SPORTSDAY

Mansfield Summit defensive back Loyd Bradley on Tuesday confirmed he has orally committed to play football at the Air Force Academy.

Bradley (5-9, 170) chose Air Force over Army, Rice and Baylor. Oral commitments are nonbinding, and the first day a Class of 2009 football recruit can sign is Feb. 4.

Denton Record Chronicle staff writer Adam Boedeker reports that Argyle senior wide receiver Brady Brown orally committed on Tuesday to Vanderbilt University.

Oral commitments are non-binding. The first day a recruit in the Class of 2009 can sign a national letter of intent is Feb. 4.

Brown, who stands 6-5, was a second-team Class 3A All-State selection by the Associated Press after catching 97 passes for 1,077 yards and 12 touchdowns last season.

He's ranked No. 55 nationally among wide receivers by Rivals.com and is No. 51 in the Texas Top 100.

His final decision came down to Vanderbilt, Kansas and Nebraska.

(DRC staff photo by Gary Payne)

Plano East strong safety Josh Peprah orally committed to Wisconsin, the same state where his older brother, Charlie, patrols the secondary for the Green Bay Packers.
Peprah (6-0, 195) said he chose Wisconsin over offers from UT-El Paso and Colorado State.
Peprah has another brother, Richard, who played at Wyoming.
Oral commitments are non-binding. The first day a prospective student-athlete can sign a letter of intent is Feb. 4.
Peprah said he made an unofficial visit to Wisconsin in June.
"It's a great place," Peprah said. "The city was nice and my recruiting coach was real honest with me about the whole thing."

Frisco Centennial quarterback Ryan Mossakowski said he orally committed to Kentucky Friday morning. Mossawkoski, the state's No. 13 recruit according to Rivals.com, chose Kentucky over Texas A&M and Alabama.

Mossaskowski (6-4, 200) said Kentucky's wide-open passing game influenced his decision to go with the Wildcats. He hopes his time there will prepare him for an NFL career.

Mossakowski, a fourth-year starter, said Monday he had hoped to make a final decision by Centennial's season opener in two weeks.

"I'm thrilled that it's over," he said.

Oral commitments are nonbinding. The first day Mossakowski can sign a national letter of intent is Feb. 4, 2009.

Duncanville basketball player Shawn Williams said Friday he has committed to Texas, according to staff writer Damon L. Sayles.

Williams (6-7, 210) chose Texas over Arkansas, Baylor and UCLA. Williams is ranked No. 2 in Texashoops.com's Class of 2009.

Williams averaged 17 points, 9.5 rebounds and 2.2 assists last season as a junior at Duncanville and helped the team win a state title as a sophomore.

Williams told Sayles that he thinks Texas's style of running best fits his game.

DeSoto guard Connor Frizzelle confirmed that he has signed with Rice to play basketball.

Frizzelle (6-1,175) orally committed to Yale last fall. But after he failed to qualify academically, he was unable to sign with the school. By that point, Frizzelle said that all of his other schools had offered other players.

At the end of the year, Frizzelle said that he had elected to attend a year of prep-school. But a month ago, he was contacted by the Rice coaches and he eventually decided to commit and sign.

Frizzelle said that he is very happy with his decision.

"The coaching staff is amazing," Frizzelle said. "The campus is real nice."

Frizzelle has already enrolled in the school and said that he will head down to Houston Aug. 17.

Mansfield running back Stepfan Taylor said he has orally committed to play football at Stanford. Taylor (5-11, 205) had narrowed down his choices to Missouri and Stanford before finally deciding on Stanford.

Taylor said that Stanford's academic reputation was very important to him.

"If I have a Stanford degree people will look at me differently," Taylor said.

A visit to Palo Alto and Stanford last weekend made up Taylor's mind as he said he really liked the campus and all that it has to offer.

Taylor said that he has not discussed red-shirting with the coaches, but he feels he will have a positive impact on the school because of the team's lack of depth at running back.

Oral commitments are nonbinding. The first day a football recruit can sign a national letter of intent is Feb. 4.

South Oak Cliff DB Kenneth Pinkard said he has orally committed to Washington. Pinkard (5-10, 170) said that Washington was the only school that he received an offer from.

The choice came after a visit this past weekend to the school, where Pinkard said he grew to really like the campus and the coaches.

When asked about red-shirting, Pinkard said that he hadn't talked about it yet with the coaches.

Oral commitments are nonbinding. The first day a football recruit can sign a national letter of intent is Feb. 4.

Plano's multi-talented Rex Burkhead has about as many college choices as he does positions on a football field. I visited recently with Burkhead, who's primarily a running back but can also play DB, LB, slot receiver and can punt and pass. Burkhead said he's whittled it down to nine schools:

Stanford, Cal, Nebraska, Alabama, Auburn, Arkansas, Texas A&M, Texas Tech and Louisville.

Burkhead visited Stanford and Cal last weekend and said he was on his way to Auburn this week. He's also visited Nebraska and Texas Tech and got to see Texas A&M during the state 7-on-7 tournament.

With so many choices still on the board, don't look for Burkhead to commit soon. But don't worry, he's getting some good guidance - his father is a former college football player and his brother, Ryan, currently plays for Harvard.

"It probably won't happen before the season starts," Rex said. "I'd like to get it done as soon as possible."

McKinney Boyd forward Sam Haines said Tuesday he has orally committed to Valparaiso. Haines has been Boyd's captain since his sophomore year. He was awarded the Golden Boot in the Under 17 boys division for national champion Andromeda '91 at the recent US Youth Soccer Championships in North Little Rock, Ark.

Haines was also considering playing at Northern Illinois and Trinity. Valparaiso piqued his interest because of a five-year engineering program that integrates engineering and German. Haines lived in Germany his eighth and ninth grades years while his father worked there. He'd love to return there someday.

"It was one of the highlights of my life," Haines said.

Valpo was 4-11-3 last season. Haines sees the opportunity to help Valpo rebuild in much the same way his club did at the youth club level.

"There's nowhere to go but up," Haines said. "That's how my club team started."

This from staff writer Billy Eichenholz

Hebron offensive tackle Joel Gray said Monday that he has orally committed to play football at Texas Tech. The 6-6, 288-pound lineman said he chose Tech over Stanford because of the atmosphere that it offered him. "The coaching staff is great there," Gray said. "I really feel that I'll be welcomed as a part of the family there."

As of now, Gray said that he plans to red-shirt his freshman year, but acknowledged that things can always change.

Garland Naaman Forest safety Terrance Bullitt announced on his 17th birthday that he has orally committed to Texas Teach.

He even asked us to film his announcement. Check the video on Tuesday morning at hsgametime.com. He is funny.

Bullitt (6-3, 180) said he chose Texas Tech over Oklahoma State, Notre Dame, Wisconsin and Arizona because he feels he will have more opportunity to play.

Frisco Centennial quarterback Ryan Mossakowski said Monday he has narrowed his choices to Alabama, Texas A&M and Kentucky. He eliminated Auburn from his list last week. Mossakowski, the state's 13th-ranked recruit according to Rivals.com, said he wants to make his decision before Centennial's season-opener Aug. 29 at Denton.

Carter QB Jarvis Philllips came to the DMN offices Sunday afternoon for a photo shoot.

Phillips (shown at right with the ball) said he has offers from several schools, including UTEP, Kansas and Louisiana Tech. He said he is being recruited as an athlete and is not sure what position he will end up playing in college.

Phillips said he is looking forward to Carter's season opener Aug. 29 at Kincaide against Lancaster. He said he knows several players on the Lancaster team. He's also eager to play Kimball on Oct. 11 in the Oak Cliff Super Bowl, which is now a district game since Carter has been realigned into 4A.

Euless Trinity's Lauren Martin and Zoe Adom said they have made oral commitments. Martin, a right-side hitter, said she will play at Penn. She also considered offers from Ohio and Kansas State. Because Penn is an Ivy League school, she is not getting a athletic scholarship, but financial aid will cover most of the costs. Martin, who plays club for Texas Advantage Volleyball, said the chance to study at an Ivy League school - at a substantially discounted rate - was too good to pass up. She'd like to study something in the pharmaceutical field.

Adom chose Baylor over several offers including one from Boston College. Baylor's proximity was a big factor, plus she enjoyed her visit there. Adom said she'll begin her career as a middle blocker at Baylor, but could move to outside hitter. Adom plays for the Colleyville-based 900 Volleyball club.

I guess you can call him Moss Hog now.

Rockwall-Heath senior linebacker Austin Moss orally committed to play at Arkansas. Moss, 6-3 and 215 pounds, said he chose Arkansas over Baylor, Vanderbilt, Kansas and others.

Oral commitments are non-binding. The first day 2009 football recruits can sign letters of intent is Feb. 4.

Moss said he could play either inside or outside linebacker in college. Moss transferred from South Garland last spring when his father, Mickey, was named coach at Rockwall-Heath.

Moss said he visited Arkansas' campus twice in the spring. He's yet to see a football game up there, but is definitely looking forward to all the hog-calling.

"It just felt right about the place, the atmosphere, the coaches," the younger Moss said of Arkansas. "The chances of early playing time are really strong for me. And my family can see me play whenever they want."

Rockwall-Heath quarterback Drew Hollingshead said he has orally committed to the University of Houston.

Hollingshead (6-3, 200) said he chose Houston over New Mexico St. and Idaho St. because of the coaching staff and the opportunity to be a starter.

He said he plans to redshirt his first year and then look to become the starting quarterback for the next four seasons.

Pinya Issa, a 2008 graduate of Pinkston and DISD's first four-time district cross country champion, will run at Butler Community College in El Dorado, Kansas.

Issa, who fled the war-torn Sudan with his family at age 10, also won four consecutive district titles in the 1,600.

Issa was a 2007 SportsDay first-team all-area honoree in cross country after winning the 4A Region II meet (15:26.15) and placing 14th at state (16:07).

This spring, Issa won the 4A Region II track meet in the 1,600 and 3,200 and went onto place seventh in the 1,600 (4:30.82) and sixth in the 3,200 (9:44.56) at state.

South Garland's Jeramie Roberts said he has orally committed to Baylor as an offensive guard.

Roberts (6-4, 319) said he considered offers from Miami, Kansas and Colorado.

But he chose Baylor because of the close location, the coaching staff, and because the school offers his preferred major. He plans to study real estate financing.

"I'm glad, but I'm also relieved," Roberts said. "Now I can look forward to getting bigger and faster."

McKinney's London Woodberry said he has orally committed to Maryland. Woodberry chose Maryland over offers from SMU, New Mexico, George Mason, Penn and Denver. Oral commitments are nonbinding. The first day a soccer recruit can sign a national letter of intent is Feb. 4, 2009.

Woodberry said he will either play left back or left midfielder in college. Woodberry earned a spot on SportsDay's All-Area second team after tallying 38 goals and seven assists as a forward.

"When I visited the campus [two weeks ago], I felt like it was right place for me," Woodberry said. "[Going to Maryland] is going to help me get to the next level."

Woodberry is the nephew of former Dallas Sidekicks standout, Terry Woodberry. He plays for the recently-formed FC Dallas Juniors Under 18 elite team.