Quarterbacks Jett Even and Jesse Hanckel head a list of 12 Pasadena City College football players committed to scholarships at 4-year universities to continue their academic/playing careers, it was announced by PCC head coach Tom Maher this morning.
Even, an All-SCFA quarterback as a freshman in 2015, signed with NCAA Division I-FCS Mississippi Valley State. Even passed for 2,337 yards and 19 touchdowns over his two seasons but had switched to play wide receiver for a good portion of the '16 season with Hanckel getting the majority of the signal caller snaps. Even came to PCC from Tigard High, Oregon.
Hanckel, the Lancers starting QB this past season, will attend DII Azusa Pacific University as he will play both football and baseball. Hanckel recently was named an All-South Coast Conference First Team pitcher and helped that Lancers 2017 team to the conference championship. For the Lancers 2016 football team, Hanckel passed for 1,522 yards and seven touchdowns as a redshirt freshman who had bounced back from Fresno State. Hanckel broke several passing records while at Village Christian High.
Defensive back Kendell Jefferson, an All-SCFA Metro League First Team selection, (Gladstone High) who made 45 tackles, broke up five passes, led PCC in interceptions with three and scored on a punt return TD, signed on with NAIA Rocky Mountain College in Montana. Letterman wide receiver Rasheem Whitfield will attend DII Old Dominican in Ohio. Whitfield totaled 31 catches for 405 yards (23.8 yards per reception) and four TDs in his two Lancers seasons. It's a return home for Whitfield who played his prep ball at Northwest High in Cincinnati, Ohio.
Defensive back Luis Luna (Rosemead High), who totaled 14 tackles, nine pass break-ups and one interception in two PCC seasons, committed to DII Lane College in Tennessee. Linebacker Elyjah Hoapili-Kreutz (St. Louis HS, Honolulu, Hawaii), who collected 40 tackles with 2.5 sacks and two forced fumbles in his two seasons, signed with DII Chowan University in North Carolina. Linebacker Daniel Moreno (Mark Keppel High), who made 29 tackles in 2016, will attend NAIA Waldorf University in Iowa.
Offensive linemen Steven Ramirez (Contreras Learning Center) and Roshad Leslie (Douglass High, Los Angeles) committed to NAIA Ottawa University in Surprise, Arizona.
Freshmen transfers from PCC were running back Jacob Fimbres (Sonora High), who totaled 343 all-purpose yards and two TDs, to DIII Lycoming College (Pennsylvania); linebacker Jalen Loska-Miller (San Clemente High) and fullback Anthony Alexander (La Puente High) both to Ottawa.
Additionally, freshman running back Reggie Harvey (Centennial High, Bakersfield), who rushed for 199 yards and three TDs, will attend APU as a walk-on.
In other PCC football news, freshman wide receiver Joseph Gregory has decided to hang up his cleats to transfer to USC for academics. Maher's '16 young coaching staff had a number of advancements with wide receiver coach Boomer Roepke becoming a special teams intern at the University of Minnesota, defensive line coach Tomas Rubio taking an intern position in scouting with the University of Miami, and offensive coordinator Ariel Bellofiore has become head coach at Salesian High in Los Angeles.