WKU Recruiting: 2021 Early Signing Day Live Blog
Today is the first day of the early signing period. This is now year four of there being two signing days in football. With the strange covid year and the extra year of eligibility granted by the NCAA the early recruiting class is in flux. WKU has lost 16 players to the transfer portal since the beginning of the season with several seniors still eligible to come back. Look for the Hilltoppers to add a handful of players today with the majority being Juco/Transfers.
The class should be heavy on Juco/transfer with a few high school prospects sprinkled in. Helton said that they’ll probably have new players trickle in over the coming months with the spring class expected to be larger than the December class. With that in mind here is the rundown of players to keep an eye on and should sign today. We’ll update the signees as they come in…
Update 8:30 PM CT on 12/17
Yesterday’s slow day luckily didn’t mean that the Tops wouldn’t be adding impact players as three new transfer commitments/signees were added to the 2021 roster. Getting two Houston Baptist players begs the question if quarterback Baily Zappe is next?
The star receiver in new offensive coordinator Zach Kittley’s offense, Sterns is a 5'8 180 lb slot receiver who was a catch machine in the pass-happy offense. Jarreth is a junior who hauled in 47 catches for 454 yards and 5 touchdown in just 5 games during Houston Baptist’s 4 game 2020 season. Three of those opponents were FBS Opponents (Texas Tech, North Texas & Louisiana Tech) so you’d think he should easily be able to come in and put up numbers in Conference USA. He’ll have two years to slide into the slot position and should have the inside track over returnees Dayton Wade & Malachi Corley in 2021.
Josh is Jerreth’s younger brother, he was just a freshman in 2020. He is 5'9 175 lbs and also projects as a slot receiver (in Kittley’s offense four wide should be the norm). He hauled in 13 catches for 403 yards and 4 touchdowns during the aforementioned four games. He should definitely be in the mix as well and will have four years of eligibility as well. Both brothers bring a speedy dimension that may have been missed in the 2020 offense.
Flint is a 6-foot 213-pound linebacker from Huntsville. He has committed but hasn’t been announced as this is being written. He was a three-star recruit in the 2018 class that chose the Tar Heels over Tennessee, Auburn & Louisville. He didn’t see the field much at UNC appearing in 4 games over the 2018 & 2019 seasons totaling four tackles. He opted out of the 2020 season due to covid and hit the portal. He has solid speed for a linebacker as he ran a 4.57 forty yard dash. He should add depth to a unit that was rock solid in 2020. We are still waiting to see if seniors Eli Brown & Kyle Baily will be back for 2021 but Flint should be able to compete with returnees Drew Davis, Nick Days, Aaron Keys as well as Tennessee transfer Will Ignont for snaps in 2021.
Update 7:22 CT on 12/16
Chance McDonald has signed making it just two signees today. While it was good to get two three-star prospects, it is a tad disappointing that is it for the first day of the early signing period. Here is some information from our source within the Hilltopper program.
- The main reason behind the slow start to the early signing period is the NCAA’s one time rule guaranteeing an extra year of eligibility to any athlete that has played during the 2020–21 athletic season. So every player that stays on the roster from 2020 to 2021 will stay at the same class they were at for the 2020 season. For example, Freshman running back Noah Whittington will still be a freshman next season even though he appeared in more than 4 games.
- Also, the fact that the staff hasn’t been able to see high school seniors in person has made the staff reluctant to offer a high amount of traditional signing day seniors that they haven’t properly evaluated.
- They are still waiting to hear back from several members of the large senior class (2020 players such as Devon Key) that may come back for one last ride
- There should still be a large balance with last year’s players with as many as 17 still retaining freshman status
- WKU is targeting several transfers (traditional, juco and grad transfers) that should fill several holes by recent transfer departures
- They should trickle in over the coming days, weeks, and months and patience was stressed when it comes to seeing the entire picture
- The staff will use the traditional February signing day to get impact high school players that may be overlooked by P5 programs (similar to Dakota Thomas or Malachi Corley were last year)
The source stated that we should look at the whole picture and by the time June rolls around fans will be happy with the final result.
While I’m a little skeptical of everything, I confident that the program is still moving in the right direction. The combination of the 3 games winning streak to finish the regular season and the addition of Zach Kittley make me optimistic for the future.
We’ll keep you posted as more news comes in over the coming weeks.
New Signees
McDonald has been in the fold since committing in May. He is WKU’s second quarterback commitment in two years from the Pacific Northwest joining Grady Robison. The 6'2 200 lb righty chose the Hilltoppers over San Jose State and has been enthusiastic about his commitment ever since. Washington still hasn’t had their high school football season yet due to covid but McDonald dominated last season throwing for 3,812 yards and 49 touchdowns. He’ll arrive in July after his high school season is over
Edwards is originally from the Fort Lauderdale area. He was a 3-star commitment out of high school who started his career at Oklahoma. There he appeared in five games over two seasons before ending up at Independence Community College (From Last Chance U). Edwards has solid size for a corner (5'11) and should be able to compete for playing time in defensive backfield rotation as senior Roger Cray has announced his intention to leave the program. Here’s a highlight from his high school days
New Commitments
Carson Vetor- Wide Receiver- Gulf Coast High School (FL)
Vetor is a 5'11 Wide Receiver from Naples, Florida. He isn’t yet rated by the recruiting sites but seems like he could be a future slot receiver. He ran a 4.59 forty yard dash and hauled in 10 receiving touchdowns during the 2020 season. The two-sport athlete also plays baseball and seems like he could be a Sunshine State diamond in the rough find for Helton’s staff.
Per a source within the WKU Program, Vetor will be a preferred walk-on
Previously Announced Signees
- Adam Cofield- Running Back- North Dakota State
Cofield is a senior grad transfer that played running back for the FCS powerhouse Bison who ran for 813 yards and 12 touchdowns in 2019. He should definitely be in the mix to replace Gaej Walker next year. He was recently brought up by new offensive coordinator Zach Kittley as a weapon that he will use in next year’s offense.
Previously Committed- Could Sign Today
The defensive end from right up the road in Hendersonville, Tennessee is a physical specimen at 6–4 230 lbs. His commitment came out of nowhere last week but he was instantly rated a 3-star recruit by 247 Sports. He played Defensive End and Tight End for Pope John Paul II and also starred on the basketball court. He looks like he could develop into a solid edge rushing prospect moving forward.
Former Commitments
Former Players New Homes
- Jacquez Sloan- Wide Receiver
- Tyler Smith- Wide Receiver
Stay tuned for tons of recruiting coverage throughout the day and beyond. We’ll be providing updates on Twitter as they come in and a recap on the final class when it’s announced later today. Helton closed 2020 strong, hopefully, he can build on it on the recruiting trail and set WKU for 2021 and beyond.
