Eastern New Mexico University Signs
Four Football Players to National Letters-of-Intent

Click here for ENMU Football Signings from Feb. 10-13, 2005
Click here for ENMU Football Signings on Feb. 17-21, 2005
Click here for ENMU Football Signings on Mar. 4, 2005

PORTALES, N.M. — Eastern New Mexico University head football coach Mark Ribaudo has announced the signing of four incoming freshmen to National Letters-of-Intent. The following list includes all players who signed National Letters-of-Intent with Eastern New Mexico University on the first day of the signing period on Feb. 2, 2005. All of the athletes listed will be freshmen during the 2005-06 academic year.

Ribaudo and his assistant coaches pursued quality rather than quantity in this year’s freshman class. The Greyhounds will return a significant number of starters, key backups and redshirts from the 2004 season.

ENMU finished 2004 with a 6-5 overall record (4-2 LSC South, 3rd place) for the Hounds’ seventh consecutive winning season. Head Coach Harold “Bud” Elliott retired at the end of December, and Ribaudo was promoted from defensive coordinator to head coach. Ribaudo is currently in his eighth year at Eastern.

“This is just the start of recruiting for Eastern New Mexico University,” Ribaudo said. “We’re still going to be recruiting pretty extensively. We expect to sign additional players very soon.”

ENMU Football Signings on February 2, 2005

Michael Capparelli
Houston, Texas
Punter/Place-kicker, Klein Forest High School
5’8” 155 lbs.

Capparelli was a First Team All-District player at Klein Forest High School, where he was both the punter and the place-kicker.

“He’s an All-District punter and kicker ... he can do both,” Ribaudo emphasized. “We were looking for someone who could come in and do both next year. We expect him to punt and to battle Lee Price (returning junior in 2005) for the kicking job.”

Jeremy Thompson
Sweetwater, Texas
Cornerback, Sweetwater High School
6’1” 148 lbs.

Thompson was chosen District MVP and was First Team All-South Plains as the starting quarterback at Sweetwater High School this past fall. He also earned All-Big Country honors. He played defensive back as a junior at Sweetwater, and will be a cornerback at ENMU.

“Jeremy Thompson in our opinion is one of the top athletes in West Texas,” Ribaudo said. “He’s a great quarterback/defensive back, he’s a great basketball player and he’s a great track athlete. His high school coach (Kent Jackson) told us he was a special player ... and that was from Steven Hinson’s high school coach (Hinson was Eastern’s starting quarterback in 2003 and 2004, and played for Jackson when both were at Olney High School in Texas). We’re really excited to have Jeremy playing for us.”

Mark Patterson
Farmer’s Branch, Texas
Mark Patterson — Defensive Back, R.L. Turner High School
6’0” 180 lbs.

Patterson earned Second Team All-District recognition as a defensive back at R.L. Turner High School in Carrollton, Texas. The Greyhounds anticipate he will be a key player for ENMU on defense.

“Mark is intelligent, he’s a leader and he’s a great athlete in the secondary,” Ribaudo said. “He makes plays on defense. He’s a playmaker.”

Marcus Robinson
Irving, Texas
Fullback, R.L. Turner High School
6’0” 205 lbs.

Robinson was chosen First Team All-District as a fullback at R.L. Turner High School, where he was a teammate of Patterson. He has the size and skill to battle for playing time during his freshman season.

“Marcus Robinson will be a difference maker in our option offense,” Ribaudo said. “He is a big back who can pull away from the defense. We are expecting big things and big plays from him.”

Ribaudo added about Patterson and Robinson both “handled themselves so well, with a lot of class, during their campus visit. We were so impressed with those kids.”