The Colorado Buffaloes added some offensive line depth today as they received a verbal commitment from a big offensive lineman in Eric Richter, according to his rivals.com player page. Richter, the 6'5" 315 pound guard, played his last two seasons at Saddleback Junior College in Mission Viejo, California. Before attending junior college, Richter played his high school ball at Capistrano Valley. Saddleback Junior College is the same institution that produced former Buff commit RB PT Gates and former Buff player QB Nick Nelson. Gates failed to qualify and Nelson never saw much action in his time at Colorado. As is always the case at the University of Colorado, we will have to see if Richter will have admissions issues coming from a junior college. We all know the stories of LB Shaun Mohler and WR Andre Simmons and the difficulty in academically qualifying for Colorado. Hopefully he is a full qualifier and can get into school starting this spring semester, something that helps any incoming student athlete adjust to division one football and University classes.
Richter had a strong sophomore season at Saddleback, anchoring the offensive line on a team that won their bowl game and finished 9 - 2 in the National Division Southern Conference:
The accolades continue to pile in for the football team, which finished 9-2 on the season, winning the Western State Bowl 31-20 over College of the Canyons on November 21. A total of 14 members of the team were named to the National Division Southern Conference All Conference teams.
The Gauchos had two unanimous choices, with offensive guard Eric Richter.
Richter also had offers from Arkansas State and San Diego State. He was receiving interest from SEC and PAC 10 schools as well but had not been offered before his commitment to Colorado.
Back when he was in high school at Capistrano, Richter played in the Orange County All Star game
Here is a piece from his junior college website:
Returns to Saddleback for his sophomore season after playing in six games as a freshman in 2008. He was a First Team All-South Coast League selection as a both a junior and senior at Capistrano Valley High School. Richter plans to major in criminal justice and his cousin, Ian Kennedy, is a pitcher in the New York Yankees organization.
More to come as we get more information, welcome Eric.