University of Houston Athletics
Filling Holes Is Crux Of Briles' Second Haul
2/4/2004 12:00:00 AM | Football
Feb. 4, 2004
Class of 2004 Bios in PDF Format
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HOUSTON, Texas - Fresh off the most successful football season in seven years, University of Houston head coach Art Briles today announced the Cougars have signed 20 student-athletes to National Letters of Intent. Keeping with his pledge and dedication to his home state, all 21 soon-to-be-Cougars played high school football in the State of Texas.
Coming off a 7-6 season and a trip to the Sheraton Hawai'i Bowl, Briles and his staff were looking to fill some critical holes in both the offensive and defensive lines with the graduation of three offensive line starters and one defensive line starter. The Class of 2004 boasts four players on both sides of the ball, as well as two tight ends (Brian Boehm from Victoria Memorial High School and Waller High School's Mark Hafner), so Briles feels confident his staff accomplished its recruiting goals.
"We're really excited about (this recruiting class)," commented the second-year coach. "Our guys went out and did a great job recruiting this year. We feel really good about the guys coming in, (and) we feel like we fit some needs. That was the main thing we needed to do.
"We had some positions we felt we needed to shore up a bit and gain some depth over the next few years. We're really excited about the class. We're glad they're Cougars and ready to get them into our family."
The Cougars inked 20 freshmen and one junior college player, defensive tackle D.J. Johnson from Garden City (Kansas) Community College. Johnson played his high school football at Nimitz High School just north of Houston.
Briles and his staff stretched the state boundaries in their recruiting efforts, grabbing players from the Golden Triangle, East Texas, Central Texas, the Metroplex and of course, the Greater Houston area. Even though the Cougars grabbed only Smiley High School running back Harold Taylor from inside the Houston city limits, UH signed offensive lineman Michael Bloesch from Klein Collins High School, defensive lineman Victor Crosby from Cinco Ranch High School, offensive lineman Jake Ebner from Friendswood High School, Waller High School's Hafner, offensive lineman Mark Kimmey from Van Vleck High School and linebacker Cody Lubojasky from Kempner High School in Sugar Land.
Ebner's father, Tommy, played for the Cougars from 1977-79 and was a teammate of Briles and current assistant coach Mike Spradlin.
Recruiting Texas always will be the strategy for Briles.
"We think the best football is played here in the State of Texas," added Briles. "We have good connections with the high school coaches here, so I think that is a plus for us. We feel that these players come out well-trained (and) well-disciplined and ready to go. It allows us to get further along with them quicker.
"We live in Texas. We represent Texas, so we're going to play with Texas guys for the most part."
With the Cougars' wide-open offense, shoring up some depth at wide receiver also was a necessity, so Houston grabbed three of the state's faster, athletic wide outs. Joining the Cougars this fall are Curtis Shaw of Beaumont Ozen High School, Sylvester Walker of Cedar Hill High School, and Beaumont Central's Ivory Williams.
From the Metroplex the Cougars added linebacker Brendan Pahulu from Euless Trinity High School, as well as the Fort Worth Dunbar tandem of defensive back Sean Bailey and defensive lineman Phillip Hunt. Rounding out Houston's Class of 2004 are defensive backs Kenneth Fontenette (Pflugerville Connally High School) and Ernest Miller (Taylor High School), linebackers Chris Pilot (Lufkin High School) and Rodney Rideau (Port Arthur Memorial High School), defensive lineman Cody Pree of Hooks High School and Jasper High School offensive lineman SirVincent Rogers.
Houston is scheduled to begin spring practice on Monday, March 1, with the annual spring rite-of-passage culminating in the Red and White Game on Saturday, April 3, at John O'Quinn Field at Robertson Stadium. The Cougars-who return 43 lettermen and 18 starters from last season's post-season squad-will kick off the 2004 campaign by taking on cross-town rival Rice at Rice Stadium on Saturday, September 4, in the annual Administaff Bayou Bucket battle.
University of Houston Class of 2004
| Name | Cl. | Ht. | Wt. | Pos. | Hometown | Previous School |
| Sean Bailey | Fr. | 5-11 | 175 | DB | Fort Worth, Texas | Dunbar HS |
| Michael Bloesch | Fr. | 6-2 | 270 | OL | Spring, Texas | Klein Collins HS |
| Brian Boehm | Fr. | 6-5 | 220 | TE | Victoria, Texas | Memorial HS |
| Victor Crosby | Fr. | 6-4 | 280 | DL | Katy, Texas | Cinco Ranch HS |
| Jake Ebner | Fr. | 6-2 | 270 | OL | Friendswood, Texas | Friendswood HS |
| Kenneth Fontenette | Fr. | 6-0 | 165 | DB | Pflugerville, Texas | Connally HS |
| Mark Hafner | Fr. | 6-3 | 200 | TE | Waller, Texas | Waller HS |
| Phillip Hunt | Fr. | 6-3 | 250 | DL | Fort Worth, Texas | Dunbar HS |
| D.J. Johnson | Jr. | 6-3 | 295 | DL | Houston, Texas | Garden City CC |
| Mark Kimmey | Fr. | 6-5 | 274 | OL | Van Vleck, Texas | Van Vleck HS |
| Cody Lubojasky | Fr. | 6-3 | 200 | LB | Sugar Land, Texas | Kempner HS |
| Ernest Miller | Fr. | 6-2 | 190 | DB | Taylor, Texas | Taylor HS |
| Brendan Pahulu | Fr. | 6-3 | 214 | LB | Euless, Texas | Trinity HS |
| Chris Pilot | Fr. | 6-1 | 215 | LB | Lufkin, Texas | Lufkin HS |
| Cody Pree | Fr. | 6-2 | 280 | DL | Hooks, Texas | Hooks HS |
| Rodney Rideau | Fr. | 6-2 | 210 | LB | Port Arthur, Texas | Memorial HS |
| SirVincent Rogers | Fr. | 6-3 | 270 | OL | Jasper, Texas | Jasper HS |
| Curtis Shaw | Fr. | 6-1 | 170 | WR | Beaumont, Texas | Ozen HS |
| Harold Taylor | Fr. | 6-0 | 210 | RB | Houston, Texas | Smiley HS |
| Sylvester Walker | Fr. | 6-2 | 185 | WR | Cedar Hill, Texas | Cedar Hill HS |
| Ivory Williams | Fr. | 5-10 | 175 | WR | Beaumont, Texas | Central HS |
Eligible Transfers for 2004
| Name | Cl. | Ht. | Wt. | Pos. | Hometown | Previous School |
| Kendal Briles | Jr. | 5-11 | 195 | QB | Lubbock, Texas | Texas |
| Sterling Doty | So. | 6-1 | 290 | OL | Stephenville, Texas | Army |
| James Fitch | Jr. | 6-0 | 220 | LB | Texas City, Texas | Texas Tech |
| Ryan Gilbert | Jr. | 5-10 | 206 | IB | Dallas, Texas | LSU |
