Purdue football adds Juco linebacker

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. (WLFI) - Purdue head coach Danny Hope announced that City College of San Francisco linebacker Ruben Ibarra has signed to play with the Boilermakers.

He will be eligible for the 2012 season and has two years of eligibility left.

“We’re excited to have Ruben join our team,” Hope said. “He is coming off an excellent season with a team that won the junior college national title. His experience provides depth at linebacker and we hope he can come in and compete for playing time right away. He played high school football in the Chicago Catholic League and we’re always happy to get guys out of there.”

During its undefeated run to the 2011 junior college national championship, Ibarra was San Francisco’s leading tackler. Named by the California Community College Football Coaches Association a first team selection to the All-California Community College Football Team as a sophomore, he finished with 68 stops, including 8.0 for loss with 4.0 sacks. He recovered two fumbles and forced another in 2011.

In seven games as a freshman, he tallied 35 tackles, including 8.0 for loss with 4.5 sacks.

The 6-foot-2, 225-pounder originally hails from Chicago, where he played high school football at St. Patrick.