ASU pledge signs LOI

Hard work, persistence and faith in his ability brought three-star quarterback Michael Bercovici (6-2, 205) from Woodland Hills (Calif.) Taft to a moment of celebration in front family, friends, coaches and teammates when he signed his letter of intent to Arizona State at school last Friday.

Bercovici's road to success was not an easy one. He was originally at Westlake Village (Calif.) Westlake before he transferred to Taft. He had to sit out his junior season due to transfer rules and that really put a damper on his recruitment.

It is hard enough for quarterbacks to be recruited as D-I schools tend to only sign one a class and it is harder still when you don't have any junior footage to showcase your skills to colleges.

Bercovici was outstanding at every camp he attended and impressed coaches and onlookers alike, but colleges didn't want to pull the trigger until they saw him perform in the heat of battle.

One school showed they had faith and offered the strong armed Bercovici a scholie and it didn't take him long to payback their trust in him by pledging to Arizona State and though once other colleges saw Bercovici in action gauged his loyalty to the Sun Devil program and it was unwavering.

Bercovici could make the Sun Devil brain-trust look like geniuses as he was outstanding his senior season completing 60.2 percent of his passes for 3,755 yards and 37 touchdowns against only nine interceptions. His performance saw him lead his team to a 9-4 record and reaching the semi-finals in the city section playoffs.

A grateful Bercovici addressed his family, friends, coaches and teammates at the signing ceremony.

"I want to thank my parents for raising me as a great young man throughout my life," Bercovici said. "Especially my mom and sister supporting me. They weren't the ones helping me out with football, they were helping me out as a young man.

"Obviously, my dad, he's been amazing," Bercovici said. "Throughout my entire life he not only taught me to be a good football player, but a great man.

"Coming to Taft was an amazing journey for me," Bercovici said. "Meeting Coach K (Head Coach Matt Kerstetter) and Coach Rizzo were a blessing. They were two of the best coaches you could ever play for and obviously my teammates they made it one of the most fun experiences I have ever had playing football."

Arizona State may have also picked up a pretty good recruiter in Bercovici because he was working USC defensive tackle commit, Antwaun Woods and his main target the fast rising Michael Thomas, who seems to racking up the offers lately.

Bercovici will be heading to Arizona State on January 15 and his first day of school will on the 18th. He's going to hit the campus running as he wants to immerse himself Arizona State's offense so he can hopefully get into the discussion for playing time. Remember this young man is hungry as he had to sit out his junior season.

"I think the first day, they (ASU coaching staff) are going to have me the meeting rooms and I will start learning the offense," Bercovici said. "I think pretty soon I will be getting some the film work to load up in my computer so I can start on it, but other than that I will be getting in the weight room and get ready."