• Matt Rowe picks Arizona State

  • By Greg Biggins | July 27, 2011 9:38:43 AM PDT
Arizona State made it a clean sweep at Long Beach (Calif.) Poly as the Sun Devils offered five Jackrabbit players and all five have now committed with linebacker Matt Rowe pulling the trigger on Tuesday.It's an incredible haul for ASU as the Jackrabbits program is traditionally one of the nation's finest every year and the class of 2012 is a strong one as well. Rowe, who's older brother Kenny was an All-Pac-10 selection at Oregon two years ago, chose the Sun Devils after also considering Nebraska and Oregon State.Rowe has looked great at several summer 7-on-7 passing tournaments as the Jackrabbits went undefeated in three big passing tourneys, including winning the prestigious Huntington Beach (Calif.) Edison tourney just two weeks ago.Rowe joins fellow linebacker Salamo Fiso, wide receivers Richard Smith and Josiah Blandin and athlete Randall Goforth as early Poly pledges to the Sun Devils. All four athletes say they still want to keep their options open and will take a few official visits. Of the group, Smith seems the player most open to other options and was actually wearing a UCLA shirt when I bumped it to him on Tuesday. Goforth, who could play receiver or corner in college, is another player who ASU will need to stay on closely. He has had a big summer and his stock will soar this fall when more colleges see him in action. Blandin, who overcame a separated shoulder last spring and was named MVP at the Edison tourney, looks very solid to ASU right now as does Fiso.One thing ASU has going for them is all five players are very close and want to play together in college. Package deals rarely if ever happen and it will be interesting to see what happens to the Poly five if one of the players decides to bolt and head elsewhere. ASU is the only school that has offered all five players and had done a great job of making all five an early priority before a lot of other colleges even had them on their radar. All five have already visited the Sun Devils campus for a junior day last spring and raved about their time in Tempe. If all five indeed sign with ASU, it will be an incredible coup. Many times, colleges will offer a less talented player in hopes of landing his more highly-touted teammate but that is definitely not the case here as all five players are legit prospects, capable of playing for at least half the programs in the Pac 12.

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