2012 South Alabama football recruiting class capsules
MOBILE, Ala. – With the prospects of a schedule that includes eight Sun Belt Conference contests as well as non-league match-ups with Mississippi State, North Carolina State and Hawai’i in the fall, University of South Alabama head football coach Joey Jones took advantage of patience in previous years to add more high-school prospects than have signed with the Jaguars the last two Februarys to prepare for the competition.
Twenty individuals signed National Letters-of-Intent with the school on Wednesday, bringing the number in the Jags’ recruiting class to 27; that includes five junior-college transfers who inked in December as well as a pair of Division I transfers who enrolled in school last month.
“This will probably be our best class overall, and I think there are three reasons why,” Jones commented at a 2 p.m. press conference at the Mitchell Center. “Number one, recruiting to a Division I-A schedule is very important; when we had a kid look at our schedule in the upcoming years and see Mississippi State, Tennessee, LSU, Hawai’i and on down the line, it makes a difference. Playing Division I-AA and Division II programs like we have the last couple of years was something we had to do to build this program, but when you lay that schedule in front of a young man it makes a big difference.
“The commitment level of everyone involved at the University of South Alabama, recruits feel that when they come on campus and I think that makes a big difference as well. And third, I think they are excited about where this program is going — we’ve got a long way to go and are not there yet, but they see the future of this program is very bright and they want to be involved with that.”
Of the 17 high school seniors in the group that inked with the program on Wednesday, seven received three stars from at least one national recruiting service while eight others were considered two-star prospects.
The two positions with the most recruits are offensive line and cornerback, with USA signing seven at each slot. The group also includes three defensive ends, along with multiple quarterbacks, tight ends and safeties.
All five high-school linemen that signed received national recognition, including four who earned three stars. Daniel Aust (pronounced Awst) was selected to play in the Alabama-Mississippi All-Star Classic after helping Hoover High reach the championship game of the state 6A playoffs in the fall, and he was joined in that contest by Demopolis’ Steven Foster, who was a first-team 5A all-state selection by the Alabama Sports Writers Association as a senior. Clay Machen (pronounced MATCH-en) helped Auburn H.S. go 29-5 in his three years on the varsity and was named honorable mention all-state as a senior after helping the Tigers finish 8-2. The trio will be joined up front by two individuals from the Peach State — Steve McKenzie helped Stephenson High go 9-1 and reach the state AAAAA playoffs, earning a spot in the Dekalb County Coaches Association All-Star Game at the end of the year, while Joseph Scelfo (pronounced SELL-foe) was selected first-team AA all-state by four different organizations at North Oconee H.S. and was part of a Titan squad that finished 12-1 his senior season.
Among the cornerbacks, Lawon Debardelaben (pronounced LAH-wahn dee-BAR-deh-lay-ben) made 29 stops and picked off five passes for state 6A champion Prattville High. Two others are local products; Caleb Autry recorded 44 tackles, broke up eight passes and had two interceptions as a senior, helping Foley H.S. earn a berth in the state 6A playoffs, and Sir’Vegias Steele (pronounced sir-VAY-gas) was an honorable mention all-state selection after posting 42 stops and six interceptions as LeFlore High qualified for the state 5A playoffs his senior year.
Two of Debardelaben’s teammates on the defensive side of the ball will join the Jaguars as well. Defensive lineman Terrance Jones and defensive end Jay Minor were both three-star recruits according to ESPN.com, with the former making 27 tackles and the latter 60 as the Lions finished the season 12-2. They will be joined on defense by safeties Mike Dumas from Island Coast H.S. in Cape Coral, Fla., and Valley (Ala.) High’s DeVonta Staples (pronounced dee-VONN-tay), as well as Davion Stuarts (pronounced DAY-vee-on), a linebacker from Punta Gorda, Fla., Charlotte High — all three earned two stars from one national organization. Dumas was an all-Southwest Florida and all-county selection after helping the Gators to a 7-3 finish, Staples was part of a squad that went 9-3 while earning first-team 5A all-state honors from the ASWA and Stuarts recorded 103 tackles including eight for loss in the fall for the Fighting Tarpons.
Grant Powell is a quarterback from Christian Brothers Academy who hails from Germantown, Tenn.; a two-star recruit according to both Scout.com and ESPN.com, he guided the Purple Wave to the semifinals of the state 2AA playoffs as a senior. Cameron Broadnax — a wideout who prepped at Hueytown (Ala.) H.S. — led all players in the Alabama-Mississippi All-Star Game after his senior season with nine receptions for 61 yards in Alabama’s 31-12 victory, while he had 61 catches for 835 yards and 13 scores as the Gophers finished 12-1 after advancing to the semifinals of the state 5A playoffs. Paul Kyles lettered three years at Vigor High in Mobile, and was part of a team that reached the state 5A title game his senior season on the way to a 12-3 finish. He earned three stars from both Scout.com and ESPN.com.
Aleem Sunanon (pronounced ah-LEEM sue-NAN-on) is a placekicker and punter from Olympia H.S. in Orlando, Fla. As a senior, he was chosen all-state after connecting on 8-of-10 field-goal attempts while averaging 43.7 yards per punt, with 18 of his 38 kicks downed inside the opposition’s 20-yard line.
Junior-college recruits who signed with the Jags Wednesday included defensive end Ridge James from Bakersfield (Calif.) C.C., Perry Meiklejohn, an offensive lineman from El Camino (Calif.) C.C. and Tyrell Pearson, who played cornerback at Mesa (Ariz.) C..C. the last two years. The trio joins Anthony Harris, Pat Moore, Darrius Morrow, Wes Saxton and Charles Watson, who inked with USA in December. Jones also announced that Brandon Bridge has transferred from Alcorn State and James Elliott has joined the program after sitting out as a redshirt at Kentucky in the fall.
“Everybody asked me what we were after, and it was mainly the offensive line and the secondary again,” explained Jones. “I know it seems like we say that every year, but we signed seven offensive linemen including one junior-college lineman, one transfer and five high school guys. On the defensive side, we got four junior-college transfers back there among the nine. I think we really answered a couple of those problems that we had with depth, and we sprinkled in a receiver, a quarterback, a couple of tight ends, a couple of linebackers and a defensive lineman in there.
“It was a tedious process trying to find the right guys. When it comes down to the end, you really just want to get the best players you can get,” Jones continued. “You want to fill needs, but you don’t want to take a number just because you need another lineman or another guy in the secondary unless they are a very good player. I think we tried to be strict in what we wanted to accomplish with the type of student-athletes we are bringing in.”
In signing this group, the Jaguar coaching staff won battles against Alabama, Auburn, Kentucky, Mississippi, Mississippi State, Tennessee, Vanderbilt, Florida State, Miami (Fla.), Georgia Tech, North Carolina, North Carolina State, Duke, Iowa, Illinois, Purdue, Minnesota, Indiana, Texas Tech, Iowa State, West Virginia, South Florida, Syracuse, Connecticut, Louisiana Tech, Navy, Northern Illinois, Temple, Central Florida, Southern Mississippi, Memphis, Rice, Tulsa, UAB, Arkansas State, Florida Atlantic, Florida International, Middle Tennessee, Troy and Western Kentucky.
USA is slated to complete a two-year transition to the NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision (formerly NCAA Division I-A) level in 2012. The Jags finished 6-4 a year ago in their first season of transition, and have an all-time mark of 23-4 in three years of competition.
For more information about South Alabama athletics, check back with www.usajaguars.com. Season tickets for all Jaguar athletic events can be purchased by calling (251) 461-1USA (1872).
—USA—
