The UTM football program held a press conference Wednesday to announce the signing of 20 new recruits on National Signing Day.
Head coach Jason Simpson showed the assembled audience highlights of each of the new signees, as well as of the seven players UTM signed in December on Mid-Year Signing Day. Simpson also provided his personal analysis of each player.
This year’s recruiting class features players from seven different states: Tennessee, Illinois, Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Missouri, and Pennsylvania. In all, the Skyhawks signed 11 offensive players and 16 defensive players. Of the defenders, eight were defensive backs.
Headlining this year’s recruiting class is quarterback Manny Stocker, who will transfer from North Carolina State as a redshirt sophomore. Stocker has only seen five games’ worth of experience on the field; he spent the 2012 and 2013 seasons as the backup quarterback under coach Dave Doeren.
Other notable players included safety Porter Streator III from Hillsboro High School in Nashville, Tenn.; redshirt junior running back Reuben Duckworth from Jones County (Miss.) Junior College; and linebacker James Gilleylen from Tupelo High School in Tupelo, Miss.
Here is an alphabetical list of all 27 of the players who have signed with UTM to date (asterisk denotes players who signed on December’s Mid-Year Signing Day):
Drew Allen, OL, Belleville, Ill. (Freeburg HS)
Nick Allen, OL, Belleville, Ill. (Belleville West HS)
Shauntez Ball, DB, Flora, Miss. (Pearl River CC)
Logan Burns, DB, Nashville, Tenn. (Hillsboro HS)
Nicholas Dance, LB, Nashville, Tenn.* (Western Michigan Univ.)
Reuben Duckworth, RB, Mt. Olive, Miss.* (Jones County JC)
Jabari Dunham, QB, Eustis, Fla. (Leesburg HS)
Tyler Eddings, WR, Shelbyville, Tenn. (Central HS)
Mark Garrett, OL, Selma, Ala. (Selma HS)
James Gilleylen, LB, Tupelo, Miss. (Tupelo HS)
LaKeem Goode, DB, St. Louis, Mo. (Rochester CTC)
Taylor Higgason, WR, Petal, Miss.* (Jones County JC)
Andrew Horton-Martindale, DB, Antioch, Tenn. (Cane Ridge HS)
CJ McElrath, LB, Decaturville, Tenn. (Riverside HS)
Jay Murphy, DT, Lewisburg, Tenn. (Marshall County HS)
Kyle Naes, OL, Bartlett, Tenn. (Memphis Univ. School)
Tyriq Patrick, WR, Philadelphia, Miss.* (Memphis)
Jeremy Pyles, DL, Oxford, Ala. (East Central CC)
Kevin Reid, DB, Clarksville, Tenn. (Northeast HS)
Shante Rogers, WR, Fulton, Miss. (Itawamba CC)
Manny Stocker, QB, Coatesville, Pa.* (North Carolina State)
Porter Streator III, DB, Nashville, Tenn. (Hillsboro HS)
Julian Thompson-Clay, LB, Clarksville, Tenn. (Rossview HS)
Kel Thurmon, DL, Raleigh, Miss. (Hinds CC)
Garrett Wall, LB, Fairview, Tenn. (Fairview HS)
Jaquille White, DB, West Point, Miss.* (NE Mississippi CC)
Terrell White, DB, Orlando, Fla. (NW Mississippi CC)
