Fairchild inks All-American linebacker
FORT COLLINS, Colo. - Colorado State has added another highly touted linebacker to its roster, signing Cordarius Golston. Head Coach Steve Fairchild made the announcement Wednesday.
Golston, a 6-foot-1, 215-pound sophomore with 4.58-second speed in the 40-yard dash, becomes the second junior-college transfer in CSU's 2011 class, joining defensive lineman Colton Paulhus. He's the second linebacker signed by the Rams this month, joining Shaquil Barrett, who came to Fort Collins after Nebraska-Omaha disbanded its football program.
A former high-school All-American who initially signed with the Arizona Wildcats, Golston is a sophomore with three years of eligibility, after transferring to CSU from Kilgore College. He used his redshirt season at Arizona in 2009.
Golston transferred from Arizona to Kilgore early in the 2010 season, after former Wildcats head coach Mark Stoops left for a position at Florida State. He joined Kilgore, within two hours of his hometown of Lancaster, Texas, after the team's first 2010 game. Still learning the defense, he made his college debut in Kilgore's second game, racking up 10 tackles, a sack and a pass broken up in one half of play.
Primarily an outside linebacker at Kilgore, which like CSU utilizes a 4-3 base defense with plenty of 3-4 looks, Golston had 50 tackles (29 solo), three tackles for loss, 2½ sacks and two blocked punts in seven games, missing some playing time due to injury. He also broke up three passes, forced a fumble and averaged nearly 10 tackles per game, sharing time as a starter.
But Golston's most impressive accomplishment at Kilgore came off the field as he expects this summer to earn an associates-in-arts degree, an accomplishment that generally takes two years, in only one year. When he arrives on the CSU campus July 13, he will pursue a degree in business administration.
A three-year starter for Head Coach Andrew Jackson at Lancaster (Texas) High School, a short drive from Mychal Sisson's Duncanville High School in the Dallas Metroplex, Golston was a PrepStar All-American and a Texas Top 100 selection as a senior in 2008, when he topped 120 tackles with 15 stops behind the line of scrimmage, including 10 sacks. He also recovered three fumbles in 2008 as both a defensive end and outside linebacker.
Golston started gaining national attention as a junior middle linebacker, with 124 stops, 10 tackles for loss, eight sacks and five forced fumbles in 2007. He was recruited by Ole Miss, Arkansas, Cincinnati and Baylor, among others.
He earned second-team all-district 15-4A honors as a sophomore in 2006, then consecutive first-team all-district honors as both a junior (2007) and senior (2008), when the Tigers sent 10 athletes to the Division I ranks. Like Barrett, Golston also wrestled in high school.