University of Tennessee at Chattanooga head football coach
Rusty Wright welcomed his first recruiting class to the Scenic City today. The Mocs signed 16 student-athletes to National Letters of Intent. Add in two signees from the December period and a mid-year transfer and the class totals 19 future Mocs.
"We're really pleased with how it ended up," stated Wright. "I think our staff did a great job in basically 15 days. We had to get guys on campus and start building relationships quickly and we were able to do that.
"We started out with a bunch of names and a bunch of guys. After about a week and a half, we really focused in on a select few. We got those guys on campus and had an opportunity to be around them and develop some better relationships. Thankfully, we had some relationships with guys already that we were able to get here on campus."
This class features six individuals with at least a two-star rating, led by three-star quarterback prospects
Drayton Arnold (5-11, 205) and
Gio Richardson (6-1, 200) and three-star running back
Tre Young (6-0, 190). Arnold is a graduate transfer from Old Dominion who has two years of eligibility remaining. Richardson was a standout signal caller at Dwyer High School in Wellington, Fla., while Young was a two-time all-state performer at Atlanta's Riverwood High School.
The two-star signees include running back
Ailym Ford (5-9, 205), receiver
Avery Williams (6-1, 175) and offensive lineman
Brock Bethea (6-5, 300). Ford was an all-state honoree from Florence, S.C., while Williams earned the same honors at Brentwood High School in Brentwood, Tenn. Bethea was an all-area selection at Clay-Chalkville High School in Pinson, Ala.
These are six of the 11 offensive signees for the Mocs. UTC also welcomes running backs
Brandon Gregory (6-1, 195) from Venice, Fla., and
Lance Jackson (5-10, 185) from Norcross, Ga.; offensive linemen
Sam Hall (6-6, 255) from Logan, Ohio, and
Cameron Perry (6-5, 250) from Byron, Ga.; and receiver
Kanore McKinnon (6-3, 200) from Dillon, S.C. McKinnon has spent the last two seasons at Georgia Military College and is the lone junior college transfer in the group.
"I think we addressed some needs offensively as far as depth at running back and a little bit at wide receiver and offensive line," added Wright.
There are seven slated to compete for a spot on defense, including all-state defensive lineman
Evan Brown (6-4, 230) from Trenton, Ohio, and all-state defensive back
Jelen Lee (6-0, 175) from Florence, Ala.
Other newcomers on defense include defensive lineman
Marlon Taylor (6-3, 275) from Brunswick, Ga.; linebackers
Daniel Brent (6-1, 190) from Madison, Ala.,
Justin Sanders (6-0, 205) from Atlanta, Ga. and
Tre'Von Stanford (6-3, 205) from Manchester, Ga.; and defensive back
Kameron Brown (5-11, 185) from Mobile, Ala.
"Defensively, we had some issues on the second level at linebacker and in the secondary at some spots," continued Wright. "We addressed those to a certain degree."
This class also continues its tradition of attracting outstanding students by tying a school-record with 11 signees who carry academic accolades on their resumes.
"Our staff did a great job of getting guys in here that we needed and identified good players," said Wright. "It's also a really good class of students once that GPA is totaled up."
Be sure to check out the full list, along with quick notes on the class. Click on any of the names to see their full bio, highlights and comments from Coach Wright.
Don't forget about the Signing Day Celebration at the Finley Stadium Club this evening. Doors open at 5:00 p.m. with the program from Coach Wright starting at 6:00 p.m.
Season tickets are also on sale now on GoMocs.com. There is an exciting rewards program full of prizes for purchasing or renewing early,
so click here for more information.
Quick Notes on Chattanooga's 2019 Recruiting Class
- From Alabama (4) – Bethea, Brent, K. Brown, Lee.
- From Florida (2) – Gregory, Richardson.
- From Georgia (7) – Jackson, Olszewski, Perry, Sanders, Stanford, Taylor, Young.
- From Ohio (2) – E. Brown, Hall.
- From South Carolina (3) – Arnold, Ford, McKinnon.
- From Tennessee (1) – Williams.
- Offensive Players (11) – Arnold, Bethea, Ford, Gregory, Hall, Jackson, McKinnon, Perry, Richardson, Williams, Young.
- Defensive Players (7) – Brent, E. Brown, K. Brown, Lee, Sanders, Stanford, Taylor.
- Specialists (1) – Olszewski.
- Three-star recruit (3) – Arnold, Richardson, Young.
- Two-star recruit (3) – Bethea, Ford, Williams.
- With Academic Honors (11) – Bethea, Brent, E. Brown, K. Brown, Gregory, Hall, Jackson, Olszewski, Taylor, Williams, Young.
- All-State (7) – Arnold, E. Brown, Ford, Lee, McKinnon, Williams, Young.
- State Champions (3) – Arnold, Jackson, McKinnon.
- Transfers (2) – Arnold, McKinnon.
