Once Jeff Tedford got involved, Jordan Mims’ decision became easy. The Menlo-Atherton senior running back signed his national letter-of-intent Wednesday to continue his education and football career at Fresno State.
Mims, who also received offers from Eastern Washington, Sacramento State, Boise State and San Jose State, chose the Bulldogs because of its national reputation and Tedford’s offensive prowess.
“It’s where Davante Adams and Derek Carr went,” Mims said. “Coach Tedford worked with Marshawn Lynch. I want to be a part of that.”
Mims said he decided about two weeks ago, announcing his decision through his Twitter account.
He’s one of two running backs in the class, joining Ron Rivers. Tedford has told both of them they will get a chance to play right away.
“Explosive player,” Tedford said of Mims. “He does it all, he’s a physical guy. He’s listed at 5-11, 180 pounds but I think he’s closer to 190-195.”
Mims led the Bears to their first ever appearance in the state football championship game.
Menlo-Atherton held a ceremony for the 10 student-athletes who signed national letters of intent.
Palo Alto and Castilleja also held ceremonies and Menlo School released a list of athletes who signed.
There will likely be further announcements from other schools. Sacred Heart Prep’s McKenna Angotti, for example, has committed to play soccer at Stanford, while Gunn’s Jeffrey Lee-Heidenreich announced his intention to further his track and field career at Princeton.
Gunn women’s basketball player Archer Olson, who still dreams of playing for the French national team, committed to California as a preferred walk-on.
In addition to Mims and Paulsen, M-A had four others sign to Division I schools: Naomi Lee (Brown golf), Faith Dunn (UCLA swimming), Olivia Athens (UCLA soccer) and Jacqueline DiSanto (Michigan volleyball).
In addition, Casey Morris (Claremont tennis), Grace Tully (Denison lacrosse), Kirby Knapp (Washington-St. Louis volleyball) and Kate Denend (Pomona-Pitzer swimming) were also highlighted.
Castilleja sends five student-athletes to college on scholarships, including Amanda McMaster (Rice soccer), Claire Traum (Bowdoin track and field), Elle Kass (Connecticut College volleyball), Elizabeth Pang (Occidental softball) and Natalie Tuck (Cal swimming), who signed during the November signing period.
Palo Alto’s signing day celebration included Neil Verwillow (Trinty soccer), Peter Snodgrass (Northwestern football), Grace Zhao (Stanford swimming), Alex Liang (Stanford swimming), Cassandra Fong (San Francisco State volleyball), Bennet Huang (Iowa gymnastics), Kimmi Chin (UCLA crew), Mara Zenger (Westminster soccer), Angus Stayte (San Diego baseball), Clay Watson (Columbia crew), Jessica Lee (Claremont volleyball), Kaitlin Chiu (Smith lacrosse), Lauola Amanoni (San Jose State soccer), Mason Wittman (North Carolina soccer) and Jackson Wood (Penn crew).
Menlo School sent out a list of athletes, which include those from the early signing period: Sara Brockman (Cornell rowing); Tiago Bonchristiano (UC Santa Barbara water polo); Emily Demmon (Colby College soccer); Sophia Donovan (USC lacrosse); Doran Finley (Cornell rowing); Scott Little (Bucknell water polo); Darcy Matsuda (Penn gymnastics); Griff McGarry (Virginia baseball); Jack McNally (Occidental football); Lindsay Miller (North Carolina rowing); Emma Richart (Gettysburg soccer); Ben Somorjai (Haverford baseball); Indira Varma (Ithaca lacrosse); Chandler Yu (University of Chicago baseball) and Ben Wagner (Harvard water polo).
Great Job Athletes! Well done Neil Verwillow!!!