Former Vandal remains in coma
The first time I encountered Brandon Brown, the guard from Philadelphia was getting lectured by new Idaho coach Don Verlin during a scrimmage at Memorial Gym. That was before the start of the 2008-09 season, during which Brown played sparingly for the Vandals before quietly leaving the team mid-season. More than two years later, the 25-year-old remains hospitalized -- and in a coma -- after an early morning fight at a Moscow bar on Dec. 16.
You can read a story I put together on Brown here -- and click below for some UI football recruiting and WAC membership news.
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The Vandals, in the final stages of recruiting before signing day on Feb. 2, lost another player who had verbally committed this week. Dillon Lukehart, a star running back/safety at Eagle High, de-committed from Idaho and committed to Boise State after the Broncos offered him a scholarship. The switch was reported by the Idaho Statesman.
“Dillon yesterday was given an opportunity to fulfill a lifetime dream,” Eagle coach Paul Peterson told the Statesman. “It’s something where Dillon just feels he needs to go attack the dream he’s always had in his heart.”
Last month, Salt Lake City defensive linemane Desmond Collins de-committed from Idaho and switched to Oregon State. At the time, Collins cited the WAC's instability as a reason for choosing the Beavers. Which leads us to ...
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A new report suggests WAC commissioner Karl Benson is ready to move forward with expansion -- and apparently there are a number of suitors ready to make the move. Benson said there are schools ready to accept invites to the new-look league, and the moves could be announced as soon as April 1.
From the story in the Beaumont Enterprise:
While declining to name any football schools, Benson did say Seattle University, California State-Bakersfield and Utah Valley will be assessed as non-football members.
"We started the process today of evaluating a pool of potential candidates," he said. "That's all I can tell you. I don't think staying at eight (members) is one of our preferred options. Our preference is to get to 10, maybe even 12."
Multiple sources, one of which attended Friday's meeting, told the Express-News recently the list of football candidates includes, but is not necessarily limited to, Louisiana-Lafayette, Lamar, Sam Houston State, California-Davis, Portland State and Cal Poly.
The sources also said the WAC could make fresh runs at Montana and North Texas, both of which turned down invitations last November. If Montana were to be approached again, one of the sources said, Montana State would likely be considered as well.