Advertisement

CdM’s John Humphreys signs with Stanford football, and Ethan Garbers and Mark Redman are bound for Washington

Corona del Mar's John Humphreys, right, takes a selfie with Ethan Garbers, center and Mark Redman as the three sign their national letters of intent on Wednesday in Newport Beach.
(Scott Smeltzer / Staff Photographer)
Share via

Four days after closing out their Corona del Mar High football careers with a 16-0 season, seniors John Humphreys, Ethan Garbers and Mark Redman made their college choices official.

Humphreys, a wide receiver, signed a national letter of intent with Stanford on Wednesday, while Garbers, a quarterback, and Redman, a tight end, signed with the University of Washington. Humphreys and Garbers are four-star recruits by 247Sports.com, ranked No. 115 and No. 177 overall, respectively, in the nation.

The trio helped the Sea Kings beat San Mateo Serra 35-27 in the CIF State Division 1-A title game on Saturday at Cerritos College.

Huntington Beach’s Christian Moore and Edison’s Mike Walters also signed on the first day of the early national signing period for football, which ends on Friday. Moore, a tight end and linebacker, is headed to Kansas State, and Walters, a linebacker and running back, is going to UC Davis.

Advertisement

Humphreys, a 6-foot-5, 205-pounder, will join a long line of family members who played sports at Stanford. His father, Brad, was a defensive back for the Cardinal. His mother, Wendy, and oldest sister, Kelsey, both played for the Stanford women’s volleyball team.

“It’s been a dream school of mine ever since I was little, just growing up and going to games,” said Humphreys, who finished the season with 111 catches for 2,001 yards and 32 touchdowns. “This is surreal to me today to kind of seal the deal and turn my dreams into reality.”

Redman had hoped Humphreys, who shared the Sunset League MVP award with Garbers, would have joined him and Garbers in Seattle.

“I wish John was going to be there,” Redman said. “Maybe we still have a shot with Bradley [Schlom]. Who knows?”

Garbers, who is 6-3 and 200 pounds, threw for 5,035 yards and a CIF Southern Section single-season record 71 touchdowns this season.

The finalists in Garbers’ recruiting process also included Utah, UCLA, Georgia and Boise State. Even after Chris Petersen resigned as the head coach of Washington earlier this month, Garbers said he never wavered in his commitment.

“I think that [Washington], out of all the places that I’ve been to, it’s the closest place to [CdM], with the coaching staff and then just how they are and how they develop players,” said Garbers, who will play for Huskies coach Jimmy Lake, the program’s former defensive coordinator. “That’s kind of what I was looking for the most, and that’s what I found.”

Garbers and Redman plan to be roommates in college.

Redman, who’s 6-6 and 230 pounds, was playing water polo in middle school when a couple of friends got in his ear about the idea of playing football. Once he committed to football, his motivation became following in the footsteps of his brother, Ian, who played left tackle for CdM during its previous 16-0 season in 2013.

Seeing CdM make the jump to an upper-division powerhouse in his time at the school has been indescribable.

“There’s really no words for it,” said Redman, who had 72 catches for 979 yards and 13 touchdowns this season, earning a share of the Sunset League Offensive Player of the Year award. “My brother, growing up, I looked up to him. He was playing football all four years. He got three rings, so it was something that I looked up to. I wanted to get a ring. I wanted to do it for my family, for everyone here, for all the younger kids, show them what’s possible.”

Corona del Mar's Mark Redman, left, with his mother, Maria, Ethan Garbers, center, with his mom, Angelique, and John Humphreys with his mom, Wendy, pose for a photo with the seniors on Wednesday.
(Scott Smeltzer / Staff Photographer)

Support our sports coverage by becoming a digital subscriber.

For more sports stories, visit latimes.com/socal/daily-pilot/sports or follow us on Twitter @DailyPilotSport.

Updates

6:09 p.m. Dec. 18, 2019: This article was updated with additional information and quotes from John Humphreys, Ethan Garbers and Mark Redman.

This article was originally published on Dec. 18 at 2:43 p.m.

Advertisement