They were born less than a day apart, and now cousins, Ryan Morgan and Jacob Nunez, will remain close as the two Lompoc football standouts signed their National Letters of Intent with Arizona State University.
A signing ceremony in front of family, friends, coaches, and teammates was held on Wednesday night at the Boys and Girls Club of Lompoc.
"I'm stoked, and I don't use that word a lot, but I am," Ryan said. "It's everything we've wanted since we were little kids."
"We always talked about it, dreamed about it since we were kids," Jacob added. "The reality of it hasn't sunk in yet."
The two seniors helped lead the Braves to a 7-4 overall record this fall, going 4-1 in Channel League play which was good enough for second place.
Jacob was a stalwart up front for Lompoc this season, guiding the Braves' rushing attack to 190.8 yards per game. Ryan, who originally committed to Wyoming and changed to ASU a few weeks ago, was the go-to weapon at wide receiver. He hauled in a team-high 41 catches for 680 yards and eight touchdowns.
"The first reason was Jacob," Ryan said about switching his commitment. He added, "It's easy for my family to be at all my games. One of the most important things is the coaching staff."
Jacob and Ryan are also really pumped to be coached by former NFL defensive back and current ASU head coach, Herm Edwards.
"He knows what he's doing. He's straight to the point. He's not going to sugarcoat anything, and he'll tell you what you need to do," Jacob explained.
"He's a really high-caliber coach, and it's really exciting," Ryan added.
