Head coach Kelley Lee and Eastern New Mexico had a remarkable Signing Day on Wednesday, inking more than 40 prospects to letters of intent. Eleven were from the Land of Enchantment. We spoke with Lee and got his comments about each of the 11. In Part 1 of a two-part series, we take a look at five of the prospects:
The 8-Man Football Star:
Devon Bailey of Melrose is 6-foot-5, 205 pounds and runs like the wind. Little surprise he dominated the 8-man classification in 2019 as a junior. As a sophomore, he won the Class A individual state title in the 300-meter hurdles and finished second in the 200-meter dash at the annual state track meet. And he was literally right down the road from ENMU. In many ways, Bailey was the best kept secret in New Mexico high school football.
“Melrose is only about 20 or 30 miles from us, so we’ve known about Devon for a long time,” Lee said. “He’s a hidden gem. He’s 6-5 and run a 4.6 40. He’s dynamic. There was a handful of players in New Mexico we knew we really wanted to get and he was definitely one of those guys.
Head coach Kelley Lee and Eastern New Mexico had a remarkable Signing Day on Wednesday, inking more than 40 prospects to letters of intent. Eleven were from the Land of Enchantment. We spoke with Lee and got his comments about each of the 11. In Part 1 of a two-part series, we take a look at five of the prospects:
The 8-Man Football Star:
Devon Bailey of Melrose is 6-foot-5, 205 pounds and runs like the wind. Little surprise he dominated the 8-man classification in 2019 as a junior. As a sophomore, he won the Class A individual state title in the 300-meter hurdles and finished second in the 200-meter dash at the annual state track meet. And he was literally right down the road from ENMU. In many ways, Bailey was the best kept secret in New Mexico high school football.
“Melrose is only about 20 or 30 miles from us, so we’ve known about Devon for a long time,” Lee said. “He’s a hidden gem. He’s 6-5 and run a 4.6 40. He’s dynamic. There was a handful of players in New Mexico we knew we really wanted to get and he was definitely one of those guys. I believe he’s one of the top prospects in New Mexico, period. He checks all the boxes. He just played at a small high school.”
Hawaii Five-O:
When he was a junior in 2019, 6-foot-7, 245-pound defensive end Sean Ivy was terrorizing opposing offenses for Pearl City (HI) High School on the Big Island. Sometime last spring or summer, he moved to Las Vegas. Somehow, Lee found out about him and quickly offered. He has yet to play a down for West Las Vegas, of course, but Lee is convinced Ivy would have emerged as one of the best players in the state had the fall season happened.
“He might be the most talented prospect in the state,” Lee said. “Even with his size, he has run the 40 in 4.7. He’s super talented. If he stayed in Hawaii, he might be a Power 5 guy. You put on his film and he’s phenomenal. But we’re glad not many people knew about him. We knew he had moved to Las Vegas. He has a lot of upside.
The Roswell Trio:
Best known for aliens crash landing mysterious spacecraft into cornfields, the city of Roswell is also a place where they play some pretty rugged high school football. Roswell High is the two-time defending Class 5A champions, while crosstown rival Goddard has two players who signed with ENMU: DL
Fernando RubioFernandoRubio6'2" | DLGoddard | 2021StateNM and WR
Nathaniel StoneNathanielStone6'2" | DBGoddard | 2021StateNM. Earlier, Goddard OL
Larry LunaLarryLuna6'5" | OLGoddard | 2021StateNM signed with New Mexico during the early signing period.
“Rubio is a tough defensive lineman,” Lee said. “Good pass rusher. He has quickness off the ball. He uses his hands really well and he’s really physical. He can be a defensive end that can rush the passer or put on some weight and move inside and be a three technique. He‘s a very versatile defensive lineman.”
Stone excelled as both a receiver and defensive back for the Rockets. His first look with ENMU will be on offense.
“Nate is a very big wide receiver that extremely physical,” Kelley said. “We run the ball a lot and our receivers have to be able to block. Nate has shown he’s a physical blocker. Watching his film, he imposes his will on people and getting physical. But he can also catch the ball and runs good routes and makes things happen. What sold us was his frame, work ethic and how physical he was.”
Roswell DB Talon Sanders helped spark the Coyotes to the back-to-back state championships with solid play in the secondary. He earned All-State honors in the secondary in 2019.
“He was pretty instrumental in Roswell winning those back-to-back championships,” Lee said. “He filled several roles for Roswell, but where he really stands out is as a defensive back. He’s a ballhawk. He’s not afraid to hit you. He tackles well He’s shown up on film for several years, particularly in big games.”
(In Part 2, we’ll take a look at six more New Mexico prospects signed by ENMU)
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