St. Louis receiver commits to Hawai'i

Advertiser Staff

All-state receiver Ross Dickerson of St. Louis School said yesterday he has accepted a football scholarship offer from University of Hawai'i.

Dickerson said he canceled a recruiting trip to Colorado after his visit to Hawai'i.

"I told my parents I wanted to go to UH and they agreed," he said.

He said he also was recruited by Washington State and Idaho.

Dickerson said he will sign a full-scholarship agreement with Hawai'i on Feb. 6, the first day colleges can sign high school football players.

"I'm looking forward to playing with the other St. Louis players there," he said.

Dickerson "really stepped it up in classroom and on the field after he realized the opportunity in front of him," said Georges Gilbert, assistant athletic director at St. Louis. "He blossomed through maturity."

Dickerson said he was recruited by Ron Lee, current UH and former St. Louis assistant, to play slotback. He is 5 foot 11 and weighs 175 pounds.

"He's a real exciting football player and a good student athlete," Gilbert said. Gilbert said Dickerson achieved higher than a 3.0 (B) average for the fall semester, bringing his cumulative to 2.4.

Dickerson said he would be eligible to play next season under NCAA rules.

He caught 25 passes for 302 yards and two touchdowns in 2001. Those figures were less than his junior season totals of 31 catches for 462 yards and four touchdowns, because "the ball was spread around a lot more this season," Dickerson said.

He also rushed 25 times for 167 yards and two touchdowns and returned 10 kickoffs for 200 yards last season.

In Dickerson's three-year varsity career at St. Louis, he averaged 13.0 yards each time he touched the ball statistically (1,375 yards on 106 touches).