ROSEBURG – The early national signing period for college football recruits popped-up at Roseburg High School Thursday night. All-State linebacker Zack Mandera signed on the dotted line to officially commit to play football for Bruce Barnum and the Portland State Vikings.
“The coaching staff is unbelievable up there,” said Mandera. “They really made me feel at home when I went up there. And they built relationships with me, that was the biggest thing.”
Mandera was a four-year varsity player at Roseburg High School and earned second team All-State honors this year after being named the Southwest Conference defensive player of the year. In a release from PSU, coach Barnum said that Mandera can make an immediate impact for the Vikings and that’s an opportunity Mandera is looking forward to.
“What I am, is what they’re looking for,” Mandera explained. “They had a couple of guys graduate this year and they have a few younger guys and it’s just going to be a battle for positions.”
Portland State is coming off a 4-7 season and a 10th place finish in the 13-team Big Sky Conference. The Vikings have some big time opponents on their schedule for Mandera’s true freshman season, including Arkansas from the SEC and Boise State.
Mandera, also an All-State baseball player, said he will play high school baseball during the spring and will move to Portland during the summer before camp officially begins to get a head start.
Watch the full interview with Zack Mandera after he signed his letter of intent.
AUDIO ONLY PODCAST – To download, right click the link and choose “Save Link As…”
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | RSS
