Signing Day Preview: Despite injury, Rancho Bernardo High’s Range still has offers on table
Rancho Bernardo High’s Tyree Range burst on the radar of college recruiters from big Division I schools early in the 2014 football season.
The 6-foot, 228-pound running back with a rare combination of speed and power had grabbed the attention of Arizona, UCLA, Oregon State and many others after he ran over and past the competition on the gridiron.
Range was averaging nearly nine yards per carry and his size, speed and power made him one of the most dominant running backs in the San Diego County. He committed to Montana before the start of his senior season, but opened the door to bigger schools by decommitting in October.
“It was pretty crazy,” Range said. “I had my mind set on going to Montana. I didn’t think I would have a great season like I did, but it happened and a bunch of schools started calling.”
But then the nightmare began. Range tore his ACL, meniscus and MCL in his left leg on Oct. 24 against Mt. Carmel. After he got the official news from the doctors, the interest from those big-time schools evaporated.
“The week that I found out, I lost interest from Arizona, UCLA and Oregon State,” said Range, who had surgery on Jan. 1 and hopes to return to football activities in August or September. “They all became uninterested in me. That was pretty tough. I was pretty sure I was going to end up at Arizona, so that was rough.”
It was not all terrible for Range, though, and he is thankful for the schools that have not lost faith in his ability.
As of press time, he has offers from Idaho and Colorado State sitting on the table. There is also some interest from San Diego State and San Jose State, he said last week.
So, despite the nightmarish injury, Range will still achieve his dream of earning a scholarship to play Division I football. And it will become official on National Signing Day Wednesday, when athletes from around the country in football, boys and girls soccer and boys water polo can officially ink their scholarship offers.
“It is definitely a dream come true,” said Range, who plans to reveal his school of choice on Signing Day at the San Diego Hall of Champions Signing Party Wednesday morning. “Almost every athlete’s dream is to play at the Division I level and not many are able to achieve it. I am going to be able to achieve it and hopefully take advantage of the opportunity I have been blessed with.”
Range is not the only local player waiting to announce his college choice on Signing Day. Del Norte cornerback Quenton Meeks had 11 offers, but has since narrowed it down to three schools: Stanford, Cal and Vanderbilt.
Meeks was a finalist for KUSI’s Silver Pigskin Award, which goes to the top player in San Diego. He recently starred in the West Coast Bowl.
The Poway girls soccer team has three players signing: Allie Seifert (Gonzaga), Liberty Taylor (Utah) and Jill Godfrey (Azusa Pacific).