Hoosiers Can't Pass on St. Fort

IU assistant coach Billy Lynch had made a spring trip to Naples, Fla., to watch J.D. Woods and Anthony Mains in action. But he also came away impressed with the play of safety Peter St. Fort, who became the 15th member of IU's recruiting class on Friday...

Bloomington, Ind. – Peter St. Fort proved to be too good for IU to pass up.

When IU assistant coach Billy Lynch traveled to Naples, Fla., in the spring to see Golden Gate High School’s spring game, he had planned to take a closer look at prized defensive end Anthony Mains as well as talented wide receiver J.D. Woods. Woods wound up missing the game with a sprained ankle suffered playing AAU basketball, while Mains starred from his defensive end position. But St. Fort’s performance also made Lynch take notice.

“Peter had an outstanding spring game,” said Golden Gate H.S. Coach Dave Tanner. “He wasn’t on (IU’s) main list, but he had such a great game he realized he better try to recruit him. It worked out really well.”

St. Fort received an IU scholarship offer last month and accepted Friday. A 6’1”, 190-pound safety, St. Fort is the 15th player to commit to IU for the Class of 2008.

“Indiana is getting a great free safety, someone who is smart, reads the field well, gets after it,” said St. Fort’s prep teammate, J.D. Woods. “He can lay a hit on you and also go up and get an interception. That’s a big time free safety IU is getting.”

Tanner said St. Fort runs in the low 4.5s for the 40 and is capable of playing either safety or cornerback. A year ago he totaled 39 tackles along with a pair of interceptions.

“For us, he’s plays a little bit of both (cornerback and safety),” Tanner said. “If we’re in need of someone to lock somebody down, we’ll put him at corner. Or, he can be at safety and play the field. It varies from game to game.”

Indiana was the first school to offer a scholarship to St. Fort, although he was hearing from a handful of others including Northwestern and Vanderbilt. But with Golden Gate’s season set to start in two weeks, he wanted to get the decision out of the way.

“Indiana was his best choice, and he didn’t want to have to worry about recruiting with the season coming up,” Tanner said.

Now that St. Fort is Bloomington bound, he’ll likely become the Hoosiers’ top recruiter when it comes to Woods and Mains, both of whom are giving serious consideration to going to IU as well.

“I’m sure he’ll talk to his teammates about going there as well,” Tanner said.