with the program.
Two were on scholarship: defensive end Kukea Emmsley and linebacker Phillip Mills. Emmsley has opted to transfer but has yet to announce where. He was a three-star recruit and the No. 4 recruit in Hawaii in 2018, according to 247Sports. He redshirted that fall and his only appearance last season was on special teams in Boise State’s loss at BYU.
Mills’ reasons for leaving the program weren’t specified Thursday. Mills was also a three-star recruit in the 2018 class and, like Emmsley, he redshirted his first season at Boise State. He appeared in two games in 2019.
The other three players no longer on the roster were walk-ons.
True freshman running back Allamar Alexander was a local product from Columbia High in Nampa. After redshirting in 2019, he announced on Twitter on Wednesday that he’s transferring to the College of Idaho, an NAIA program where he should be eligible to play right away.
Defensive lineman Chase Bunker and long snapper Hunter Fridolfs — both true freshmen — also redshirted in 2019. Neither has publicly announced plans for next season.
