New West Virginia State University (WVSU) head football coach Jon Anderson and his staff announced their first recruiting class, with more than 30 students committing to play for the Yellow Jackets.
The announcement comes on the first day of the NCAA’s national letter of intent signing period for football.
The single largest block of new student athletes comes to Institute from within the state of West Virginia, however, WVSU’s recruiting class also features players from throughout a multi-state region, including Ohio, Maryland, Texas, Florida, Kentucky and Washington D.C.
“We had two goals when we started out recruiting this class,” said Anderson, who was named coach of the Yellow Jackets in December. “Number one, we wanted to focus on the state of West Virginia. We worked hard to introduce ourselves to the state high school coaches, and West Virginia ended up being the state where we got the most recruits from. ”
In all, 11 students who played their high school football in West Virginia have committed to continue their careers for the Yellow Jackets, and will begin play next season in the newly formed Mountain East Conference.
Another factor that was important to Anderson was to recruit players on both the offensive and defensive sides of the football.
“We wanted to build an overall team from this recruiting class,” said Anderson, who came to WVSU following a career as a defensive coordinator of one of the nation’s most successful NAIA and NCAA Division II football programs. “You will see every position represented with great high school student athletes. Our initial goal was 20 and to be able to introduce over 30 today is outstanding.”
Despite the fact that the new coaching staff arrived in December and January, they were determined to cover as much ground as possible to recruit in such a short amount of time.
“I believe that we accomplished everything we set out to do with this recruiting class and I am confident that these student athletes will have a bright future at WVSU,” said Anderson.
The 2013 West Virginia State University football signees are:
- Luke Barnes, 5’11’’ 160, safety. Chillicothe High School (Ohio)
- Sherman Bernett, 5’11’’ 210, linebacker. St. John’s High School (Washington, D.C.)
- Dwight Blankenship, 6’0’’ 225, linebacker. Wayne High School (W.Va.)
- Trevon Bolin-Hitchens, 6’4’’ 210, tight end. Waverly High School (Ohio)
- Devon Bollinger, 6’1’’ 260, defensive tackle. Reynoldsburg High School (Ohio)
- Noah Brown, 6’4’’ 290, defensive tackle. Lafayette High School (Ky.)
- Justin Carr, 6’3’’ 225, linebacker. Lafayette High School (Ky.)
- Zevin Clark, 5’10’’ 190, running back. Crystal Lake South High School (Ill.)
- Kevin Coffie, 5’9’’ 160, defensive back. Springbrook High School (Md.)
- Darrod Doleman, 5’10’’ 160, defensive back. Jefferson High School (W.Va.)
- Nicholas Dreixler, 6’2’’ 250, guard. Mount Carmel High School (Ill.)
- Jared Fehrens, 6’4’’ 240, defensive end. Courtland High School (Va.)
- Jules Ferguson, 6’3’’ 235, linebacker. Princeton High School (Ohio)
- Dennis Gardeck, 6’2’’ 190, linebacker. Crystal Lake South High School (Ill.)
- Geoff Gardner, 6’2’’ 275, guard. Grayslake North High School (Ill.)
- Garrett Grafton, 6’3’’ 300, tackle. Winfield High School (W.Va.)
- Paul Hammer, 6’1’’ 200, linebacker. Hebron High School (Texas)
- Kurt Jones, 6’2’’ 250, guard. Cabell-Midland High School (W.Va.)
- T.C. Kester, 5’10’’ 160, safety. Winfield High School (W.Va.)
- Matt Kinnick, 6’2’’ 190, quarterback. St. Clairsville High School (Ohio)
- Drew Kirby, 5’9’’ 210, running back. St. Albans High School (W.Va.)
- Jarod Martin, 6’3’’ 225, tight end. Huntington High School (W.Va.)
- Raleigh Mason, 5’8’’ 205. running back. Brooke High School (W.Va.)
- Dustyn Murphy, 6’3’’ 205, tight end. Nicholas County High School (W.Va.)
- Garrett Peavler, 5’10’’ 170, safety/quarterback. Lafayette High School (Ky.)
- Mitchell Rowell, 6’0’’ 235, linebacker. Gahanna Lincoln High School (Ohio)
- Dalton Shannon, 6’2’’ 285, center/guard. Belleview High School (Fla.)
- Gavin Smith, 5’9’’ 160, kicker/punter. St. Albans High School (W.Va.)
- Geoffrey Walker, 6’3’’ 190, wide receiver. Jefferson High School (W.Va.)
- Akil Washington, 6’2’’ 185, wide receiver. Suitland High School (Washington, D.C.)
- Trent Williamson, 5’11’’ 205, quarterback. Westfall High School (Ohio)
- Jamir Wilson, 6’0’’ 180, safety. Seneca Valley High School (Md.)
