RELATED STORIES

• UNM football: Recruit plays waiting game
• UNM Football: Prognosis for shot Lobos recruit not good
• UNM recruit shot in legs worries about future

Related Links

• Iliana Limón's Wolf Tracks

More LoboZone

• Richard Stevens: Faces I'll remember are the smallest ones
• Michael Garcia: Here's to you, athletes, coaches and friends. These memories - and lessons - will last forever.
• Tribune sports: Five faves

MOST RECENT TRIB STORIES

• ABQTrib.com to remain available
  08:48 a.m., February 25, 2008
• Congressman is indicted
  08:37 a.m., February 23, 2008
• Series of attacks target Green Zone
  08:36 a.m., February 23, 2008
• Iran is defying U.N., agency says
  08:35 a.m., February 23, 2008
• Waterboarding approval probed
  08:34 a.m., February 23, 2008

TRIB IN THE BLOGOSPHERE*

• Albuquerque Old Town
• Ty Murray Invitational thrills fans in Albuquerque
• Is Rome Burning?
• Ominous Skies
• The Road to Invalidation

*Note: The Tribune does not create and is not responsible for the blogosphere's headlines and stories. These links to blogs talking about ABQTrib.com are automatically generated. Use them at your own risk.

STORY TOOLS

• E-mail story
• Comments
• iPod friendly
• Printer friendly

SHARE THIS STORY [?]

Former Lobos recruit Ervin "Una" Smiley, who was shot during his official recruiting visit to Albuquerque in December, signed a letter of intent to play for Oregon State on Wednesday.

Smiley, an offensive lineman at Palomar College near San Diego, Calif., suffered severe nerve damage to his right leg when he was shot while leaving an Albuquerque strip club with three UNM football players. Smiley is still awaiting surgery to repair the damage and learn whether he will ever walk normally and play football again.

"At first, the Oregon State coaches were just going to wait and see how I recovered after the surgery, but they changed their mind when it was taking so long for me to have the surgery," Smiley said. "They told me I could just sign with them and take a redshirt while I rehab. There is still a chance I may not be able to play, so they are taking a bit of a risk."

Smiley said he was relieved to snag a scholarship on signing day because it would have been much tougher to find a school with an open scholarship later.

"It did put a smile on my face, but that smile could still turn into a frown if my legs don't get better," Smiley said.

New Mexico head coach Rocky Long said he didn't think the Smiley shooting had any impact on this year's recruiting class.