There is some info to pass on featuring a new recruit, a likely transfer as well as updates on three familiar names to Yale football followers.

First, Ryan Stanney a 6-foot-2, 235-pound tight end out of Orlando's Bishop Moore High School, has committed to Yale and been sent a likely letter. He becomes the 27th recruit I can confirm has been sent a likely letter meaning his application has been approved by the Yale admissions department. For those who have been following along in this process and believe it should be No. 28, word I am getting is that Texas receiver Avery Lewis is likely to go the prep school route. Stanney was part of a Bishop Moore team which advanced to the Florida 2A quarterfinals. I don't have his complete season stats but through games of Nov. 4 on the Orlando Sentinel website, Stanney had 19 catches for 256 yards in eight games. Word I am hearing is that Yale is not quite done with its class just yet as a couple of prospects are currently having their applications reviewed.


Now for the latest on former Duke defensive lineman Tevin Hood, I have been able to confirm that he did visit Yale and met with the Yale coaching staff. His application will not be read until after admissions department is done with reading those of high school seniors. However, Hood was a decorated student-athlete at Hamilton High School in Chandler, Arizona and was named as a regional winner in the 2010 National Football Foundation National High School Scholar-Athlete Award program so assuming he took care of business at Duke, you would think getting the stamp of approval from Yale shouldn't be an issue. His application will be read next month and if accepted he would be immediately eligible in the fall and have three years of eligibility remaining. Hood played in four games as a freshman at Duke.

Speaking of defensive lineman, former starter Pat Moran is back in school after taking the fall semester off to help with his father's re-election congressional campaign in Virginia's 8th district. Receiver Peter Balsam is delaying his re-enrollment until the fall but like Moran, is expected back after not playing last season. Both Moran and Balsam will be seniors. One player who won't be back is center Jake Koury. Koury was eligible for a fifth season of eligibility, who is planning to graduate and leave his football days behind him.

For those looking for the list of Yale recruits, here are the 27 players who have received likely letters from Yale.

OL Ben Carbery 6-5 265 Oak Park (River Forest, Ill.)
K/P Kyle Cazzetta 5-10 180 Minisink Valley (Slate Hill, N.Y.)
OL William Chism 6-3 260 Saint Andrews Episcopal School (Ridgeland, Miss.)
TE Adam Conklin 6-3 230 Choate (Wallingford)
DE E.J. Conway 6-2 215 McDonogh (Owings Mills, Md.)
DB Charles Cook 6-3 180 Parish Episcopal (Dallas)
DB Rob Coury 6-1 195 St. Edward (Lakewood, Ohio)
DE Chris Coyne 6-4 225 Staples (Westport)
DB Ethan DeSilva 6-1 190 Mission Viejo (Calif.)
OL Andy Ellis 6-3 290 Cinco Ranch (Katy, Tex.)
DL Max Fink 6-1 215 Gulliver Prep (Miami)
DE Davis Franks 6-4 235 Grace Christian Academy (Knoxville, Tenn.)
DB L.J. Hunt 6-0 195 St. Joseph (Trumbull)
QB Tyler Hutchison 5-11 165 Huntington (W.V.)
LB Everett Johnson 5-10 205 Union (N.J.)
RB Kahlil Keys 5-11 200 Choate (Wallingford)
DB Nick LaTesta 5-9 165 Bergen Catholic (Oradell, N.J.)
LB Tyler Manu 6-1 200 Rocky Mountain (Meridian, Idaho)
DE/LB Pat Murray 6-3 215 Staples (Westport)
DE Jeff Schmittgens 6-3 245 Benet Academy (Lisle, Ill.)
OL Jack Sheahan 6-2 265 St. Rita (Chicago)
OL Stephen Shoemaker 6-2 270 Bronxville (N.Y.)
DE/TE Matt Spillane 6-5 210 Healdsburg (Calif.)
TE Ryan Stanney 6-2 235 Bishop Moore (Orlando, Fla.)
K Parker Toms 5-10 180 Serra (San Mateo, Calif.)
OL Seth Walker 6-4 240 Pope John II (Nashville, Tenn.)
WR Grant Wallace 6-0 180 Burroughs (St. Louis)

Malcolm Holland, a receiver from Chandler, Arizona, has committed to Boise State.

The move is not a shock since he was quoted as saying he would commit to Boise if he was offered a scholarship. Obviously that happened during his visit to the school over the weekend. Holland visited Yale earlier this month.

According to a blog entry from the Arizona Republic, defensive lineman Tevin Hood is no longer at Duke and may be looking at Yale.

If the name is familiar, it is because Yale recruited Hood pretty heavily out of Hamilton High in Chandler, Arizona before he opted to go to Duke on an academic scholarship.

The 5-foot-11, 305-pound Hood played in four games as a freshman at Duke and had four assisted tackles. He made his debut against Elon on Sept. 4 and did not record a tackle. Hood had two assisted tackles against Wake Forest on Sept. 11 and the following week had an assisted stop and 1/2 tackle for a loss against Alabama and also had a tackle against Virginia Tech.

As a senior at Hamilton High in 2009, Hood had 135 tackles including 19 sacks.

Here is a story on Hood announcing his decision to transfer filed the night he received a national scholar-athlete award at the National Football Foundation banquet.

One more note of interest, Hood's father is Eric Swann who was the Arizona (then known as Phoenix) Cardinals' first round pick in the 1991 draft. Swann had 46 1/2 sacks in 10 NFL seasons and played in the 1995 and 1996 Pro Bowls.

There will be a story on Yale linebacker Jesse Reising in Sunday's edition of the Register. The last time most Yale fans likely saw Reising, he was laying on the ground at Harvard Stadium after a violent collision with Harvard running back Gino Gordon in the fourth quarter of the Nov. 20 game.

Reising's right arm was still in a sling when I sat down with him earlier this month. He spends about four hours in physical therapy daily and is planning to head to the Mayo Clinic next week for a comprehensive evaluation to see if surgery is needed.

A sad aspect of Reising's story is that his dream of becoming an officer in the Mariners is currently on hold as the injuries he suffered led to him being disenrolled from officer training. Despite the circumstances, he is keeping a very positive approach to his uncertain future.

Shortly before scoring 14 points and pulling down six rebounds in Choate's 73-42 win over Avon Old Farms on Friday, former Hyde football/basketball star Deshawn Murphy placed a call to Yale football coach Tom Williams.

Williams was expecting to hear from the talented 6-foot-4 receiver but the news was not good for the Bulldogs as Murphy called to inform Williams that he was committing to Lehigh.

Murphy had recently visited both Lehigh and Lafayette just in case he didn't get enough of a bump in his SAT scores to land into one of the recruiting bands at Yale.

On Wednesday Murphy received his latest SAT scores.

"They (his scores) didn't come back what they needed to be," Murphy said. "I decided not to take it again and happy with my decision because Lehigh is a great fit for me.

"There is a little disappointment but Lehigh is a great opportunity. Even though Yale is a great place, they can't go and compete for a national titles. Ivy (schools) can't go to the playoffs. There are pros and cons about everything so if I go to Lehigh, I'll get to compete for a national title. I will play in a little higher level of athletics so I am not complaining about the decision and about not getting the scores. I had an opportunity and I didn't get a chance to take advantage of that opportunity so one door closes and another one opens."

The toughest part for Murphy was making the call to Williams who was hoping Murphy would join his Choate football teammates Adam Conklin and Kahlil Keys and basketball teammate Brandon Sherrod as freshmen at Yale in the fall.

"Coach Williams, I love him over there," Murphy said. "He asked if I was happy about my decision and consulted me about possibly some other schools. I have a good relationship with the Yale coaches, I have a good relationship with a lot of coaches so that door is always open for me. If that is the place I feel I need to be, I can always go there. That door is not closed."

Murphy said he is planning to head to Lehigh in July and will major in mechanical engineering.

Murphy would have been one of the top gets in Yale's incoming freshman class had things worked out. The blow of losing Murphy to Lehigh will be softened by the fact that Yale has two talented receiving among its list of reported commitments in 6-foot-5 Avery Lewis out of Richardson, Tex. and 6-foot Grant Wallace out of St. Louis. Yale is also in the mix with Malcolm Holland from Chandler, Ariz. Holland visited Yale earlier this month, was expected to visit Air Force this weekend before making to trip to his favored school Boise State next week.

As for the basketball game, Wallingford's John Papale (who still has another season of eligibility) led the way with 21 points with four 3-pointers, eight rebounds and four assists, Sherrod had 11 points and 11 rebounds, Dennis Levene had 10 points and Sacred Heart bound Phil Gaetano had seven points and five assists.

Healdsburg (CA) High tight end/defensive end Matt Spillane becomes the 27th known player to commit to Yale according to a report in the Press-Democrat


CONFIRMED COMMITMENTS (HAVE BEEN SENT LIKELY LETTERS)
OL Ben Carbery 6-5 265 Oak Park (River Forest, Ill.)
OL William Chism 6-3 260 Saint Andrews Episcopal School (Ridgeland, Miss.)
DE Chris Coyne 6-4 225 Staples (Westport)
DL Max Fink 6-1 215 Gulliver Prep (Miami)
RB Kahlil Keys 5-11 200 Choate (Wallingford)
DB Nick LaTesta 5-9 165 Bergen Catholic (Oradell, N.J.)
DB L.J. Hunt 6-0 195 St. Joseph (Trumbull)
QB Tyler Hutchison 5-11 165 Huntington (W.V.)
RB/LB Everett Johnson 5-10 205 Union (N.J.)
DE/LB Pat Murray 6-3 215 Staples (Westport)
OL Stephen Shoemaker 6-2 270 Bronxville (N.Y.)
OL Seth Walker 6-4 240 Pope John II (Nashville, Tenn.)

REPORTED COMMITMENTS
K/P Kyle Cazzetta 5-10 180 Minisink Valley (Slate Hill, N.Y.)
TE Adam Conklin 6-3 230 Choate
DE E.J. Conway 6-2 215 McDonogh (Owings Mills, Md.)
DB Charles Cook 6-3 180 Parish Episcopal
DB Rob Coury 6-1 195 St. Edward (Lakewood, Ohio)
DB Ethan DeSilva 6-1 190 Mission Viejo (Calif.)
OL Andy Ellis 6-3 290 Cinco Ranch (Katy, Tex.)
DE Davis Franks 6-4 235 Grace Christian Academy (Knoxville, Tenn.)
WR Avery Lewis 6-5 200 Richardson (Tex.)
LB Tyler Manu 6-1 200 Rocky Mountain (Meridian, Idaho)
DE Jeff Schmittgens 6-3 245 Benet Academy (Lisle, Ill.)
OL Jack Sheahan 6-2 265 St. Rita (Chicago)
DE/TE Matt Spillane 6-5 210 Healdsburg (Calif.)
K Parker Toms 5-10 180 Serra (San Mateo, Calif.)
WR Grant Wallace 6-0 180 Burroughs (St. Louis)

Former Yale defensive coordinator Don Brown has been named the defensive coordinator at UConn.

Read the story here.

As the commitments began rolling in over the last week or two, it seemed as if more Connecticut players than normal were headed to Ivy League programs.

Hey, who could blame Ivy recruiters for seeking out Nutmeg State prospects since in the 2010 season Connecticut natives finished:
1st and 3rd in passing efficiency (Sean Brackett and Billy Ragone)
3rd and 5th in rushing (Alex Thomas and Ragone)
3rd in receiving yards (Andrew Kennedy)
1st, 5th and 9th in total offense (Brackett, Ragone, Thomas)

So I did a little checking and unless I missed somebody, I found 11 Connecticut natives committed to Ivy League schools. I am not including kids from Connecticut prep schools who grew up in another state on this list.

RB Jimmy Connelly, Stonington Brown
DE Chris Coyne, Staples Yale
QB Seth DeValve, Manchester Princeton
RB Jonathan Esposito, Conard Princeton
DB L.J. Hunt, St. Joseph Yale
TE Mitch King, Valley Regional Penn
DB Peter McDonough, Darien Cornell
LB Patrick Murray, Staples Yale
OL Ryan Peloquin, St. Paul Princeton
OL Chris Valenti, Bethel Harvard
OL Jeff Winthrop, St. Paul's (N.H.) Dartmouth
*-Winthrop is from Roxbury

So how does that stack up to previous years? Well, there were nine freshmen, nine sophomores, three juniors and 11 seniors on Ivy League rosters during this past season so I guess I wasn't imagining things.

Thanks to an alert reader who notified me that Richardson (TX) receiver Avery Lewis is also committed to Yale according to the Dallas Morning News.

Lewis is 6-foot-5, 200 pounds and caught 33 passes for 452 yards as a senior for a team that ran the ball more than 70 percent of the time. He also plays for the Richardson basketball team. By my count, that brings the number of known commitments to 26 including 12 that I have been able to confirm have been accepted and sent out likely letters.

Also, here is a story on Morgan Park offensive lineman Matthew Porter who is planning to spend next season at Choate before enrolling at Yale. It's a path that has worked pretty well in the past few years as Allen Davis, Charles Holmes and Roy Collins are rising juniors who were teammates at Choate in 2008 and all could have prominent roles with the Bulldogs in the upcoming season. This year Yale has received commitments from Kahlil Keys and Andy Conklin and are still in the mix with former Hyde product Deshawn Murphy.

As promised, here is the list of players who have committed to Yale. The list is broken down into two parts. The first one includes the 13 players I have been able to confirm have been accepted at Yale. The second group are the ones who I have been able to find published reports of their commitments to Yale courtesy of other newspaper websites. That doesn't mean that they haven't been accepted at Yale, simply that I have not yet been able to confirm that they have received likely letters.

Although today is the start of the football signing period, that is irrelevant to Yale unless one of its committed players signs with a scholarship school (which happened when Joliet Catholic lineman Kyle Rouse signed with Air Force). But I still thought it was a good time to provide as comprehensive a list of Yale commits as I could.


Pos Player Ht. Wt. School
OL Ben Carbery 6-5 265 Oak Park (River Forest, Ill.)
A three-year starter on the offensive line
OL William Chism 6-3 260 Saint Andrews Episcopal School (Ridgeland, Miss.)
Leader of offensive line which averaged more than 300 rushing yards per game
DE Chris Coyne 6-4 225 Staples (Westport)
106 tackles, 12 sacks as a senior and recorded 16 sacks as a junior
DL Max Fink 6-1 215 Gulliver Prep (Miami)
Had 13 sacks as a junior and led team to two shutout wins as a senior
DB L.J. Hunt 6-0 195 St. Joseph (Trumbull)
Ran for nearly 1,000 yards and had 75 tackles for Class S champions
QB Tyler Hutchison 5-11 165 Huntington (W.V.)
Had more than 1,400 yards of total offense and 18 TDs as senior
RB/LB Everett Johnson 5-10 205 Union (N.J.)
Sideline to sideline defensive player was a two-year captain
RB Kahlil Keys 5-11 200 Choate (Wallingford)
Ran for 2,776 yards and 29 touchdowns as Casa Grande (Calif.) before spending PG season at Choate
DB Nick LaTesta 5-9 165 Bergen Catholic (Oradell, N.J.)
47 tackles, 4 interceptions as a senior
DE/LB Pat Murray 6-3 215 Staples (Westport)
107 tackles, 15 sacks as a senior after having 9 sacks and two forced fumbles as junior
OL Stephen Shoemaker 6-2 270 Bronxville (N.Y.)
Offensive guard/defensive tackle was named New York Class C Player of the Year
OL Seth Walker 6-4 240 Pope John II (Nashville, Tenn.)
Named to Hendersonville Star News all-county squad as an offensive lineman.

REPORTED COMMITMENTS
K/P Kyle Cazzetta 5-10 180 Minisink Valley (Slate Hill, N.Y.)
Was 9 of 14 on field goals including a New York Section 9 record 51 yarder
TE Adam Conklin 6-3 230 Choate
Post Grad from Dover, Mass. became reliable option in passing game as season wore on
DE E.J. Conway 6-2 215 McDonogh (Owings Mills, Md.)
Team captain was named to the MIAA A All-Conference squad and also started at offensive guard
DB Charles Cook 6-3 180 Parish Episcopal (Dallas)
Had 16 interceptions as a senior for TAPPS Division II champions
DB Rob Coury 6-1 195 St. Edward (Lakewood, Ohio)
Had 77 tackles and seven interceptions as a senior
DB Ethan DeSilva 6-1 190 Mission Viejo (Calif.)
Named to the All-CIF Pac-5 Division first team as a cornerback
OL Andy Ellis 6-3 290 Cinco Ranch (Katy, Tex.)
Leader of an offensive line which opened holes for two 1,200-yard rushers
DE Davis Franks 6-4 235 Grace Christian Academy (Knoxville, Tenn.)
Tennessee Class 1-A Mr. Football Award winner after having 30 tackles for losses and 15 sacks
LB Tyler Manu 6-1 200 Rocky Mountain (Meridian, Idaho)
Team captain was second team 5A Southern Idaho Conference selection
DE Jeff Schmittgens 6-3 245 Benet Academy (Lisle, Ill.)
Two-year starter had 38 tackles and two sacks as a senior
OL Jack Sheahan 6-2 265 St. Rita (Chicago)
A major reason why 11-2 Mustangs averaged nearly 250 rushing yards per game
K Parker Toms 5-10 180 Serra (San Mateo, Calif.)
Had two field goals against Archbishop Mitty and is outstanding on kickoffs
WR Grant Wallace 6-0 180 Burroughs (St. Louis)
Had 81 catches for 1141 yards and had 24 touchdowns as a senior including six on special teams

On the other side of things, here's an update on some Connecticut kids who drew varying amount of interest from Yale but ended up committing elsewhere
RB Jonathan Esposito, Conard (Princeton)
RB Ross McDonald, Avon (Army)
OL Ryan Peloquin, St. Paul (Princeton)
QB Sean Goldrich, Notre Dame-West Haven (New Hampshire)
OL Jeff Winthrop, St. Paul's School-New Hampshire (Dartmouth)
- Winthrop is from Roxbury.

Yale has three in-state commitments and it could become four if former Hyde standout Deshawn Murphy, who is now at Choate, gets the SAT scores he needed to be placed into one of Yale's recruiting bands. Murphy, an athletic 6-foot-4 receiver who is also a standout basketball player, should be getting the results in the next couple of days.

According to Times Herald-Record in Middletown, N.Y., kicker/punter Kyle Cazzetta has committed to Yale.

The kicking game was not one of Yale's strengths last season as Alex Barnes, who is graduating, and Phillippe Panico were a combined 6 for 14 on field goals and combined to miss three extra points and the Bulldogs averaged just 35.6 yards per punt.

Cazzetta was 9 of 14 on field goals as a senior at Minisink Valley High in Slate Hill, N.Y. will all five of the misses from at least 45 yards and did not miss an extra point.

Also, rivals.com is reporting the McDonogh HS defensive end E.J. Conway has committed to Yale.

Although the national signing day does not apply to Yale, I will still publish a list of Yale commits either later today or tomorrow.