There is no better recruiting tool than success on the field.

University of Maine football coach Jack Cosgrove and his staff found that out as they put together their 2002 recruiting class.

Wednesday was the first day for prospective student-athletes to sign National Letters of Intent and 19 players from six states have committed to play for the Black Bears beginning next fall.

There were five Maine high school standouts on the list, including former Bangor High School three-sport star Joe Vanidestine. The 5-foot-10, 165-pounder is projected as a defensive back at UMaine.

Cosgrove said UMaine’s 9-3 season, which included a share of the Atlantic 10 title, an NCAA first-round victory and a spot in the national quarterfinals, made recruiting easier.

“Playing football in December had a tremendous impact in the guys we got involved in recruiting,” Cosgrove said. “They certainly were aware of our success and I think that carried some weight for us when we got into the schools.”

The other Mainers to sign Wednesday included Fitzpatrick Trophy semifinalist Evign Dodge (6-1, 275), a defensive tackle at Noble High of Berwick, along with Winthrop defensive back Clyde Moody (6-0, 185), Gorham wide receiver Kendrick Ballantyne (6-5, 205) and Biddeford tight end Eric Ouellette (6-3, 220).

Cosgrove said high school coaches were quicker to return tapes of their players and more anxious to respond in the wake of the Bears’ success last fall.

“It was a little bit different response by coaches in terms of helping,” Cosgrove said. “We’ve always been known as a little bit of an underdog. But this wasn’t a 5-6 Maine team, it was a 9-3 Maine team.”

Vanidestine will attend UMaine as a recruited walk-on, according to his father, Bangor High athletic director Steve Vanidestine, who was impressed by the way the Bears dealt with his son.

“The University of Maine’s a great opportunity and Joe’s very fortunate to have a chance to go up there and work hard,” Steve Vanidestine said of Joe, who is playing football, basketball and baseball at the Taft School in Watertown, Conn.

“They’ll have their blue-chip kids, but Joe’s a kid who’ll have to go up and make the best of it,” he said. “He’s got a long road ahead, but coach Cosgrove very honest and very positive with him.”

Vanidestine was a quarterback and free safety at Bangor, where he earned All-Pine Tree Conference honors. The challenges of stepping up to the Division I-AA level will include improving his size, speed and strength.

“He has a lot of football knowledge, but he’s got to be able to take his three-sport body and transform it into a football body,” Steve Vanidestine said.

UMaine’s recruting class included a group of six defensive backs, three offensive linemen, two wide receivers, two defensive linemen, two tight ends, two linebackers, a fullback and a quarterback.

They include: OL Ryan Bird (6-2, 265), North Andover, Mass.; DB Clinton Brown (5-8, 175) of Yarmouth, Mass.; DE Michael DeVito (6-3, 230), Wellfleet, Mass.; Maurice Garlic (6-0, 195), Sicklerville, N.J.; LB Matthew King (6-3, 210), Stoughton, Mass.; TE Thomas Labenski (6-2, 235), Mahwah, N.J.; FB Michael Pickanski (6-1, 230), Swoyersville, Pa.; DB Joan Quezada (6-2, 190); OL Brian Quinn (6-2, 260), Middletown, Conn.; OL Justin Roberts (6-3, 270), West Milford, N.J.; DB Justin Rolling (5-11, 178), Uniondale, N.Y.; LB Jermaine Walker (6-1, 210), Teaneck, N.J.; and QB Ronald Whitcomb (6-2, 205), East Rochester, N.Y.

“It was a group of guys that right from the get-go we felt we wanted and were able to pursue,” Cosgrove said. “When we were pursuing them, they were paying a little more attention to us than in the past.”