I was just browsing around Rivals.com when I spotted a new player had appeared on our commit list.  Couldn't find too much info on him, so I copy and pasted his bio from Saddleback College's Football Roster, home of the Gauchos in Mission Viejo, CA. That's right, the Gauchos

Anyways, on the season he caught 7 balls for 124 yds and 2 TDs in 9 games.  He also runs the 40 in 4.75 secs.  He visited a couple weeks ago and signed his LOI yesterday according to his Rivals Profile.  No word yet if he has appeared on any episodes of such MTV reality shows as 'Laguna Beach' or 'The Hills'

He provides depth to a somewhat thin TE group, especially with the graduation of Brandon Beal.

Anybody know anything else about this guy?

[Note by Mad.Mike, 04/13/09 6:24 PM CDT ]

Here's a recent scouting report by the user LutherVanDam on the Dog Pound:

A little background on Cali JUCO TE from Saddleback College, Nick "Sunshine" Groeniger...

...One of the reasons Nick signed late with NIU is the fact that not too many JUCO TE's were coveted during the early signing period in December. Only a handful of FBS teams were buying at that time and only half those were from BCS schools.

Another prevalent trend that's happening at many schools both on the HS level and the College level is the proliferation of "spread" offenses. Many employ "tweener" WR/TE (ie: 6'2-6'4 & 210-220)to fill the role of a bigger slot receiver or hybrid TE. The days of the true "hand down" TE offenses often referred to as "pro or west coast" offenses are diminishing.

The idea of recruiting JUCOs for an immediate position need definitely applies this year for JUCO TEs. If teams don't have immediate TE needs, they would prefer to recruit HS players that can fill either a TE or DE position depending on his development early on as an underclassman (like a 2 for 1 recruitment hedging).

He commited early to FCS University of North Dakota, but decided to wait it out for late spring attention. This is also a trend with many good JUCO players unsigned in early February. Many circumstances occur during spring practice and/or academic term at D1 schools and JUCOs could potentially fill an immediate void. Once film was sent out in late January, recruitment started to heat up with 6 or 7 schools in earnest. The word from many of the coaches who came calling was, "why wasn't this guys signed earlier?"

Saddleback College fits the trend in that they operated in spread personnel and often attacked with fly motion with multiple RB/Wing formations. Nick was used primarily in inside run blocking, roll out protection, play action boot and multiple TE goaline schemes. He didn't have many touches, but the one's he did have were critical back-breaking conversion down catches and big plays for good yardage in mixed downs by use of play action. His run blocking is very solid. Nick is comfortable being physical from a hand down position or from any movement in an H-Back attack. His athleticsm and hands are what's going to surprise many and the potential of becoming a 25+ catch TE is certainly attainable this season.

But perhaps the best thing NIU is getting is the quality of individual and character of Nick Groeniger. His 3.6 gpa speaks for itself. His solid work ethic on and off the field may be more associated with a midwest blue collar player rather than the laid back blonde surfer dude from the OC. He comes from good people and will no doubt provide immediate leadership, maturity, and experience playing against top shelf teams and players in SoCal JUCO football. His personality and humility will earn him respect from teammates and will certainly fit in right away.

Nick looks forward to competing this summer and fall for PT and learning from Coach Kill. He loves being a Huskie and will battle hard to get NIU to the top of the MAC. You Huskie faithful will be pleased with this JUCO addition.