Romero makes surprise decision

In one of the bigger recruiting surprises of the young season, if not the biggest, Tucson (Ariz.) Salpointe Catholic defensive lineman John Romero turned down offers from several Pac 10 schools including both in-state schools and has committed to Nevada.

"Yeah, I think this is really going to surprise a lot of people," Salpointe Catholic head coach Dennis Bene said. "The thing for John and I agree with it, bigger isn't always better. For John, it was trying to find the best fit and the place where he would be most comfortable and there is no question for him, that was Nevada.

"He really liked Coach (Chris) Ault a lot and felt a connection with their defensive line coach, Marty Long. He visited Nevada unofficially twice and when he took the second visit there and brought his dad with him, I knew he was very serious about the school. John said he just felt so comfortable there and Nevada is making a big commitment in terms of upgrading their facilities and everything that goes into that.

"On top of that, John loves the outdoors and the warm weather so it's kind of tough to beat Nevada for that. I actually thought Oregon State was where he was going to end up but Nevada just made more sense to him. Both Arizona and Arizona State offered early and did a nice job of recruiting him but John wanted to leave the area and once his parents understood that, their whole thing was finding the best place for him. His dad really liked Nevada on that visit too and loved Coach Ault. I'll tell you what, this is huge pickup for Nevada and John is a player that I think could really get that program going."

Romero, 6-5, 280 pounds is one of the elite lineman prospects in the entire West region and turned down offers from Arizona, ASU, Oregon State, Oregon, Utah and several others. He's the No. 3 rated player in Arizona and is one of the biggest recruits the Wolfpack have reeled in years.