Giants' Wright signs with San Jose State
By Nick Giannandrea
COS Athletics
Seizing an opportunity to return to his roots in the Bay Area, College of the Sequoias' defensive lineman Noah Wright has signed a scholarship offer to continue his football career at San Jose State.
The Spartans, who were the first school to offer Wright a scholarship, are getting a 6-foot-5, 330-pounder who helped the Giants go 6-5 overall this season and reach their first bowl game since 2010.
"I'm really happy for him," COS coach Joe D'Agostino said. "He's worked hard for this opportunity and put in a lot of time, energy and effort to get to this point. I trust the guys on (San Jose State's) staff that they will do a good job with Noah. I know they are really excited to have a player of Noah's caliber."
Wright, who grew up in Santa Clara before his family moved to Lemoore in 2015, was named the Central Valley Conference's Defensive Player of the Year after making 56 tackles, including 21 for losses, four sacks, three pass breakups and a forced fumble for the Giants.
Wright is joining a Mountain West Conference program under third-year coach Brent Brennan that went 5-7 overall, including a 31-24 victory at Arkansas of the mighty Southeastern Conference and a 17-16 defeat of Fresno State in 2019.
He was also recruited by Illinois, Hawaii, Purdue, Arizona State, San Diego State and USC.
"I think he could have started anywhere in the Mountain West this year," D'Agostino said. "I think he could have started anywhere in the Pac-12. San Jose State is getting a premier player to go to a program that traditionally has not gotten premier players. I think he will have an immediate impact on their defensive front. San Jose state got better today. Obviously I'm biased, but I think they got the best junior college defensive linemen in the country coming there."
Wright blossomed into one of the state's best community college defensive linemen as a sophomore after taking a break from football in 2018 to attend to a family emergency.
Wright spent a year away from the game while helping care for his father, Tana Wright, who suffered a massive heart attack in February 2018 that left him hospitalized for months.
"I am really happy for him and his family," D'Agostino said. "They have been through so much. He really deserves this."
Wright came to COS in 2017 after earning West Yosemite League Defensive Player of the Year honors as a senior at Lemoore High. Wright had 20 tackles, including seven for losses and 2.5 sacks as a freshman for the Giants.
Wright is the only member of the Giants' sophomore class to sign so far, but he won't be the last, COS coach Joe D'Agostino said.
Quarterback Gus Villareal (Dinuba) and defensive back Israel Garcia (Dinuba) were poised to sign with an NAIA university Dec. 18, but held off on signing while exploring options with a Division II school.
Several other COS players - including running back Davonte Green (Hammond, La.), receivers Sergio Pena (Selma) and JoJo Saldivar (Dinuba), defensive linemen Corleone Peters (New Orleans) and Undra Coverson (Macon, Ga.), linebackers Judah Ruckman (Springville), Mitch Maggini (Riverdale), Jeremiah Russell (Knoxville, Tenn.) and Rook Landers (Knoxville, Tenn.), and defensive backs Bobby Peele (Edison) and Jupri Hughes (Hanford) - are expected to sign in May.
Peters is expected to be the marquee signing of that group as the 6-3, 300-pounder has has drawn interest from schools in the Mountain West, Pac-12 and Big 12 conferences, according to D'Agostino.
"You build a relationship with these kids and you want to see them be successful and be a part of the legacy of guys who have come here and moved on," D'Agostino said. "It's a culmination of their hard work and our staff's placement. We're right around 90 percent placement the last five years. Not everyone will be Division I, but we're going to try and find you a home if you come here and you do everything you can for us as a student and an athlete."
