Golden Eagle football nets 21 recruits on first signing day

By TTU Sports Information

February 06, 2003

COOKEVILLE, Tenn. -- Tennessee Tech football coach Mike Hennigan and his staff spent Wednesday awaiting signatures, and by the end of the day a total of 21 recruits had inked with the Golden Eagles and submitted their paperwork.

The list of freshman newcomers includes 13 from the state of Tennessee, five from Alabama, two from Georgia and one from Florida.

"Our coaches did an excellent job in evaluating talent," said Hennigan. "We feel like we took care of our positional needs where departing seniors had left vacancies. We got two good fullbacks where we lost to seniors. We lost three defensive linemen and we signed four defensive ends, and we added two runningbacks where Jason Ballard is coming up on his senior season.

"We also had 21 signees out of 40 official visits, so we felt like we had zeroed in on certain kids and did a good job of identifying our specific needs and prospects. We did extremely well in West Tennessee (six signees), we got two outstanding offensive linemen from East Tennessee, and locally Jim Ledford (from Cookeville) will be a real plus for our program."

Including Ledford, the Golden Eagle staff added five players from the mid-state area. They are Chris Grimes (rover) from LaVergne, Jim Ledford (center) from Cookeville, Brent Syales (cornerback) from Nashville's Montgomery Bell Academy, Josh Sons (offensive lineman) from Winchester, and Jacques Williams (defensive back) from Gallatin.

"We feel like we're getting the right number of players at every position to allow each one to compete, yet we're not getting too many at any position so they won't get a fair opportunity," said Hennigan.

Among the 21 signees, the defense added 12 players, including eight defensive backs and four defensive ends. Of the nine newcomers on offense, four are linemen, two runningbacks, two fullbacks and one tight end.

"I'm pleased with the number of in-state players that we've signed," said Hennigan of the 13 Tennessee products added to the mix.

Golden Eagle Football 2003 signees

Here are the names of the student-athletes signed by the Tennessee Tech coaching staff:

NAME        Ht   Wt Pos. Previous School Hometown
Anthony Ash 5-7 190 RB Litchfield HS Gadsden, Ala.
Gavar Bonham 6-0 190 CB Hoover HS Birmingham, Ala.
Eric Charles 6-0 230 FB Jackson Cen.-Merry HS Jackson, Tenn.
Jake Evans 6-1 260 DE McMinn County HS Athens, Tenn.
Aaron Foster 6-3 280 C Jefferson County HS Dandridge, Tenn.
Paul Golden 6-3 235 DE Decatur HS Decatur, Ala.
Chris Grimes 5-9 180 Rov LaVergne HS LaVergne, Tenn.
Daniel Jackson 6-2 235 FB Jackson HS Jackson, Tenn.
Broderick Jamison 6-0 185 DB Therrell HS Atlanta, Ga.
Nick Kelly 6-3 235 DE Escambia HS Pensacola, Fla.
Orlandus Kirby 6-2 245 TE Jackson Cen. Merry HS Jackson, Tenn.
Jim Ledford 6-3 280 C Cookeville HS Cookeville, Tenn.
D'Juan Love 6-4 220 DE Crocket County HS Alamo, Tenn.
Josh Mann 5-9 175 DB Dyersburg HS Dyersburg, Tenn.
Artis Pitts 5-8 190 DB Crockett County HS Alamo, Tenn.
Brent Sayles 5-8 170 DB Montgomery Bell Aca. Nashville, Tenn.
Ontarrio Sealie 5-8 170 CB McAdory HS McCalla, Ala.
Josh Sons 6-7 285 OL Franklin County HS Winchester, Tenn.
Brandon Waters 6-3 255 C Maryville HS Maryville, Tenn.
Derek White 5-11 195 RB East Coweta HS Sharpsburg, Ga.
Jacques Williams 6-1 210 S/R Gallatin HS Gallatin, Tenn.