Rogers High School sending three linemen off to play NCAA Division I football

With tousled hair and sleepy grins, two Rogers defensive linemen formed the centerpiece of a low-key college football ceremony Wednesday in the Rogers High School gym.

Wyatt Gilmore and Adrian Onyiego signed letters of intent with colleges on the first day of the three-day early signing period for football players headed to NCAA Divisions I and II.

The 6-4, 250-pound Gilmore was ranked first or second among Minnesotans by recruiting services this season. He signed with Oklahoma, a school that rarely pursues football players this far north.

Onyiego, a 6-2, 205-pound linebacker/lineman hybrid, signed with Wyoming.

A third Rogers lineman, Wyatt Bell, wasn't able to fill out the anticipated talented Division I triad. The 6-4, 300-pound Bell, committed to North Dakota, was home recovering from shoulder surgery.

For Gilmore, it was a relaxed way to begin his final appearance at the high school. He is graduating early and had a 6 p.m. flight to Oklahoma scheduled Wednesday, setting up the beginning of his career with the Sooners.

"I did not get a lot of sleep last night, but it was for all the right reasons," Gilmore said. "It wasn't because I was nervous. It's because I'm so excited."

Gilmore's combination of physicality and athleticism caught the eyes of recruiters. "Last spring, we had recruiters from Miami here, Oregon, Oklahoma, Kansas, Kansas State," Rogers head coach Marc Franz said. "Major programs that we've never really experienced before up here."

Franz recalled when he first recognized that Gilmore had high-level skills.

Gilmore's mother, Anna, ran Rogers' concessions for a number of years. Once, before a game when Gilmore was in seventh grade, he called over to Franz, telling him to watch as he jumped a 4-foot-high chain link fence.

He cleared it with ease.

"He just had unlimited energy," Franz said. "My first reaction was, 'OK, be careful.' But then it was, 'That was pretty impressive right there.' "

Gilmore smiled broadly when told of that memory. "I cleared it," he said. "One hundred percent."

Gilmore, Onyiego and Bell formed the backbone of Rogers' recent success, including three straight state tournament appearances.

"We pushed each other and made each other better," Onyiego said. "Having him on the line, too, we were like brothers."

Gilmore is excited to begin training with the Sooners, but he won't be able to go full bore right away. He's still recovering from a broken navicular bone in his left foot.

He considers that just a temporary obstacle to his plans for the upcoming season. He doesn't anticipate redshirting and expects to get playing time as a freshman.

Gilmore said his time playing with Onyiego and Bell, as well as practicing his pass rushing moves with older brother Tommy, a defensive lineman at St. John's, sets him up nicely.

"Iron sharpens iron," he said. "Going against them every day has been a huge thing."