Offensive lineman Robert Castaneda has verbally committed to Utah State’s football program.
The sophomore announced his commitment to the Aggies Monday on Twitter. Castaneda was a first-team all-region selection this past season for Ellsworth Community College, which is located in Iowa Falls, Iowa.
During the past few months, Castaneda has posted on his Twitter account that he also had scholarships offers from Bowling Green, Akron, Texas State New Mexico State and Arkansas State, which USU beat 34-20 on Sept. 16, at Maverik Stadium.
As a mid-year junior college transfer, the native of Round Rock, Texas, can sign with the Aggies any time from Dec. 14, until Jan. 15, 2017.
“I’ve decided I’m going to commit and sign to Utah State university,” Castaneda posted on Twitter. “I thank god every day for the path he has taken me. Everyone who has stuck with me through this long process I thank them too. It truly is a blessing to have made this come back and to be able to play in the Mountain West conference. I’m looking forward to this off season and new chapter in my life. Go Aggies!”
Should Castaneda indeed sign with USU, this will be his second stint as a Division I player football. The 6-foot-5, 305-pounder was originally signed out of high school by Big 12 program Texas Tech and spent his freshman season with the Red Raiders.
However, Castaneda and two of his Texas Tech teammates were kicked off the team this past spring for “failure to uphold student-athlete expectations.” Castaneda, Dakota Devon Allen and Trace Keaton Ellison were indicted by a grand jury in June on felony charges of burglary of a habitation that accused “them of stealing seven guns worth more than $14,000 from a Lubbock (Texas) home,” according to an AP story.
The three men were accused of breaking into a home last winter and stealing two digital cameras, a TV and a gun safe that contained the aforementioned guns. According to the AP story, the men sold the guns to a pawnshop and the owner found one of the stolen guns there while looking for a new one.
The felony charges against the three men were dropped in August “in exchange for the players’ agreeing to perform community service and meet other requirements,” according to a different AP story. Under the conditions of this agreement, Castaneda, Allen and Ellison entered a pre-trial diversion program that included a number of provisions, including mandatory drug testing and theft intervention programs.
A pre-trial diversion program is pretty common punishment for first-time offenders.
According to an old biography on Texas Tech’s athletics website, Castaneda was a three-star recruit coming out of high school and also had scholarship offers from Kansas State, TCU, Purdue and Houston.
Castaneda is the third offensive lineman this fall from the 2017 recruiting class to pledge his commitment to the Aggies.
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